Abstract
Enhancements to science and engineering curricula are being considered in light of theologically-significant scientific discoveries, as well as the field application to form a coherent cosmology and worldview. In addition to including these ideas in current science and engineering courses, a new “Science and Faith” course is being developed to better equip and inspire science and engineering graduates for serving as “everyday” missionaries in their chosen fields.
This new course will focus on the knowledge and skills necessary for graduates to engage in fruitful dialogue with seekers from high-tech and highly-educated societies. Students will receive training in science-related apologetics, including the attitude and behavior of the Christian apologist. They will gain an understanding of the importance of God’s general revelation, and how recent developments in science and engineering may contribute to the veracity of a Christian worldview. The latest developments regarding design evidence, creation and evolution, and natural theology will be discussed and evaluated, as well as various Christian positions on the relationship between science and Scripture. An extended design argument based on evidence from many fields of knowledge and forming a cumulative case for the Christian worldview will also be discussed and evaluated.
Given that complex design is largely the domain of the engineer, it is recognized that engineers have an important role to play in current science and theology dialogue. The Apostle Paul’s assertion that God’s invisible qualities can be known, “being understood from what has been made” (Rom 1:20, New International Version) may refer to knowledge obtained through a kind of reverse-engineering of the cosmos. Indeed, the systems engineering mindset has proven to be extremely useful in complex fields such as microbiology. A compelling argument remains that the universe is readily and profitably reverse-engineered, that it must have been engineered in the first place. The idea that many features of the universe suggest (through conciliating evidence) that the entire cosmos is an engineered system will be investigated, including possible purposes for such a system. The concepts of constrained optimization and engineering tradeoffs will also be introduced to assist in wrestling with the problem of evil from the Christian worldview. It is hoped that as a result of this initiative, students will graduate full of ready answers (1 Peter 3:15, NIV) and will be inspired to live a life of purpose and mission for the glory of God.
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Recommended Citation
Halsmer, D. M., Asper, J. M., & Zigrang, B. (2011). Enhancing science and engineering programs to equip and inspire missionaries in technical communities. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education, 5(1), 15-33. https://doi.org/10.31380/sotlched.5.1.15
