|
|
|
|
|
Speaker: Loren Haarsma
Position: Assistant Professor of Physics, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009 Title: Darwin and Calvin: God's providence and human origins in light of evolution. Abstract: The evidence for biological evolution convinces many Christians that it is a sound scientific theory; however, many are concerned about its implications for theology. How can God's providence and design be seen in a process characterized by mechanistic natural laws and random events? If the first chapters of Genesis aren't meant to teach us the "how" and the "when" of creation, what then do they teach us? If humans share common ancestry with animals, can we uniquely be created in the image of God? Does the concept of "original sin" still make sense if humans evolved? I believe there are good answers to these questions, but they are not trivial. I'll draw primarily but not exclusively from my own tradition, Calvinism, and discuss ways to preserve and enhance our understanding of essential Christian theology in light of evolution. Dr. Haarsma received his PhD in Physics from Harvard in 1994. He did Postdoctoral research at Tufts and University of Pennsylvania in neuroscience before taking a teaching position at his undergraduate alma mater, Calvin College. Haarsma, whose specialty is biophysics, has published extensively in scientific journals on neuroscience and physics topics and written numerous book chapters and journal articles on science and faith topics. Recently, Loren and his wife, an astronomer and Calvin physics professor, wrote a book "Origins: A Reformed Look at Creation, Design, and Evolution" dealing with the controversies of science and theology and understanding how different Christians approach these issues. View Dr. Haarsma's web page here |