GroshLink

Pray for this upcoming presentation at Pitt.  If you are available and in the area, drop by:

Physics, Cosmology, and Christianity

Timothy Hamilton, Shawnee State University

12:05 noon, Friday, November 16
202 Frick Fine Arts Building
Coffee and Bagels at 11:55

In recent years, the idea of an inherent antagonism between Christianity and science has gotten many deserved whacks. There is a re-examination of the trial of Galileo, and the Vatican now holds regular cosmology conferences. I don't intend to linger on that well-trod ground, but to explain how concepts in physics and cosmological have affected our religious thinking over time. For instance, we are often told of the religious storm that arose when Copernicus and Galileo later moved the Earth from the center of the universe, but how did these men understand the implications?

The concepts of time and space color our religious language and affect how we perceive reality, both worldly and spiritual. What are the implications, then, of quantum mechanics, relativity, and the big bang? How are they used or misused in religious thinking today?

Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Christian Faculty Forum
See here for more info.

There are times when all our explanations ring false even as we make them.  There are times when it is hard to see how any honest, intelligent person can look at the world without concluding, like Macbeth, that the whole show is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.  Many of us have faith in God and yet have doubts too, and in the long run perhaps it is just as well that we have them.  At least doubts prove that we are in touch with reality, with the things that threaten faith as well as with the things that nourish it.  If we are not in touch with reality, then our faith is apt to be blind, fragile and irrelevant. -- Frederick Buechner, The Longing for Home, brought to my attention by Culture Is Not Optional (CINO). (More)

Rick Pearcy's (publisher of the Pearcy Report) testimony to the work of God at L'Abri through Francis Schaeffer is posted at various places on the internet.

Here's part of the introduction to the Pearcy Report Post, followed by the conclusion:

I have been tagged by Derek on his blog College Transition Initiative in the search for five little-known treasures of the blogosphere in order to put to death our blog boredom. What a trip! Here's a few which will provoke thought and/or spiritual formation, 2 of them would not know who I am and 2 I only know in passing:

Thoughts on God and Truth (Daniel Morris)
Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist (David Koyzis)
The Virtual Abbess (Triadial Abbess from The Abbey)
Standing on my head (Father Dwight Longenecker)
kata ta biblia (Patrick George McCullough)

Anyone else have recommendations?
Note: just thought of Bradley Wright's Weblog and thought I'd add a link to my post The Late, Lamented Personal Web Page.

Many of us have been blessed by the ministry of Francis Schaeffer.  While students at Grove City College, Theresa and I attended Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church, where Schaeffer served as a pastor, and I read page after page of his various books as I sought a truly incarnational/liveable faith rooted in the Reality of God's ultimate purposes.  Several of my friends have visited L'Abri and have given testimony to the value of its ministry back in the day and as I type.  Out of all of his books, True Spirituality has spoken to me the most.

So how does one respond to the critique of Francis' work such as provided by Holy fools, which springboards off of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back written by his son Franky?  I asked my friend Miller his thoughts, you'll remember him from the recent post L'abri Today.  He forwarded to me a number of personal communications, see below.

Last night, Michael Murray (F&M Philosophy Department Chair and the speaker for our December 4 ministry dessert) participated in an interdisciplinary panel discussion God, Evolution, and Racism: A Perfect Storm, which included the Provost who had the plaque removed.

The Chronicle of Higher Education passed along a link to My sci-fi DVD collection is coming along nicely posted by George P. Dvorsky, a Canadian agenda-driven futurist, activist and award winning blogger who offers Transhumanist and Buddhist perspectives on science, philosophy, ethics, and the future of intelligent life (note:  for more read Tagged).  He's looking for glaring omissions and he's received a number of recommendations, including my own suggestion of some Doctor Who from the Tom Baker era.  As I posted on his blog,

 (More)

Recently, I was part of a faculty group which discussed seeing God.  Based upon John 12 and 15, one member shared the idea of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, being the window through which one sees what God is like.

The other morning a friend shared thoughts regarding St. Francis' joy in dying poor.  Later in the day, I came across a post-it note with some thoughts written at some point over the course of the past several months:   (More)

Remember Taylor Mali from Speaking with Conviction? He has quite a way with words: here's What Do Teachers Really Make?  Good to see someone not only articulating a defense for teachers, but also recruiting them for the classroom.  Note:  not how I'd put it out on the table.  Let me know if this is appropriate for posting, particular the ending.

As you may remember, Ed Larson visited F&M on October 18-19.  One of his presentations focused on his new book A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign, giving special attention to the role the gubernatorial race in PA played in the electoral college delegate selection and Adams' whistlestop tour through the area to garner in the votes.  Before you enter the voting booth this year and prepare for next year, take a moment to read this Books & Culture review/reflection on Larson's new book.  To whet your appetite, below is the conclusion (of course maybe that will be all some of you need to read):

Ellen didn't exactly soar into Money and Candy Exchange at the Activities Fun Fair, sponsored by Elizabethtown College and Gears. She didn't want to go to a session without Hayley, who was headed to Cheerleading (and the Groshes go gasp!). So I [Tom] ended up walking down the hall with Ellen. I met another parent, the mother of a 3rd grader at Donegal Springs Elementary, and we had a conversation regarding a number of items including district expansion plans.

As many of you know, listening is difficult for me.  Here's a quote which has provoked some thought:

Listening is a rare happening among human beings.  You cannot listen to the word another is speaking if you are preoccupied with your appearance or impressing the other, or if you are trying to decide what you are going to say when the other stops talking, or if you are debating about whether the word being spoken is true or relevant or agreeable.  Such matters have their place, but only after listening to the word as the word is being uttered.  Listening, in other words, is a primitive act of love, in which a person gives self to another's word, making self accessible and vulnerable to that word.  --William Stringfellow, A Keeper of the Word

Ever since being a little kid chatting w/patients in my Dad's Dental office, (More)

My friend Miller came across Speaking with conviction on Bradley R. E. Wright's Weblog, note: his UConn page is http://sociology.uconn.edu/socifaculty/wright.html.  Another Christian in the sociology field studying Christians, looks like some interesting research. 

But back to the main question, are you willing to be caught Speaking with conviction? (More)

For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well. -- Psalm 139:13-14

Asher Jase made his grand entrance at 12:30am on Tuesday, October 30.  Yeah!  Looking forward to having our growing families get together sometime in the coming months. 

Still wondering what all the fuss is about with regard to the Reformation?  Never read the 95 Theses?  I'd encourage you to join the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) (free) to pick up a copy, among so many other good materials. Below is a copy from Project Wittenberg  (More)