Dinner Conversation
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 When we strike up conversation with friends at dinner, the topics raised revolve around the importance of discovering the interests of our friends and new acquaintances. Are our dinner partners interested in politics, history, or music? Do we enjoy telling about our respective family histories? Is the newest technology a subject…
Read MoreEvolution and Normal Science
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Science philosopher Thomas Kuhn in his landmark work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) proposed new ideas in the public’s vision of science. Kuhn introduced several new terms, including paradigm, paradigm shift, paradigm war, scientific revolution, and normal science. Among the public the latter term is one of the most broadly…
Read MoreParadigm Wars
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Back in the middle of the first decade of the new millennium, I took it upon myself to engage several strongholds of evolution. Having been a science instructor in our public schools, I wrote to some of my former colleagues. I also submitted letters to local and national newspapers with my…
Read MoreQuestions for the Handmaiden and Queen
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Science/Faith conferences are highlighted on church and college calendars. The subject of science as it relates to faith has proven to be instructive for many in the church and on Christian college campuses. Pastors, Christians working in science careers, science majors, and laypersons with a special interest in science are pleased…
Read MoreScience/Faith Conferences
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 The interface between science and faith is the subject of many investigations among Christians in the field of science and to a lesser extent, among the laypeople in our churches. Popular conferences bring together science scholars to investigate the relationship between science and faith. Some seminars are directed toward and populated…
Read MoreSource of Intuition
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Human intuition, an adjunct to scientists’ assembled evidence concerning origins, has received its share of attention to explain how we form our beliefs. When all is said and done, after scientists make their case for evolution, are their science students and the public at large overwhelmed by their power of persuasion?…
Read MoreIntuitive Recognition
By: Jim Virkler; ©2013 Curiosity about the physiology of the eye and the function of human vision leads us to inquire more deeply about how such wonders came to be. Science professionals are not content to discover merely physical processes even though such discovery is fascinating on its own merits. Scientific findings, for example, that…
Read MoreEmergence of Consciousness
By: Jim Virkler; ©2014 To those who have a sense of wonder about works of the Creator, one may look no further than the birth of a human child. Contemplating the scientific concept of emergence, we cite an astonishing example of emergence: the emergence of consciousness. This term is defined as the state of being…
Read MoreConception to Consciousness
By: Jim Virkler; ©2014 Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), English poet and philosopher, stated, “The history of a man for the nine months preceding his birth would, probably, be far more interesting and contain events of greater moment than all the three score and ten years that follow it.” Coleridge was neither a scientist nor a…
Read MoreNatural Deterioration
By: Jim Virkler; ©2012 One of our foremost cultural icons is our virtual fixation on youthful health, strength, and attractiveness. Mature citizens are proud if their appearance remains youthful. Those who maintain physical appearance more typical of young people, along with physical abilities of people in their prime of life, are singled out for praise…
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