Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, subtitled Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, is the academic publication of the American Scientific Affiliation.
The ASA's original constitution provided two goals for the ASA: "(1) to promote and encourage the study of the relationship between the facts of science and Holy Scriptures and (2) to promote the dissemination of the results of such studies." The establishment of the journal was seen as being in context of these goals.[1] The journal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Serials Database.[2][relevant?]
Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF) began publication in 1949 as the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (JASA).[3] In its first year the journal was subtitled The American Scientific Affiliation Bulletin.[1] In its first issue it announced its purpose as being:
It is intended primarily for the benefit of the A.S.A. members, and interested friends, and it is hoped that it will be instrumental in helping the organization achieve its primary purpose of witnessing to the truth of the Scriptures and elucidating the relationship of both the ideology and fruits of science thereto. Furthermore we confidently expect that in the publication of papers presented at the convention and others received from the membership at large, a real service will be rendered each of us in creating an enlarged appreciation and understanding of the Christian position in other fields of science than that of our own specialization. Also thru the A.S.A. Bulletin, we plan to give every interested member the benefit of a constructive criticism and Christian evaluation of papers presented and of reviews of books of great interest or strategic importance.
— Marion D. Barnes, Foreword, JASA 1 (January 1949): 1[4]
From its beginning the journal included divergent views, and the editorial objectives of the journal, published in December 1950, were a clear indication of the ASA's non-doctrinal focus.[5]
EditorsEdit
The editors of the JASA/PSCF have been as follows:
Kulp's paper, Deluge Geology execrated flood geology, which he stated had "grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists." He asserted that the "major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and geological laws" and focused on "four basic errors":[9]
The "confusion that geology and evolution are synonomous [sic]"
Assuming "that life has been on the earth only for a few thousand years, [and] therefore the flood must account for geological strata"
Misunderstanding "the physical and chemical conditions under which rocks are formed"
Ignoring recent discoveries, such as radiometric dating, that undermined their assumptions
Kulp's conclusion was that a Christian was faced with two choices. Either: (1) the earth was created millions of years ago; or (2) God has apparently deceived humanity in providing data which does not support a 6,000- to 10,000-year-old Earth. He viewed "flood geology" as offering no third choice, that it was unscientific, ludicrous, and "has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people". He also accused George McCready Price of ignorance and deception, including misrepresentation of geological data when defending flood geology. The paper failed to evoke the fireworks that Kulp and ASA president F. Alton Everest expected it to generate.[9][10] In the opinion of at least one of the attendees at the annual convention where Monsma's and Kulp's papers were first presented, Monsma had lost the debate to Kulp, and Kulp was appointed that year to the executive council seat that Monsma had vacated.[11] Kulp's influence was largely responsible for isolating flood geologists within the ASA, and Deluge Geology caused them considerable discomfort for years to come.[12]
During the editorship of David O. Moberg (1962–1964), the ASA journal had a heavy emphasis on the creation–evolution controversy, with the subject being mentioned in the majority of issues, and the September 1963 issue being almost entirely devoted to it.[1]
In 1964, JASA featured a pair of hostile reviews of John C. Whitcomb's and Henry M. Morris's The Genesis Flood (introduced by book-review editor Walter R. Hearn, who stated that they had been "edited extensively ... to tone them down a bit"), and in 1969 published a highly critical commentary by J. R. van der Fliert, a Dutch Reformed geologist at the Free University of Amsterdam, who called Whitcomb and Morris "pseudo-scientific" pretenders. "To ensure that no readers missed his point," the journal "ran boldfaced sidebars by evangelical geologists applauding van de Fliert's bare-knuckled approach."[13]
^ abcdefghijkThe Harmonious Dissonance of Evangelical Scientists: Rhetoric and Reality in the Early Decades of The American Scientific Affiliation 2018-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, PSCF 50 (December 1998): 241-249
^"OCLC - Results of periodical search by title". Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
^Numbers(2006) 231-33; J. R. van de Fliert, "Fundamentalism and the Fundamentals of Geology," Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, 21 (September 1969): 69-81.
