The Church and Public Policy

What might the role of the church be in solving public policy issues on gene editing?

I think we start with our actions. We step into the community and demonstrate our ability to value other people through our service to them. When we do that, we can say that God loves all people because our actions are bringing our beliefs to light.   The alignment of our actions with the beliefs we say we have will help make us a trustworthy partner in solving public policy issues.

 

Next, we can participate in public discussions on the idea, sharing our beliefs that God has created us and that everyone is loved by our creator.  From this, we have a responsibility to love all of God’s children as God loves us. We learn everything we can about the science, respecting discovery and education. We then have earned our place at the table to help guide public policy discussions.

 

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)

Nature Imagery

Why did the Psalmists so often turn to nature imagery to talk about God and their relationship with God?

I think it was true for the Psalmist and for us that we turn to imagery that allows us to bring something that is beyond our comprehension into comparison with something we understand so that we can begin to see that which is unseeable. The Psalmists and those who sang the psalms would have been close to nature, so those images would help them to understand God just a little bit.

 

Secondly, I think the Psalmists would have knowledge of sacred thought and writings that had come before that used nature imagery so it would have been easier to build on previously used images.

 

Thirdly, God was associated with creation of nature as explained in Genesis. I think God in our minds has a deep connection with nature, so images from nature seem appropriate.

 

Life After Death

Do the possibilities of what lies beyond death make a difference in how you live your life? Discuss.

Truthfully, I think my calling from God is to live a life here, in this creation, following God’s leading. I believe in life beyond death, and am grateful for it, but it doesn’t concern my thoughts very much. I can leave it in God’s hands. What I hope influences the way I life my life is God’s presence, now, here, and how I should respond to it.

 

If anything about life after death makes a difference in how I live it is my gratitude for all of God’s grace, including that. I remember in the Wesley Beliefs class, reading about Wesley’s determination that we should, through grace, have an assurance of God’s saving grace for us. If I have assurance of God’s salvation, including life after death, then I can act out of gratitude.  I can contrast this to the idea of living in fear of hell, and how that might change the way I live my life.  This assurance Wesley talks about can free us from that fear.

Moral Decisions

 What is a moral decision? Are such decisions based on inherited factors or are they culturally determined?

One can define morality as “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.”  A moral decision is one that is choosing what is right as defined by one’s ethical beliefs or faith.

 

C.S. Lewis would tell us that we all are born with a moral law – a knowledge of what is right and wrong. This is expressed across different cultures – so in some ways they are culturally determined, but the common moral law we share is evidence of God’s presence in our creation.

 

That said, I don’t think our moral decisions occur in a vacuum. Our intellectual abilities and how our brain functions have an impact on our decisions. The health and state of our bodies impact those decisions, as well.

 

So, short answer, God’s gift of moral law, our inherited brain function, our body’s health and function, and our culture all impact our moral decisions.

Nudges vs Shows of Power

List some of the specific ways that the Bible tells us that God led Israel. Which are “nudges” and which are “shows of power”? When was the latter necessary?

A few examples of God leading Israel would include the exodus from Egypt, the Ten Commandments, the giving of the law through Moses, the raising up of judges and the prophets, the selection of Saul and then David as kings, and the rebuilding of the wall and temple, just to name a few.

 

I think God used shows of power – such as the exile and the parting of the Red Sea – when power was necessary.  For example, could the Israelites have escaped from Egypt without God’s powerful intervention? Could the Israelites ever have become monotheistic follows who recognized their disobedience without the exile?

 

A classic example of a nudge would be the calling of Samuel when he was a boy. Another example would be Moses bringing the 10 commandments to the people. Even though we see that experience in our minds as a large and momentous event, it is still God providing choice and freedom to God’s people.  When Moses turned aside to encounter God in a burning bush, it was still a nudge – Moses could have refused. He had that freedom, even though God continued to persuade him.

 

I think nudges don’t curtail freedom while acts of power might.

Is God Limited?

 Is God in any way limited? Were there any limitations upon God as creation occurred?

I don’t believe God is limited by anything external to God except that I think God has limits that God has created. When God created the universe, for example, God limited himself to use the physical processes to create and maintain the world. God grants freedom to creation and to creatures (such as us); that freedom, created by God, limits what God will do. I assume there are exceptions, when God chooses, for miracles.

______

In my Religion and Science class, we view a video lecture in two parts, and then we respond to four questions for each part of the video lecture. We are then asked to post the answers to two questions in each section for Discussion with the class.  I always answer all four questions on my own, and then select two of them to post.  I did post this one.  One of the responses and my response to the question are posted below.

Question: So, would you say that God is self-limiting, but is not limited by any external sources? Could God do evil? Could one say "Yes, but God always chooses not to."

My Answer: I think if we say God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, then we have to say that God limits God's-self.  I think, as I type this, without God's self limiting choices, we would be living in chaos.  For example (and this is going to be a bad example), if Tom's neighbor is killed, and Tom becomes the suspect, someone might give a character witness that Tom "could never have done that."  When in actuality, Tom could have made the decision to murder his neighbor, but Tom's character would never have allowed it. 

Resurrection

What is “resurrection”? Is it the same thing as eternal life? Does anything in Dr. Ward’s presentation make it easier for you to believe in the possibility of a life beyond death?

The video in our class material states that death is the way to life. This is resurrection – life that follows death. It can be the glorious resurrection of Jesus, but there are other ways we experience resurrection. When my mother-in-law died from the effects of Alzheimer’s, we met with our pastor as he was planning the funeral. He asked us questions about her, and the conversation brought her back to life in the room with us. I don’t mean that she came back to physical life, but the memories of her – her photography, her lists, her lively existence with us – was returned to us as we talked to our pastor. It felt like a resurrection. Death bringing life.  It isn’t always the same thing as eternal life, although it can be, as it will be (we hope in our faith) for us.

 

As I think about the universe Dr. Ward explains – matter created and held together in the mind of God – I can see how eternal life with God could work (or at least a little bit). We won’t be the people we are now (Jesus tells us that), but we will be the children of God that God created, existing in the consciousness of God, like the universe. Of course, that is also the case now, as we exist in this world.

Resurrection

What is “resurrection”? Is it the same thing as eternal life? Does anything in Dr. Ward’s presentation make it easier for you to believe in the possibility of a life beyond death?

The video in our class material states that death is the way to life. This is resurrection – life that follows death. It can be the glorious resurrection of Jesus, but there are other ways we experience resurrection. When my mother-in-law died from the effects of Alzheimer’s, we met with our pastor as he was planning the funeral. He asked us questions about her, and the conversation brought her back to life in the room with us. I don’t mean that she came back to physical life, but the memories of her – her photography, her lists, her lively existence with us – was returned to us as we talked to our pastor. It felt like a resurrection. Death bringing life.  It isn’t always the same thing as eternal life, although it can be, as it will be (we hope in our faith) for us.

 

As I think about the universe Dr. Ward explains – matter created and held together in the mind of God – I can see how eternal life with God could work (or at least a little bit). We won’t be the people we are now (Jesus tells us that), but we will be the children of God that God created, existing in the consciousness of God, like the universe. Of course, that is also the case now, as we exist in this world.

Religious Experiences

What elements would you include if you were describing a profound religious experience to a friend?  Would your description be any different if your friend happened to be a scientist?

When my husband and I were youth counselors, we took our youth group to a Conference Camp for a retreat. After we had packed the two vans to leave and head back home, we circled up the field outside the cabins with the cross in the background and shared a closing prayer.  As my husband led the prayer, a wind came across the field and surrounded us. It felt like the presence of God. 

 

When I tell that story to people, I include what we were doing at the time, who was there, the fact that we were praying together after a meaningful retreat with the youth, and then how the elements of nature – the wind and the field – contributed to the profound experience of the presence of God among us.  I would use the same elements of the story if I were telling the story to a friend who was a scientist because my purpose is not to explain the science of the wind but presence of the holy.

Truth and Facts

How is truth dependent upon facts? Is truth more than “mere fact”? Can you think of something that is true but not factual? Is this possible in science? In religion (e.g., are any stories in the Bible true but not factual)?

The Cambridge English dictionary defines fact as “something that is known t have happened or to exist, especially something for which proof exists, or about which there is information”  Oxford languages says truth is “a thing that is known or provided to be true.”  Facts are true, as far as we can tell, but truth is not limited to facts. 

There are many examples of things that are truth but not factual.  A parable shares truth, but probably are not factual. The point of a fable, for example, is to share a truth in a way that is not factual. Simple metaphors and more complicated allegories are not factual, but can be truth. Moving beyond those kinds of examples, love is truth, but can’t really proven.

