The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publishes a journal, ''
Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
''Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith'', subtitled ''Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation'', is the academic publication of the American Scientific Affiliation.
Background
The ASA's original constitution provided two goals for t ...
'' which covers topics related to Christian faith and science from a Christian viewpoint.
Members of the organization are from various
movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
, such as
evangelicalism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
, and represent several
Christian traditions
Christian tradition is a collection of traditions consisting of practices or beliefs associated with Christianity. These ecclesiastical traditions have more or less authority based on the nature of the practices or beliefs and on the group in ques ...
including the Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and the Orthodox.
The organization frequently runs
seminars
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
such as at
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
, the
Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is an interdisciplinary academic research institute based in Cambridge, England. It is named after the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday, the pioneer of electromagnetic induction.
It wa ...
in Cambridge, England, and
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...
.
History
Scientists who were Christians and had concerns about the quality of
Christian evangelism on the subject of
religion and science
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...
formed the ASA in 1941. Irwin A. Moon originated the idea of a group; he talked
Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have i ...
president
William H. Houghton into inviting a number of scientists with similar Christian views to Chicago to discuss its formation.
F. Alton Everest,
Peter W. Stoner, Russell D. Sturgis, John P. VanHaitsma, and Irving A. Cowperthwaite attended, and the ASA formed from this meeting.
Everest, a conservative Baptist
electrical engineer
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
at
Oregon State College
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
in
Corvallis, served as president of the Affiliation for its first decade. Under his
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
the ASA grew from 5 to 220 members. By 1961 its membership had grown to 860.
During the 1940s and 1950s the group provided an evangelical forum for discussing the alleged merits and drawbacks of the theory of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, and for evaluating the works of prominent
creationists
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...
such as
George McCready Price
George McCready Price (26 August 1870 – 24 January 1963) was a Canadian creationist. He produced several anti-evolution and creationist works, particularly on the subject of flood geology. His views did not become common among creationists u ...
(1870–1963) and
Harry Rimmer
Harry Rimmer (1890–1952) was an American evangelist and creationist. He is most prominent as a defender of creationism in the United States, a fundamentalist leader and writer of anti-evolution publications.
He was the founder and President of t ...
(1890–1952). The influence of an
inner circle affiliated with
Wheaton College led it to reject "strict" creationism in favor first of
progressive creationism
Progressive creationism (see for comparison intelligent design) is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geologi ...
and then of
theistic evolution
Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution) is a theological view that God creates through laws of nature. Its religious teachings are fully compatible with the findings of modern science, including biological ...
, encouraging acceptance of evolution among evangelicals.
[Numbers(2006) pp180-181] This group was led by
Russell L. Mixter (later editor of the ''Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation'' from 1965 to 1968) and J. Frank Cassel. In the words of
Ronald L. Numbers, the sub-group "did for biology what
Kulp was doing for Geology".
Executive directors
* H. Harold Hartzler
* Robert L. Herrmann (1981–1994)
* Donald W. Munro (1994–2005)
[American Scientific Affiliation appointed Randall D. Isaac]
Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
, August 01, 2005
* Randall D. Isaac (2005–2016)
[
* Leslie Wickman (2016–)
]
Presidents
* Ruth D. Miller[PCSF]
2008
* Walter L. Bradley (2008)[
* Edward B. Davis (2009)
* ]Jennifer Wiseman
Jennifer J. Wiseman is Senior Project Scientist on the Hubble Space Telescope, and an American astronomer, born in Mountain Home, Arkansas. She earned a bachelor's degree in physics from MIT and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University in 19 ...
(2010)
Related organizations
The following organizations are related to the ASA:ASA Related Groups
/ref>
;Sister organizations
Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation
(CSCA)
* Christians in Science
Christians in Science (CiS) is a British organisation of scientists, philosophers, theologians, ministers, teachers, and science students, predominantly evangelical Christians, concerned with the dialogue between Christianity and science. The orga ...
(CiS)
;Affiliations
Christian Women in Science
(CWiS)
* Affiliation of Christian Geologists
* Affiliation of Christian Biologists
* Christian Engineers and Scientists in Technology
Notes
References
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Evangelical parachurch organizations
Christianity and science
Christian organizations established in 1941