Open Forum Introductions Thread

Faith & Science Conversation
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It has come to my attention that the open forum has no introductions thread, and that people look for such a thing.

So here it is!

Feel free to tell us a little about yourself (even if you are not that new to BioLogos) and how you found your way here.

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Hi, I was directed to this forum from the Theologyforum.com. I am married but not blessed with Children. I am a Lay preacher of nearly 40 years with an interest and some education in all sciences, but Biology in particular. I do not consider Genesis 1-11 to be actual history, but otherwise my Biblical acceptance is fairly orthodox.
I am not 100% certain I fulfill all criteria for the Homeschool forum but would hope to conform to the general guidelines of the Forum as a whole.

I guess we will see if I fit in or not, but I was looking for some sort of introduction thread and this seemed to be the only one.

Richard

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I made a new open forum intro thread, just for you! Welcome, and hope you find some good discussions.

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I am Vance, a long-time Christian, a father and grandfather and husband to my first wife for more than 45 years.

I am an electrical engineer by training and a financial and mathematical modeler by preference. I am a retired business executive. My wife and I love to travel. I do more than she does, but she is a good sport.

I spend my time traveling, taking care of grandchildren, leading a small group at church (North Point Community Church), stock trading.

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I posted my own thread for an introduction because of this lack. Here is a rewrite of the first paragraph from the OP:

I was not raised Christian, but in circumstances so liberal that I can generally critique the Christian establishment better than most atheists. Science has always been my fundamental outlook on the world, and it is on that basis which I explored philosophy and religion. In philosophy I found much of value in existentialism (especially Camus) and much later in pragmatism (especially C.S. Pierce) and Aristotle. I particularly did not like Plato, Whitehead, and Kuhn. In religion I read both the Bible and something about Buddha, but since they came to me, it was the pseudo-Christian groups, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and moonies who I studied first before finding my home in evangelical Christianity (though in the more liberal end of its spectrum to be sure).

Another good link to understand me is where I list my reasons for believing. On that same link I expand upon these reasons a bit and link to another place where I explain more.

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I found BioLogos from the book “Controversy of the Ages” by Theodore J. Cabal and Peter J. Rasor II. Which in the book in the talk about the debate of evolution and creation they mentioned this site as a place for Evolutionary Creationism and around this time when I was still YEC I was having thoughts in my head on issues with the age of the earth, dinosaur fossils in the layers of the earth and the Flood. Came to the website and it helped me out with the issues I had and I was able to return to EC with confidence that the Bible is true and science doesn’t pose a threat to it. I am a Bible college graduate with a certificate in Missions and I plan this January to return to secular college and get my degree in Liberal Arts in teaching Secondary Education, I plan on teaching American and World History, American Civil Goverment and Social Studies.

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In the spirit of welcoming new friends to the forums I’ll add some basic bio here. I’m 66, retired from 25 years of teaching middle school math at the end of my working life and live in Berkeley, California. I was born the second of seven navy brats and attended a Methodist church but stopped attending before starting school. Now I’m spiritually feral with no belief in anything supernatural but a keen interest in the origins and significance of god belief. I greatly admire believers who are respectful even to those outside their group and who are epistemically humble. I married the right woman on only my second try 36 years ago. I Earned a BA in philosophy at Cal In my mid thirties. I’m devoted to our two furry kids, my forty something stepson, my niece and nephew and to my garden. I read nonfiction almost exclusively until I retired. Now I’ve moved on to fiction.

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Thanks for sharing!

If the proper thread arises, I can tell some stories of supernatural events in my own family that may help in your continuing development.

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Hi :slight_smile:
This is our second year of homeschool, which is for a first grader, pre-k, and a toddler on the side/in the middle of everything. I found BioLogos a few years ago, and have been a consistent listener/reader for a year and a half. Since I began questioning my faith after learning about the discrepancies between historical evidence and the interpretation of Scripture that my church taught in high school, I’ve read authors and listened to speakers from YEC, ID, and EC. Last year, I remembered BioLogos and gave their new podcast a listen, and it was like God threw me the line. I love research, and I’ve rediscovered how much I love pretty much every area of science, and it is wonderfully fulfilling to not be afraid of what we learn about God’s world, or to not have to wear armor while reading about anything regarding scientific data. The best part is finding so many correlations to God’s character, much like Romans 1 describes. The world doesn’t just LOOK beautiful, it operates in the beautiful ways that display God’s character!

I’m thankful for the opportunity to homeschool our kids, and my goal is to pass on a love of learning, and the mental foundation of being able to have peace, wisdom, and trust (God has always been faithful to hold me through my many questions) while exploring new and/or challenging ideas and data. Another goal is that my family is familiar with the discomforts of questions and the gray areas between bipartisan issues and among real life experiences, in order to love God and people without regard with where on the religious or political spectrum our obedience to Christ lies. I hope my kids can be a part of taking care of God’s creation- all of it. And I’m not just projecting this on my kids, this what I want them to join me in, if that’s their path, and on the way, I want them to find theirs. I believe the best way to do this is to show them how to interpret God’s Word humbly and faithfully, and to discover as much as possible about how to take care of God’s world by studying and understanding it.

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