By Prof. Jeff Tallon, physicist The Reverend Canon Sir John Polkinghorne KBE FRS passed away on 9 March 2021. While he distinguished himself in two separate careers, one as a professor of mathematical physics and the other, latterly, as an
John Polkinhorne (1930-2021): testimony of a biblical scholar
Re John Polkinghorne, by Dr. Tim Medowdroft, Senior Research Fellow, Old Testament, Laidlaw College I was sad to hear this week that John Polkinghorne had died. I am not a scientist (not even close) on two counts, first that I
The queens of science
By Gray Manicom. Both Theology and Mathematics have been celebrated as “the queen of the sciences”. Perhaps the famous mathematician Gauss, who thus crowned Mathematics, was critiquing the aged words of the famous theologian Aquinas. Perhaps he was implying that
Is there Mathematics without God?
By Gray Manicom, Phd student in mathematics, University of Auckland Galileo Galilei supposedly said “Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe”. This makes Mathematics seem like something independent of God, that exists without God and that
How do we talk to Children about evolution?
by Emma Belcher Recently, my six-year-old daughter saw a picture of the typical (but erroneous) monkey to man evolution transition. Her comment was something like, “oh so it started like a monkey, then went to there, and then to us.”
The Amazing Placenta: evolution and pathway to humanness
The amazing placenta: evolution and lifeline to humanness[1] Summary: This article describes aspects of how the placenta arose in evolutionary time. It describes how the quality of placental function reflects environmental factors (including social ones) that impinge upon the mother.
The Human Body in Feldenkrais and Dooyeweerd
Alan Cameron, Legal Scholar, LLM (Jurisprudence), CFP, MNZFG I am an independent Christian legal scholar with a particular interest in the philosophy of law. I was a founding member of the Wellington Centre for Christian Studies based at Victoria University,
The Sixth Mass Extinction & Genesis
By Dr. Yael Klangwisan Suffering tends to be silent. Extinction is no different. We need science, the humanities and Scripture to give voice to this silence. In this blog, a biblical scholar reflects on human loneliness without animals, how science
Are viruses evil? The book of Job, coronavirus and genetics
By Dr. Jacob Martin During this pandemic it is hard to make sense of all of the suffering around the world. Where is God in this pandemic? Is this a judgement from God? How does God allow viruses to kill
Healing in a Time of Pandemic
By Nicola Hoggard Creegan Based on a sermon on John 9:1-41 given at All Saints, Ponsonby, on Sunday 22nd. On March 24th this year, we were given 2 days’ notice to move from level 2 to level 4 lockdown, a
The Gospel of Jesus and the Crisis of the Earth
By Graeme, Finlay In appreciation of Sir John Houghton FRS who died on the 15th April 2020, a victim of COVID-19. The authors of a major study have concluded that ‘Human actions are causing the fabric of life to unravel’;
An Earth Day Parable
The Pangolin Effect: Covid-19 and Human Sin by Silvia Purdie, 22nd April 2020 April 22ndis Earth Day, and it behoves us to think closely about our effect on the earth. The trail of this present pandemic tragedy is a case in
Being a Christian in postgraduate research
What does it look like for a Christian to be doing postgraduate research? Postgrad research is an opportunity to contribute to expanding our knowledge about the physical world. Everyone hopes for breakthroughs, securing an academic position or even saving the
Evangelism by irritation: Kim Hill interviews Andy Gosler
Evangelism by irritation: Kim Hill interviews Andy Gosler
Evolution and Beauty
by Nicola Hoggard Creegan In our upcoming conference Beyond Conflict: Evolution, Science and God, we will among other things, be exploring different understandings of evolution, both at the level of mechanism and philosophically. This blog, then, is a short excursus
Easter reflections
by Nicola Hoggard Creegan It is Easter, and He is risen! We hear very little if anything about the religious meaning of Easter in the New Zealand media. This central core of Christian teaching, is, however, of immense importance in our
Does Science Prove God? A Response to Professor Richard Easther
The Spinoff recently published a blog post written by Professor Richard Easther, head of the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland. The post concerned the showing of a “creationist” video (embedded in the post) in Mount Hobson Middle School during
Seeing God
by Prof. Carolyn King There is a story about an American who was determined to see the Loch Ness monster. He travelled to Scotland, and asked the locals for information about when and where it had been seen, and by
Suffering and God
This blog post is a series of responses on the issue of pain and suffering in light of theism to questions posed on our Facebook page Response from Graeme Finlay Our universe has a fascinating history. An important lesson to
The Nature of Dialogue
This excerpt is from a book by Paul Stock, Duel or Dialogue: The relationship between science and faith. Copies of this book can be obtained directly from the author at Chaplain@massey.ac.nz Genuine enquiry In recent years we have seen the demise of
The wonder of our inscribed history
This talk was presented at the God of Wonder NZCIS conference 2017 by Graeme Finlay For further reading on evolution and creation see the multiple resources at Biologos The relationship between biblical creation and biological evolution is often misconstrued. I provide two reasons
Beyond Anthropocentrism: Are we guilty of causing the ecologic crisis?
Adapted from a paper given at the Beyond Blame conference, Wellington October 8th, a partnership between the Center for Theology and Public Issues (Otago), A Rocha Aotearoa NZ, and NZCIS. Nicola Hoggard Creegan This year (2017) we mark the
Scientists and God in Colonial Life
This blog is a shortened form of the paper John presented at the conference, God of Wonder in September. Scientists and God in colonial New Zealand. John Stenhouse, Department of History, University of Otago ‘Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of
Introductions – Prof. Peter Munro
Introductions is a blog series introducing members of New Zealand Christians in Science, our stories into faith and into science. We hope you will get to know us and join the movement. Prof. Peter Munro, FRSNZ I liked chemistry and mathematics
Let there be Science – Book review
Hutchings D and McLeish D, Let there be Science Oxford:Lion Hudson, 2017 As I age, I experience our Post-Truth, Alternative Fact-laden world as being increasingly dreary. We have entered the gloom depicted in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. I hanker for truth
Introductions – George Seber
Introductions is a blog series introducing members of New Zealand Christians in Science, our stories into faith and into science. We hope you will get to know us and join the movement. George Seber, FRSNZ, Ph.D, Dip. Counsel., Cert. Supervision Emeritus
Explaining, Not Explaining Away
Reblogged with permission from Science and Belief Human beings tend to look after their families and friends, and at times we even show concern for complete strangers. Some of this care and compassion can be explained in terms of hormones.
Interview with Dr Graeme Finlay
Dr Graeme Finlay is a cell biologist who teaches scientific pathology at the University of Auckland and conducts his research in the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre. He has a degree in theology and is active as a lay preacher.
On Thomas, the Resurrection and the interface between faith and science
On Thomas, the Resurrection and the interface between faith and science. Nicola Hoggard Creegan He is risen! He is still risen! This is the Church season of Easter, the fifty days after Easter Sunday. But no sooner is the celebration