not to interpret the text, but perform it (sequel)
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
Having posted recently about the move from emphasising theory to practice in hard Christian thinking, I was fascinated to come across Andrew Pickering’s performative description of science. My starting point was a CBC postcast on ‘Thinking about science’ (see their podcast page), which includes an interview with Pickering. The interview explicitly touches on this idea as a reaction to modernity (albeit one that emcompasses the modern approach).
I found the whole thing making all sorts of connections, so (when I’m more awake) I’ll probably fire off some reactions to this (elsewhere).
Tags: postmodernism, praxis, science
Reimagining science
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
Way back near the start of this blog I added some thoughts on science and Christianity. I never really took these further. Mainly because they never seemed to fit in. So, I’ve decided to create a breakaway blog, reimagining science, to create some space for that train of thought.
I know what you’re thinking: you’ve haven’t managed to post anything here in the last six months and you’re creating a second one?! You’re right, but you have to try, don’t you?
“It’s better to do something badly than watch someone else do it well.” as boogle recently informed me.
Tags: science
Technology and stewardship
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
As I understand it, when Genesis 2 talks about man being put in the garden ‘to work it and take care of it’, the word for work can also be translated ‘serve’. Certainly that is consistent with the biblical idea of ruling and leading: that such a role is characterised primarily by serving. (If you want evidence from this bit of the bible itself, it’s worth noting that the first things given the responisiblity of ruling were the sun and moon; a role clearly dominated by providing and serving.)
So, the question is do we see this responsibility reflected in our technology? Not really. In fact, we begin to look highly deficient. It’s hard to see the things we generate ‘serving’ creation in any way. In some cases we might minimise the exploitation of the world, but in general our only goal seems to be serving the selfishness of the human race. So, it looks very much like our fallen side dominates our view of technological development. No wonder creation ‘waits for the sons of God to be revealed’ (Rom 8)…
Perhaps technology within a biblical framework should include products that benefit creation directly, without needing a ‘useful’, human-centred purpose. Products that truly serve. With that in mind, and given that the church is supposed to be an alternative community and an embodied apologetic, what should we do? Perhaps we should show our belief that God created the world by financing such developments. Perhaps this would say more than financing institutes that try to prove creation via arguments and scientific proofs.
Tags: science
science
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
I keep meaning to explain the reference to science and Christianity in my first post, since it may look a bit out of place. Science was the day job (it’s now technology, whether these two are the same thing is a whole other discussion), and I’m still interested in how it interacts with a Christian viewpoint.
I’m generally disappointed in the books that are written on the subject. They seem to all be in awe of science as dominant force in our culture. This is the case whether they are ‘how do we deal with all these things that science has discovered?’ or the creationist ‘science has got it all wrong – here is the true version’. I kept meaning to write a ‘book review in search of a book’, but too many thoughts started attaching themselves to the idea & it started to sound like a book! I guess some of the ideas will creep out here.
The starting point has to be a clear understanding of science. There are at least four things we mean by science: ‘the scientific method’, ‘science as cultural enterprise’, ‘the discoveries of science’ and ‘science as worldview/dominant cultural force’. It seems to me that it’s easy to merge these. So, we never get to discussing Christianity and ‘science as cultural enterprise’ (e.g., what is the purpose of science in the Christian story, how should it be carried out, etc.), because we never get past the issues brought up by the supposed clash of ‘worldviews’.
My hope is that at least one thing the whole post-modern thing will give us is the ability to look at science from a theological perspective. As post-modernism questions the dominance of the scientific view, maybe it can clear a little bit of space for us to consider other issues.
(Phew!)
Tags: science
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