New Faith / Science Resources

One of this Blog's objectives is to provide pointers to other helpful Faith / Science resources. Here are three new resources that should be of interest to many readers.

A) New Resource for Churches: "Test of Faith" Film
The UK based Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is one of the world's premier faith / science organizations and has probably the best set of multimedia resources available on the web. Faraday has now launched a Templeton Foundation supported initiative called Test of Faith with the goal to provide resources to churches. Contributions will come from Polkinghorne, McGrath, Collins and many others. A documentary film has been shot and you can catch a preview at the Pentecost Festival this weekend in London - unfortunately that is London, England and not London, Ontario – so I won’t be attending.

Additional related (but work in progress) resources include:

• A book
• A short course for small groups based on sections of the film.
• A leaders' guide with background information and helps for preparation and further study
• Short articles for free download
• Extracts from the film for use in a talk or sermon
• Extended interviews with scientists to watch online

B) Biologos

Over on this side of the pond Collins along with Karl Giberson and Darrel Falk have launched their own Templeton supported initiative – the Biologos Foundation.

BioLogos represents the harmony of science and faith. It addresses the central themes of science and religion and emphasizes the compatibility of Christian faith with scientific discoveries about the origins of the universe and life. To communicate this message to the general public and add to the ongoing dialog, The BioLogos Foundation created BioLogos.org.

On their website they have articles, answers to frequently asked questions, and a blog called Science and the Sacred (unfortunately, the authors don’t appear to be participating in the comments section). Other projects include providing curriculum for Christian schools, short courses, and workshops. The first workshop will be led by Tim Keller and looks very interesting:

The fall workshop is intended to build bridges between key leaders, which will open up comfortable communication channels between respected evangelical scientists working on origins, and key religious leaders in the evangelical Christian church. Invitations have been extended to 15 leading scientists, 15 leading theologians, and 15 leading pastors.

The focus of the 2009 workshop will be celebrating God’s creation in the light of 21st century knowledge about the universe and our place in it.

Since this workshop is “invitation only” I won’t be attending this event either. Hey if they have 15 each of leading scientists, theologians, and pastors, you would think they could include at least one blogger? If that concession is made, my vote (and all proxies my readers care to give me) go to RJS who posts on science and faith over at Scot McKnight’s Blog JesusCreed - some of the best conversations in the blogosphere. On her most recent post both Kenton Sparks (author of God’s Word in Human Words) and Peter Enns (author of Inspiration and Incarnation) are participating in the conversation.

C) New Resource for Christian Schools

If you can’t wait for the Biologos curriculum, you should check out Gordon Glover’s just completed 16-part video series Science and Christian Education on his youtube channel. No Templeton Foundation funding or team of world famous scientists and theologians on Gordon’s team. Just one guy that is passionate about helping his fellow Christians understand that science does not have to threaten their faith.