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Spring 2003 | Volume 26, Number 2 | Faculty
At Oxford, Stiling and McDonald Will Study Links Between Science and Faith

LAST CENTURY
, at Oxford University, intellectuals C.S. Lewis and Owen Barfield debated the controversial topic of how to reconcile science and religion. For the next three summers at Oxford, two Seattle Pacific University professors will be among 30 post-doctoral participants exploring the still-controversial topic of the relationship between science and faith.

The John Templeton Oxford Seminar on Science and Christianity, now entering its second round, is co-sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Converging at Oxford this July for the unusual post-doctoral seminar will be selected scholars from a range of fields related to science and theology. There they will hear experts — and conduct research — in both fields.

Seattle Pacific Professor of Theological Studies Randy Maddox, who participated in the first round, praises the seminar’s thrust. “Often, professors have a doctoral degree in one field and not in the other,” he says. “The people who put this seminar together want to train people in the inter-disciplinary field.”

Rod Stiling, SPU associate professor of history, and Pat McDonald, SPU assistant professor of philosophy, are the only two participants to be chosen from the same university. Stiling plans to add to his research on 19th-century interpretations of the Genesis Flood and to explore links between evolution theory and Christianity. “Christendom is getting more interested in theistic evolution,” says Stiling. “I’m interested in asking, ‘Where’s the theism’”

McDonald has a similar project in mind: exploring the merits of intelligent design theory. “I’m interested in examining why some have categorically separated super-natural events from science,” says McDonald. “You can’t expect to get all the answers about the universe from science alone.”

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From the President
Cultivating hope in the face of chaos is vital today. "This is the time for a Christian university to dig down deep into its formative foundations … and decide quite clearly what bread we have to offer,” says President Philip Eaton.

Volumes of Volumes
SPU Library resources will top 22 million items in 2003. Starting this summer, materials can be ordered online from the new “Orca” catalog through the Orbis Cascade Alliance. [Campus]

Homecoming 2003: The Weekend in Photos
From fast-paced hoops to class reunions where former classmates reconnected, Homecoming 2003 was a picture-perfect weekend. See the action here. [Alumni]

The World of Teng Chiu
Seattle’s Frye Museum spotlights an art collection owned by an SPU professor and her husband. Chinese artist Teng Chiu’s work has largely been forgotten, but Joanna Poznanska is helping to reintroduce him to the West. [Faculty]

Playing With Joy
After an incredible season, the unbeaten Falcon women’s basketball team lost the championship game but won the hearts of the Puget Sound fans. [Athletics]

My Response
“The soldier and chaplain are each unique callings fulfilled by those who respond to the call of the nation and to the call of God,” says Chaplain (Major General) Gaylord T. Gunhus, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains.