Geostationary Orbits
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 Man’s ability to place objects in orbit provides us with spiritual object lessons. Our musings about radio and television satellites beaming their digital messages to our receivers at the speed of light raise some questions. We may observe our rooftop satellite dish and wonder why the installation technician pointed it in…
Read MoreThe Blue Marble
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 “Awesome” has become an overworked word in our culture, especially among young people. “Awesome” is slang for “enthusiastic approval.” Its root word, “awe,” is less used and underappreciated, but its meaning is far more powerful: deep wonder, respect, reverence, perhaps even coupled with holy fear. Eclipses inspire awe as few other…
Read MoreCelestial Celebration
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 On the evening of March 12, 2009, my wife and two dozen other Holy Land tourists arrived in Jerusalem by bus from Ben Gurion Airport. Before arriving at our hotel, tour host Jimmy DeYoung instructed our driver to pull in to an elevated parking area. Most of our group members carefully…
Read MoreThe Science Wars
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 The term war conjures up powerful emotions. In most cases a war is a battle between those holding differing ideologies. Most often people associate war with armed conflict. Other disputes could result only in verbal exchanges or other hostile actions short of armed conflict. Many would be surprised to learn that…
Read MorePurpose of Scriptural Language
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 The type of language used in scripture helps reveal the author’s purpose for writing. C. John (Jack) Collins recently addressed the Vibrant Dance of Faith and Science Symposium from that standpoint with respect to the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Collins is professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary. One…
Read MoreScience in Our Churches
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 Most pastors have a clear goal for topical and stylistic emphasis in their preaching and the direction their educational programs should travel. For that clarity of vision, they should be affirmed and commended. Willingness to expand outreach and improve ministry effectiveness is also a characteristic of effective church leadership. At the…
Read MoreOrigin of Information
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 Charles Darwin’s legacy, according to Stephen Meyer, Discovery Institute’s director of the Center for Science and Culture, is that the appearance of design features in living things is a gradual process and a mere accident of natural selection and random mutation. Selective breeding, deliberately accomplished by man to produce woollier sheep…
Read MoreCreation Markers
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 Reasons to Believe scholar Fazale Rana, a biochemist, addressed evidence for design in the biosphere at his October 26, 2010 plenary address at the Hill Country Institute for Contemporary Christianity’s “Vibrant Dance of Faith and Science” symposium. God is not only the Creator, but also the Redeemer. Therefore, we could expect…
Read MoreSupernatural Universe Design
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 A humorous irony concerning physics and astronomy is revealed by the different terms sometimes used to describe these branches of science. Physics, with its applications related to such fields as cosmology and space science, is known as “hard science”–perceived as more rigorous and quantitatively precise than “soft science” disciplines such as…
Read MoreTheistic Evolution and Modern Science
By: Jim Virkler; ©2010 The recent Vibrant Dance Symposium and its avowed purpose “to understand the landscape of faith/science interaction” brought together a blend of viewpoints from “expert witnesses.” Theistic evolution (TE) was prominently represented. This position is frowned upon by many Christians but readily embraced by others who feel, as described by C. John…
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