Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

SpiritQuest: Faith and the Life of the Mind September 12 th Evening Presentation God of Change and God of Glory: Evolution and Faith Between the sensationalized and politicized poles of creationism and atheistic scientism there exists an intriguing range of conversations exploring the intelligibility of the universe, evolution and adaptation of species, theological reflection and scientific investigation. 1.    Brief background into the early history of the development of the theory of evolution: a.    “ Charles Robert Darwin was born on the same day as Abraham Lincoln, February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He developed an interest in natural history while studying first medicine, then theology, at university. From 1831 to 1836 Darwin served as naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacifi...

Today I share the contents and outline of the first Sunday evening presentation and discussion at Pocatello First United Methodist Church in the SpiritQuest series "Faith and the Life of the Mind:" SpiritQuest : Faith and the Life of the Mind  “Longing for Something Extraordinary: The Pas de Deux of Faith and Intellect ” September 5 , 2010 Evening Presentation and Discussion 1.     Basic questions: a.     How might the dance of heart and mind, faith and intellect be cultivated in our lives? b.     How does faith seek understanding and intellect ground itself in ultimate concerns? 2.     The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow a.     Some quotes from the book: “Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,” he wrote. “It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe g...

September Sermon and Discussion Series Sundays in September: 8:30 and 11:00 Worship Services in the morning, and 7:00  Lecture/Discussion in the evening SpiritQuest is a meeting place between the scientific endeavor, intellectual inquiry, spiritual wonderment, and intentional living. SpiritQuest consists of two parts: A sermon in the morning during the regular worship service at Pocatello First United Methodist Church and an evening Lecture and Discussion that explores the issues introduced in the morning sermon. During the evening’s discussion, there will be time for conversation and exploration of further questions. Topics include: ·    September 5 th : “Longing for Something Extraordinary: The Pas de Deux of Faith and Intellect ” How might the dance of heart and mind, faith and intellect be cultivated in our lives? How does faith seek understanding and intellect ground itself in ultimate concerns? ·    September 12 th : “God of Change and God of Glor...

In my last blog, I talked about the trajectories our lives take. Just as there is a law of momentum well-known in Newtonian mechanics (“an object in motion tends to remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force”), a similar principle applies in life. The choices we make and things we do in life produce certain results (often predictably) that arise as a logical consequence of what we have done. Many times, of course, actions have unintended consequences, but those consequences still arise as a result of the action we have taken. In Hinduism, this is reflected in the notion of karma. In the Bible, this notion is reflected in passages such as the following: “those who plough iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8); “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,” (Proverbs 22:8) “they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7); “Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love” (Hosea 10:12). Jesus specifically referred to the direct relationship ...