^PSCF: a retro- and prospective, Randy Isaac, PSCF, September 2008
External linksEdit
Online Archive
October 21, 2023
perspectives, science, christian, faith, subtitled, journal, american, scientific, affiliation, academic, publication, american, scientific, affiliation, disciplinescience, religionlanguageenglishedited, byjames, petersonpublication, detailshistory1949, bullet. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith subtitled Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation is the academic publication of the American Scientific Affiliation Perspectives on Science and Christian FaithDisciplineScience and ReligionLanguageEnglishEdited byJames C PetersonPublication detailsHistory1949 as ASA Bulletin1950 to 1986 as Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation1987 present as current titlePublisherAmerican Scientific Affiliation United States FrequencyquarterlyStandard abbreviationsISO 4 alt Bluebook alt1 alt2 NLM alt MathSciNet alt ISO 4Perspect Sci Christ FaithIndexingCODEN alt alt2 JSTOR alt LCCN alt MIAR NLM alt ScopusISSN0892 2675OCLC no 61313836LinksJournal homepage Contents 1 Background 2 Editors 3 Debates on the creation evolution controversy 4 References 5 External linksBackground EditThe ASA s original constitution provided two goals for the ASA 1 to promote and encourage the study of the relationship between the facts of science and Holy Scriptures and 2 to promote the dissemination of the results of such studies The establishment of the journal was seen as being in context of these goals 1 The journal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Serials Database 2 relevant Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith PSCF began publication in 1949 as the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation JASA 3 In its first year the journal was subtitled The American Scientific Affiliation Bulletin 1 In its first issue it announced its purpose as being It is intended primarily for the benefit of the A S A members and interested friends and it is hoped that it will be instrumental in helping the organization achieve its primary purpose of witnessing to the truth of the Scriptures and elucidating the relationship of both the ideology and fruits of science thereto Furthermore we confidently expect that in the publication of papers presented at the convention and others received from the membership at large a real service will be rendered each of us in creating an enlarged appreciation and understanding of the Christian position in other fields of science than that of our own specialization Also thru the A S A Bulletin we plan to give every interested member the benefit of a constructive criticism and Christian evaluation of papers presented and of reviews of books of great interest or strategic importance Marion D Barnes Foreword JASA 1 January 1949 1 4 From its beginning the journal included divergent views and the editorial objectives of the journal published in December 1950 were a clear indication of the ASA s non doctrinal focus 5 Editors EditThe editors of the JASA PSCF have been as follows Marion Barnes 1949 1951 research chemist Lion Oil Company 1 Delbert N Eggenberger 1951 1962 research physicist Argonne National Laboratory 1 David O Moberg 1962 1964 Professor of Sociology Bethel College Minnesota 1 Russell L Mixter 1965 1968 Professor of Biology Wheaton College Illinois 1 Richard H Bube 1969 1983 Professor of Material Science Stanford University 1 Wilbur Bullock 1984 1989 Professor of Biology University of New Hampshire 1 John W Haas Jr 1990 1999 Professor of Chemistry Gordon College Massachusetts 1 Roman Miller 2000 2007 Professor of Biology Eastern Mennonite University citation needed Ari Leegwater 2008 2011 Professor of Chemistry Calvin College citation needed James C Peterson 2012 Charles and Helen Schumann Chair of Christian Ethics Roanoke College and Roy A Hope Professor of Theology and Ethics at McMaster Divinity College McMaster University citation needed Debates on the creation evolution controversy EditThe ASA journal published various views in the creation evolution controversy It carried Bernard Ramm s view that the theory of evolution had logical weakness 6 a 1949 article on presuppositions in evolutionary thinking by Young Earth creationist E Y Monsma 7 8 J Laurence Kulp s 1950 indictment of Deluge Geology 9 and Henry M Morris s anonymous reply to it 1 Kulp s paper Deluge Geology execrated flood geology which he stated had grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists He asserted that the major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and geological laws and focused on four basic errors 9 The confusion that geology and evolution are synonomous sic Assuming that life has been on the earth only for a few thousand years and therefore the flood must account for geological strata Misunderstanding the physical and chemical conditions under which rocks are formed Ignoring recent discoveries such as radiometric dating that undermined their assumptionsKulp s conclusion was that a Christian was faced with two choices Either 1 the earth was created millions of years ago or 2 God has apparently deceived humanity in providing data which does not support a 6 000 to 10 000 year old Earth He viewed flood geology as offering no third choice that it was unscientific ludicrous and has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people He also accused George McCready Price of ignorance and deception including misrepresentation of geological data when defending flood geology The paper failed to evoke the fireworks that Kulp and ASA president F Alton Everest expected it to generate 9 10 In the opinion of at least one of the attendees at the annual convention where Monsma s and Kulp s papers were first presented Monsma had lost the debate to Kulp and Kulp was appointed that year to the executive council seat that Monsma had vacated 11 Kulp s influence was largely responsible for isolating flood geologists within the ASA and Deluge Geology caused them considerable discomfort for years to come 12 During the editorship of David O Moberg 1962 1964 the ASA journal had a heavy emphasis on the creation evolution controversy with the subject being mentioned in the majority of issues and the September 1963 issue being almost entirely devoted to it 1 In 1964 JASA featured a pair of hostile reviews of John C Whitcomb s and Henry M Morris s The Genesis Flood introduced by book review editor Walter R Hearn who stated that they had been edited extensively to tone them down a bit and in 1969 published a highly critical commentary by J R van der Fliert a Dutch Reformed geologist at the Free University of Amsterdam who called Whitcomb and Morris pseudo scientific pretenders To ensure that no readers missed his point the journal ran boldfaced sidebars by evangelical geologists applauding van de Fliert s bare knuckled approach 13 In the 1970s Richard H Bube defended the viewpoint of theistic evolution in the journal 14 References Edit a b c d e f g h i j k The Harmonious Dissonance of Evangelical Scientists Rhetoric and Reality in the Early Decades of The American Scientific Affiliation Archived 2018 09 03 at the Wayback Machine PSCF 50 December 1998 241 249 OCLC Results of periodical search by title Online Computer Library Center Retrieved 2009 10 05 Library of Congress records for Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation Perspectives on science and Christian faith journal of the American Scientific Affiliation Foreword Marion D Barnes JASA 1 January 1949 1 Webb 2002 pp157 158 Webb 2002 p157 Some Presuppositions in Evolutionary Thinking JASA 1 3 June 1949 15 30 Numbers 2006 p187 a b c Deluge Geology Archived 2011 06 07 at the Wayback Machine J Laurence Kulp JASA 2 1 1950 1 15 Numbers 2006 pp 188 190 Numbers 2006 p188 Numbers 2006 pp 191 192 Numbers 2006 231 33 J R van de Fliert Fundamentalism and the Fundamentals of Geology Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation 21 September 1969 69 81 PSCF a retro and prospective Randy Isaac PSCF September 2008External links EditOnline Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith amp oldid 1152497110, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