It is more difficult for something in science to be considered truth but not factual.  According to our video, indicators of truth in science include measurability, replicability, and controlled experimental evidence. For me, the theory of evolution is close to truth because it is supported by the evidence.  A hypothesis is less than truth because it has yet to be proven by experimental evidence. In science, truth and fact walk hand in hand.

In religion, there are many examples of stories that are considered true but are not factual.  We don’t search for factual support for stories in the Bible even though we consider them to carry truth (or not very often do we search for evidence). An example, for me, are the biblical stories of creation.  They carry truth, but are not factual. Did Jonah really live in the belly of a fish?  Maybe not, but there is truth in the story.

Can Evolution Encourage Belief?

The incompatibility of Darwin’s theory to faith is often assumed. What is understood to undermine belief in this model? What is your take: Can evolution encourage belief? Why might God choose evolution as a means for creation?

According to the material, the two challenges in Darwin’s theory of evolution are that it undercut the idea that God directly designed all creatures and that it challenged notions of humanity’s uniqueness.

 

I do believe that evolution can encourage belief. First, for someone who finds a literal interpretation of Genesis to be too difficult for belief, evolution provides a physical means by which we can understand how God created. Secondly, the vastness of God’s creatures – their uniqueness and wonderfulness is a product of evolution, so that to me is inspiring.  Third, humanity is unique among God’s creatures. We share many characteristics in common with other creations, but we are still uniquely made. The idea that evolution brought us to this point is amazing and inspiring.

 

God created a physical world and God placed physical creatures in it. Evolution means that God created a system that adapts to the world around it. I think this flexibility and adaptation speak strongly for evolution being a way that God created the world.  And I think a physical world needs a physical means of creation. 

Breaking Out

Why would it have been difficult to break out of the Aristotelian view of the universe? Can you think of any contemporary parallels?

Aristotle believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe. He described elegant spheres in a geocentric model where every component was perfect and unchanging with uniform motion. By the time the model was questioned and Copernicus’ model of sun-centric system was proposed, the Aristotle model had been accepted by both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church.

I think this offers three reasons why it would have been difficult to break out of the Aristotelian view of the universe. First, we, as humans, are often satisfied (and even look for) systems that place us at the center. We want to be the most important; we want to be what everything else revolves around. Secondly, the idea of a perfect, elegant system means that we don’t need to make changes – in fact, we cannot make changes, and we like the comfort of that. Thirdly, it is hard to break away from a theory that is accepted by steadfast organizations like the church. Disagreement puts us on the outside of what is accepted.

 

This might be a stretch, but I think Christian Nationalism is a contemporary parallel. First, it places our own country at the center of not only the world, but also in the center of God’s love. Nationalism says that we are more accepted and loved by God – blessed by God beyond what other countries are. We are the most important in God’s eyes, and we place our country above our faith – our “centeredness” above our Christianity. We build the faith in the image we want it to be. Secondly, it creates a universe in which we as patriotic Christians are the best. To criticize those who are patriotic or to say another group might be better is rejected.  Thirdly, it’s hard to reject a belief when you are in the middle of it, because you are not only rejecting the nation but also the God that is part of the Christian National model. It makes you feel disloyal – to the God you have created and to the country you love.

 

Worldview

 To recognize the worldview each of us holds is important. How was your worldview formed? How is it different from the worldview of others whom you know?

My worldview was formed first by my family life, especially as I was raised by my mother. School played a role from early in my life as well.  There was a belief in God in my life early on, although we didn’t attend church on a regular basis.  Another factor . in my world view is where I grew up – I am a product of an Appalachian culture. When I was in high school, a friend invited me to her church – that invitation opened up a world for me that I hadn’t experience before – regular church attendance in a United Methodist Church.  Studying science in college and graduate school also shaped my worldview. As an adult, my family – husband and two sons – as well as friends continue to impact my worldview.

I think my worldview is different from many because I was raised by my mother after she and my father divorced.  One sees the role of women differently when there is rarely a man in one’s home – it is easier for me to see women as equal to men with everyone able to define their roles in life. Marrying a man who has this same outlook helps, too. I think people raises in my part of the county have a view of family and community  support that isn’t the same as everyone’s.  Studying and working in the field of science creates a different kind of worldview, too.  I look for facts and data before I come to a conclusion while others don’t need that kind of input, and yet, because of my faith, I have a mind open to the presence and action of God.