Course Review: Religion and Science

 Information about the Course

This is a course offered by BeADisiciple.com called Religion and Science: Pathways to Truth.  This is a course offered as part of the Wesley Academy for Advanced Christian Studies, created in partnership with Wesley Theological Seminary and BeADisciple.  The course instructor Pamela Deck, and it includes videos hosted by Francis Collins with various experts in the field covering nine different topics.  The course is nine weeks long. Each week involves a small amount of Bible Study, viewing a video with Dr. Collins providing an introduction and then 20-30 minutes with a lecture from a person in the field.  Participants then answer at least four questions (2 out of 4 from each section).  Answers to the questions are posted in the online classroom software for discussion.  Each student must post at least two responses per set of questions to demonstrate engagement in the course.

The course can be part of a certification called Certificate in Advanced Christian Study.  The certificate involves completion of six courses such as this one.  The course can also be taken as a stand alone option.

Summary

From the website: Must we reject belief in God to accept the findings of science? 

Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, hosts this ground-breaking series in which several leading scientists, theologians, and philosophers explore the contrasts and similarities between religion and science. This group of experts considers if and how religion and science might coexist and even complement one another in the 21st century.

Impressions

This is my sixth course in the Wesley Academy series, and to be honest, this one was the most difficult. By that I mean that the questions were hard to answer; at times  I didn't even understand the questions. Having said that, I persevered, and worked my way through the material. It was engaging and enlightening, and even though I found it difficult, I would recommend the class.

My previous career was in science, and I have been looking forward to this class since I started work on the Certificate. This is the first chance in my schedule I have had to take it. Parts of it were absolutely fascinating, such as the quantum physics week.  Others were more difficult to grasp, but still worth the effort and time. The discussions were excellent, and were enhanced by the instructor, Pamela Deck, who posted responses to the discussion and asked more questions to move us further in our understanding.  All nine lessons were available when we started, which is a great advantage to those who need to juggle their schedule a little; it allows students to work ahead a few days when times get busy.  Not all of the classes provide this advantage.

Topics covered included

• Friends or Foes? The Story of a Complex Relationship — David Wilkinson, St. John’s College, Durham
• Truth in Science and Theology — Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology
• God and Nature — Keith Ward, Oxford University
• Creation and Evolution — Darrel Falk, Point Loma Nazarene University
• What Does It Mean to Be Human? — Warren Brown, Fuller Theological Seminary
• The God of Hope and the End of the World — John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University
• Genetic Science and the Frontiers of Ethics — Ted Peters, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminar
• Creation Care

In preparation for the course, I read Francis Collins book, The Language of God.  I am now reading a new book he wrote called The Road to Wisdom.

Posts about the Class

Posts about the class will have the tag Science and Faith (a wrong tag name, but whatever)