Category: Uncategorized

On Friday, October 29th, 2021 we hosted a great event. It was our first event in over eighteen months (thank you covid), but a fantastic restart to the activities of Trinity Fellowship.

Dr. Ted Davis, Emeritus Professor of the History of Science, Messiah University, delivered an incredible, well-researched, provocative lecture, “Why Christianity is Good for Science.” You can view the lecture here. Dr. David was joined on a panel by Dr. Michael Hamburger and Dr. John Beggs. The various points of view, Christian and nonChristian, made for a very engaging discussion. The panel and Q&A can be viewed here.

We are excited about the future of Trinity Fellowship and look forward to offering more “one-off” events, as well as ongoing classes in the near future. For past events, check our Resources page and click Past Lectures.

with Dr. Ted Davis

The “warfare” narrative has lodged itself in our understanding of the relationship between faith and science. Galileo dragged before the Inquisition, the Scopes Trials, fights over school science curriculum – those are the stories that get traction, inside and outside the church. But, as Dr. Ted Davis argues, the “warfare” narrative is part myth and part propaganda, and almost entirely rejected by modern scholars of the history of science.

More positively, Christianity is Good for Science. That is the subject of Dr. Davis’ talk at the Trinity Fellowship Lecture on October 29th. Christianity and Science complement one another. Dr. Davis suggests the Christian faith fills in the picture of the world coming from the sciences. Christianity, according to Dr. Davis, can help us achieve a deeper understanding of the world and how we should  understand it. Biblical faith offers both a powerful motive for investigating nature and a foundation for the very possibility of scientific knowledge.

Dr. Ted Davis is recently retired as Distinguished Professor of the History of Science at Messiah University. He received his B.S. Physics from Drexel University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History & Philosophy of Science from Indiana University. He has studied and written extensively regarding the junction of faith and science, especially during the period of the Scientific Revolution, including biweekly columns for the BioLogos Forum.

Hosted by: Concerned Scientists @ IU and Evangelical Community Church
in collaboration with: Sherwood Oaks Christian Church, Foot of the Cross Church,
Intervarsity Graduate Ministry, and Trinity Fellowship.

Fostering a conversation among Bloomington’s rich academic and faith communities to share scientific and religious perspectives on environmental stewardship. We seek to generate vibrant and open discussion raised by scientific information, scriptural and theological wisdom, societal realities, and pastoral insight.

The program will consist of two Wednesday‐evening workshops (Sept. 25 and Oct. 2), devoted to presentations and informal group discussions, followed by a field excursion andclosing celebration dinner at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Sunday, October 6. We encourage participants to take part in all three sessions if possible.

Interested in taking part? Register online at http://www.scienceandreligion.net/

Session I: Sacred Ground |Evangelical Perspectives on Creation Care
Wednesday, September 25, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, Evangelical Community Church
Speaker: Dr. Jessica Moerman, Evangelical Christian, AAAS Science Technology and Policy Fellow
Followed by panel presentations, refreshments, and small‐group discussion.

Session II: Our Changing Planet | Scientific Perspectives on Climate Change
Wednesday, October 2, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, Evangelical Community Church
Speaker: Dr. Ben Brabson, Climate Scientist, Professor Emeritus, IU Department of Physics
Followed by panel presentations, refreshments, and small‐group discussion.

Session III: A Shared Appreciation of Creation
Sunday, October 6, 2:00 – 6:00 PM, McCormick’s Creek State Park, Trailside Shelter
Guided field trip, dinner, and open discussion.

Interested in taking part? Register online at http://www.scienceandreligion.net/

Funded by a grant from the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s “Dialogue on Science, Ethics & Religion” (DOSER) program

The New Testament is the foundational document for the church. But where did it come from? How did the church decide which books would be included in the New Testament and treated as authoritative?  And, how reliable are the documents we have today?

Dr. Bob Whitaker and Dr. Steven Lulich lead a 4-part exploration of these questions and others related to New Testament canonicity and reliability.  These conversations will be held on four Wednesday nights (September 26th, October 10 & 24, and November 7) at 7:30 pm, Room 18 at ECC.

Week one, the discussion will revolve around F.F. Bruce’s book, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable. Chapter one and two are available here.

After a freewheeling discussion of Alan Jacob’s essay about Christian public intellectuals, Thinking About Faith will settle in this fall with a slow reading of John Wyatt’s new book, Dying Well. Wyatt is a retired doctor and professor of neonatal pediatrics who has been involved in beginning and end of life government policy in Britain. He is also a theologically astute layman who is convinced that Christians in the affluent West need to think more about death, long before it is impending for us. He draws on the ars moriendi (art of dying) Christian tradition in this short and highly accessible book that raises issues that are important not only for Christians but for the societies in which we live.

The book sells for $15 (chapter one is available here).

We’ll meet next on Wed, Sept 19. Again, you may arrive at 7pm sharp to grab a snack and a drink and chat with others. We will start discussion promptly at 7:15pm. (If you need to arrive after that, please just open the door and walk right in and grab a chair.)

• Sept 19: Intro + Ch.1 + Ch. 2 (2pp.) Dying in the modern world
• Oct 3: Ch.3 The opportunities that dying well may bring
• Oct 17: Ch4 The challenges of dying well
• Oct 31: Ch.6 Learning from the example of Jesus
• Nov 14: Ch.7 A sure and steadfast hope
• Nov 28: To Be Determined

Dr. Samuel Newlands, University of Notre Dame:

Samuel Newlands is the William J and Dorothy K O’Neill Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He received his PhD from Yale University. Most of his scholarly work focuses on early modern metaphysics and philosophy of religion. He has published widely in venues ranging from professional philosophy journals to The Wall Street Journal, and his most recent book, Reconceiving Spinoza, will be available this spring from Oxford University Press. He also co-directs the Center for Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame, and he has received more than $12 million dollars in grant funding for research initiatives on the problem of evil, the nature of transformative experience, hope and optimism, and, most recently, the nature of the self.

Dr. Erik Wielenberg, DePauw University:

Erik Wielenberg earned his PhD from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and is Professor of Philosophy at DePauw University. He was a Graduate Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame and, more recently, was a Fellow at the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He has authored three books: Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe, God and the Reach of Reason, and Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism.

Dr. Timothy O’Connor, Baylor University:
Dr. Timothy O’Connor is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University. Previously, he taught philosophy at Indiana University for over twenty years, and as a professor here, he was a strong supporter of the work of The Veritas Forum at Indiana University.

If you’re wanting to engage more with the topic of pluralism and the gospel, you can’t go wrong with Leslie Newbigin. Newbigin was an internationally esteemed missionary, theologian and apologist. Here’s a few good starting places:

Foolishness to Greeks: the Gospel in Western Culture

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship

Signs Amid the Rubble: the Purposes of God in Human History