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02.07.06 Dr. William B. Evans ARP Church moderator speaks at spring opening Dr. William B. Evans, moderator of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, spoke on "Science, Creation and the Integration of Faith and Learning" at the opening convocation of the spring semester at Erskine College and Seminary Tuesday. Evans said the Christian doctrine of creation has played a positive role in the development of science, and asserted that the flowering of science in the Christian west is no accident. While the Aristotelian view explained phenomena in terms of "the nature of things," and Platonism's otherworldly focus did little to foster science, Christians were able to assume and affirm the uniformity of nature. "When Aristotle was rejected and Platonism was combined with the Christian doctrine of creation, something remarkable happened … the explosion of science in 17th century England," Evans said, noting that the Puritans played a significant part in the growth of science in their day. "It was the Puritan impulse, with its recognition of the doctrine of creation and the lordship of Christ over creation, that in part drove the emergence of modern science," he said. "All truth is God's truth, and we have theological reasons for being open to God's truth wherever it may be found," he asserted. "And, as I tell my Bible and theology students at the college, God's truth can be found in some very surprising places." Stressing the deep commitment of the ARP Church to Christian higher education and especially to Erskine, Evans characterized Erskine College and Seminary as institutions where the integration of faith and learning is intended to take place "in an intentional and systematic way." The Christian orientation of faculty members encourages "a relation to their subject matter and an involvement with the learner which are significantly different from those found in secular settings," he said. "A commitment to the real integration of faith and learning is not the end of discussion and hard work but the beginning," he said. "We have much to do, but the rewards will be worth the effort." Evans, who is Younts Professor of Bible and Religion at Erskine College, is an ordained Associate Reformed Presbyterian minister. A graduate of Taylor University, he received the M.A.R. and Th.M. degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Vanderbilt University. He lives in Due West with wife Fay and children Andrew and Rebecca. |
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