1 Integration of Faith and the Scientific Professional Career: A Christian Calling Paulo F. Ribeiro, PhD Professor of Engineering Calvin College 3201 Burton.

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Integration of Faith andthe Scientific Professional Career:A Christian Calling

Paulo F. Ribeiro, PhDProfessor of EngineeringCalvin College3201 Burton Street S.E.Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 - [email protected]://engr.calvin.edu/PRibeiro_WEBPAGE/

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Outline

Worldview Issues, Science, Technology/Engineering

BackgroundPilgrimage …

Motivation for Integration

Challenges for Integration

Strategies for Integration

Actions for Integration

Conclusions

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Introductory Question

“The questions of all questions for humanity, the problem which lies beyond all others and is more interesting than any of them is that of the determination of men's place in nature and his relation to the Cosmos. Whence our race came, what sort of limits are set to our power over nature and to nature’s power over us, to what goal are we striving,…[these]…are the problems which present themselves afresh, with undiminished interest, to every human being on earth.”

T. H. Huxley (1863)

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J. Sire: Worldviews: seven basic questions

1. What is prime reality?

2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

3. What is a human being?

4. What happens to a person at death?

5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?

6. How do we know what is right and wrong?

7. What is the meaning of human history?

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The nature and purpose of Science

• Science as a way of knowing

• Science as explication of nature– Explaining the patterns, orderliness, laws of

nature

• Science as pursuit of knowledge

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God

World

Human Human

StewardshipServanthood

LawChristWord

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Science as a human activity is influenced by worldviews

• Some examples of worldviews:

• Scientism

• Naturalism

• Evolutionism

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Core of Christian Conceptual Framework or worldview

• Rom. 11:36: From Christ, through Christ, and unto Christ are all things.

• Col. 1:16-17: For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together…For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, she on the cross.

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The nature of law (lawfulness)

• Law as ordering principles• Distinction between descriptive and

prescriptive laws• Concerns the question of: whence is the

lawfulness?• Relation of God to the creation is that of law

– Law-Word– Creation Word– Christ as Word (Jn. 1)

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Sketch of a Biblical view of nature

• Bible seldom uses the term “nature”

• Bible usually talks about nature in terms of ordinances, commands, and decrees – Ordinance, dominion (Jer. 31– Command (Job 37:15; Ps. 148:5; 147:15)– Fixed order (Jer. 31)– Decree (Job 28:26)– Meter, measure (Job 28:25– Set bounds (Ps 104:9; Ps. 148; Ps. 119:91)– Call (by name) Is. 40:26

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Biblical sketch of nature

• Relationship between God and nature• God is Maker of Heaven and Earth• The creation world is firmly rooted in the

creation covenant (Jer. 33:20-25; Ps. 111:5-8)

• Creation reveals God’s Power & Wisdom (Ps. 104:24; Ps. 136:5; Prov. 3:19; Is. 40:12-14; Jer. 10:12-13; 51: 15-16)

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Biblical sketch of nature -3

• The creation – created and maintained by or through God’s Word which embodies God’s power and wisdom

• Jn 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….through him all things were made: without him nothing was made that has been made

• Ps 33:6; Ps. 148:5; Is. 48:13; P. 119:89; Jer. 10:12; 51:16; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 2:10; 3:9; Heb. 1:1-3

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Biblical sketch of nature

• The order (orderings) which the Bible talks about isn’t simply the physical laws of modern science, but the concrete structures which become expressed in created reality and which determine their functions

• The meaning of Law in view of the above: The condition for the existence of reality; the relation between God and the world

• God loves the creation (cosmos) John 3:16-17

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Some implications of a Biblical view of nature

• Summary definition (as expressed by J. Diemer)– “Nature is an order established by God within which

all His works are enacted”• The createdness of reality as the basis for science• Limitations of science: science is bound to the creational

order; to that which is created• Human beings, created in God’s image• The tension that often exists between culture and nature,

resulting in a disintegration of the shalom in creation, is due to human’s misdirected cultural activity – the Fall into sin

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Knowledge involves understanding basic relationships

• Relationship of God to world (cosmos)

• Relationship of God to humankind

• Relationship of humankind to world

• Relationship of human beings to human beings

• Vertical and horizontal relationships

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Engineering Program Philosophy

• Engineers are designers• Engineering courses are taught within a design

perspective• Unity of ideas from the mathematical to the

political• Design curriculum includes analysis, problem

solving, and the liberal arts• Responsibility toward people and the natural world • Engineering design is viewed as a vocation and a

calling of God

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Educational Objectives:

1. individuals who are firmly grounded in the basic principles and skills in engineering, mathematics, science, and the humanities, for correct, perceptive, and sensitive problem assessment at a level appropriate for both entry level work in industry and in graduate school;

2. designers who are able to creatively bring a project from problem statement to final design while realizing the interdisciplinary and interdependent character of the engineering profession; and

3. servants whose Christian faith leads them to an engineering career of action and involvement, to personal piety, integrity, and social responsibility.

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Enacting the Vision-- Grounding Engineers in the Basics

• Engineering is a “synthetic” discipline– Brings together knowledge from many areas

– Working with God’s creation and the people in it

• Curriculum reinforces that with: – breadth in liberal arts, science, and engineering

– depth/concentration in one engineering area

• Faith gives the context for how we serve as designers

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Modal Aspects of Things

AnimalsPlants

Living

HumanBeings

God

Non-livingthings

pistic / faithmoraljuridicalaestheticeconomicsociallingualhistoricallogicalsensorymorpho. / differentiativebioticPhysical / chemicalkinematicspatialnumerical

Law

Sientia

X

Sapientia

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Enacting the Vision-- Designers for The Designer

“Design” takes you from requirements to a solution

• As image bearers, we are able to design

• Design is central to engineering and is central in the curriculum

– Nearly every course includes opportunities for students to design/synthesize

– Hope Network/Goodwill projects

– Senior design projects

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Enacting the Vision-- Learning to Serve

• Engineers must learn to serve

• Opportunities to see/participate:– Goodwill/Hope Network projects

– Senior design project selection

– Research

– Consulting in local industry

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Background

Pilgrimage …

Motivation for Integration

Challenges for Integration

Strategies for Integration

Actions for Integration

Conclusions

Questions