Summary of Project Ideas for CCCU Faculty Development Workshop in Mathematics and Computer Science
In the past several years I have been spurred on to explore the relationships between mathematics and Christian faith by my own interest the subject, by a desire to incorporate the study of these relationships in a capstone mathematics course I teach every few years, and by my goal to get tenure at Bethel College, Minnesota. Through this process my own interests in mathematics, science, and faith, as well as the book “Mathematics in a Postmodern Age, A Christian Perspective” have informed my thoughts and given me possible directions for future scholarship in this area. While I am a novice with regard to the integration of mathematics and faith (and science), I do have some rudimentary ideas that I would like to develop. I am not sure which of these directions may prove most fruitful for the workshop, but these are my starting points at the moment.
Mathematics, Science,
and Faith
I am interested in a number of areas in the relationship between mathematics, science, and faith. Probably my biggest area of interest is in how mathematics can contribute to the debate on origins. While I am not very knowledgeable in this area at the moment, I am very interested in learning more. In particular, I am interested in learning how the mathematics of probability, information theory, complexity theory, and chaos theory contribute to both sides of the debate. My research has been in the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations and dynamical systems and, while I am not an expert in chaos theory, I know it reasonably well and I think it would be a good starting point for me, though I will certainly need to strengthen my knowledge of the other relevant areas of mathematics and of biology. Finally, I am also interested in gaining a better understanding the theological issues of the debate.
Besides gaining a better understanding of the mathematics, biology, and theology involved in the debate on origins, I would hope and pray that God would use me to be a “bridge” between the scientific community and the Christian community (and also possibly other communities of faith). What would be my message to the scientific community? Perhaps it would be along philosophical lines, informed by mathematics and faith. In particular, I could emphasize that the appearance of randomness does not imply “true” randomness or purposelessness. “True” randomness may exist within the theory of probability, but in our application of probability to the world around us, we may just be modeling the appearance of randomness (perhaps in all situations, not just coin flips and the like). As a Christian, I believe I am compelled to believe that God is both the Creator of the universe and that He is intimately involved in the universe at every moment. He is the “originator”, “sustainer”, and “director” of creation. If God works in the creation on a day-to-day basis in ways which are mysterious and seem random at times, it is not such a stretch to believe that God might be the guiding force behind evolution in ways which are mysterious and seem random at times.
What would be my message to the Christian community? Perhaps it would be along the lines of emphasizing that there is something which both communities value, truth. I would conjecture that most scientists are not post-modernists. They believe that their theories really do reflect the real world. In addition, I think that most scientists are generally not antagonistic to faith and are sincere in the desire to know truth. As a mathematician who is interested in science, I believe that the scientific method and mathematical modeling in science are generally reliable ways of pointing us towards truth. I hold this belief mostly because of my belief in a creator God who endowed mankind with an ability to reason, though we may often use it incorrectly.
These two communities can come together if they acknowledge their shared value of truth and if they are both willing to show humility in their beliefs about what is true. I believe the scientific community, though their theories on origins are very good, should acknowledge that they are indeed theories and therefore may not be an accurate description of what happened, especially if they hold to a completely naturalistic viewpoint. In addition, scientists make mistakes and introduce subjectivity in how they view their data because of their worldviews, and this should be acknowledged. I believe that the Christian community, especially my own community of evangelicals, should acknowledge that while they have many good and faithful people, they may not always interpret the Bible correctly and therefore their (many diverse) views on origins may not be accurate descriptions of what happened. Christians should also acknowledge that, while they believe very strongly in the truth of God and the Bible by faith, and that there are many good logical reasons for this faith in God and the Bible, they do indeed hold these beliefs by faith and therefore they may be mostly unprovable by scientific standards. Finally, Christians also make mistakes and introduce subjectivity in how they view their data (both natural data and biblical data) because of their worldviews, and this should be acknowledged.
In summary, by being a “bridge” I hope I could help remove barriers for scientifically-minded people to come to Christ and I hope I could help the Christian community to see that science and scientists need not be antagonistic to faith. All of this can happen even when the two communities disagree on details.
There are a few other areas that I am interested in exploring in the relationship between mathematics, science, and faith. For instance, I am very interested in exploring what “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in science might to say about the existence of and nature of God. I am also interested in thinking about how, with the right heart attitudes, studying mathematics and science can be viewed as an act of worship and how these disciplines can “feed our souls”. Finally, I am interested in the understanding the lessons that mathematics, science, and theology teach us about the infinite and how these views on the infinite interplay.
Up to this point in my career, I have been more of a pure mathematician than an applied one. I have always been attracted to the pristine beauty of pure mathematics and it has also come much more easily for me. I believe that the beauty of pure mathematics is a good gift from God and I emphasize this quality to my students quite often. However, God has put on my heart in recent years the desire to become a better applied mathematician so that I can use my skills to benefit the world and advance His Kingdom. As I mentioned previously, my area of training is in the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations and dynamical systems, which could lend itself well to modeling projects in ecology, physiology, and epidemiology, to name a few. As I mentioned before, I lack experience and knowledge in biology, but I seek to team with others whose knowledge and strengths would complement mine. I am also interested in becoming more knowledgeable about actuarial science and economics in order to intelligently enter discussions on ways we can help affordably insure more people in our society.
I have a friend who received a masters degree in operations
research and is now training to be a theologian. He has proposed to me that we someday team-teach a course on
“Mathematics and Theology” (my first task in setting up such a course would be
to make sure we can get enough students to sign up! J ). He is the one who has done most of the thinking about the course
so far, and I’m interested in doing the course, but I must say that I’m
currently even less of an expert in this area than I am in the areas mentioned
previously. He proposes a course whose
topics could include: 1) Infinity and God, 2) Incompleteness
and Epistemology, 3) Logic and God-Language, and 4) Dynamical Systems and
Providence/Free-will. This is therefore
another possible area for me to work on and I would enjoy doing so.
Though my thinking in all of these areas so far has been at a basic level, I desire to delve more deeply into them and thus grow in my profession and in my relationship with God. As far as the workshop goes, I am willing to focus on any one of these areas where I would complement other workshop members well and have a good chance of being successful.