American Scientific Association

I'm blogging from Ipswitch, MA today. It's a crisp spring day on the New England coast. I'm here for the executive council meeting for the American Scientific Association. You may have seen their booth at the annual AAAS meeting. I'm the early career representative to this organization of scientists who are Christians. This is a relatively small group (~2000) of folks from around the country who are united in the following beliefs:

As an organization, the ASA does not take a position when there is honest disagreement between Christians on an issue. We are committed to providing an open forum where controversies can be discussed without fear of unjust condemnation. Legitimate differences of opinion among Christians who have studied both the Bible and science are freely expressed within the Affiliation in a context of Christian love and concern for truth.

Our platform of faith has four important planks:

1. We accept the divine inspiration, trustworthiness and authority of the Bible in matters of faith and conduct.
2. We confess the Triune God affirmed in the Nicene and Apostles' creeds which we accept as brief, faithful statements of Christian doctrine based upon Scripture.
3. We believe that in creating and preserving the universe God has endowed it with contingent order and intelligibility, the basis of scientific investigation.
4. We recognize our responsibility, as stewards of God's creation, to use science and technology for the good of humanity and the whole world.

These four statements of faith spell out the distinctive character of the ASA, and we uphold them in every activity and publication of the Affiliation.

The organization's web site aims to provide resources for Christian (especially Evangelicals) who face conflicts between faith and their understanding of science. The executive director also plays a role advising other groups like AAAS's Dialogue on Science Ethics and Religion (DoSER) and other groups. Our latest project is to help produce science materials for home-schoolers that maintain the high level of scientific integrity that the ASA upholds.

If you are interested in learning more, visit the ASA website or feel free to contact me.