What Does Calculus Have to Do With Christianity?

1
What Does Calculus Have to Do With Christianity?

• Robert J. Marks II, Ph.D.
• Distinguished Professor of Electrical Computer
  Engineering
• Baylor University
• Robert_Marks_at_Baylor.edu

2
Abstract

• Isaac Newton - the father of classical physics
  and co-creator of calculus Michael Faraday - the
  founder of electrical engineering Blaise Pascal
  - mathematician extraordinaire and inventor of
  the first computer George Washington Carver
  the father of the peanut Louis Pasteur the
  father of microbiology, Thomas Bayes - the
  founder of statistical inference, James Clerk
  Maxwell, the formulator of electromagnetics, and
  on and on.  We know these and other great
  scientists and mathematicians have made
  monumental contributions to knowledge.  We know
  what they did but, typically, not who they were
  nor what motivated their work. These
  extraordinary researchers, and others, were
  heavily motivated by a desire to uncover the
  beauty and order in a universe they believe was
  created by God.  Some today suggest that serious
  research and belief in God mix like the
  components of an off shore oil spill when, in
  truth, the two efforts can be wonderfully
  complementary. Indeed, both today and in
  history, numerous scientists, mathematicians and
  engineers are motivated in their work by the
  uncovering of the precise orderliness, underlying
  simplicity, and inherent beauty of God's
  creations.  Many not only study the creation, but
  have pursued the identity of the Creator and have
  found Him in the foundational tenets of
  Christianity.

3
How does God belong in the research and teaching
equations?
e.g. What role does Christianity play in
teaching calculus?
Dr. Kent Gilbreath, Professor of Economics,
Stevens Chairholder of Private Enterprise and
Entrepreneurship, Baylor University, quoted in
Baylor alumni, faculty resisting new direction
President's Vision 2012 sees restored Christian
university by Mark Lisheron, Austin-American
Statesman, August 3, 2003
4
Some Stronger Quotes

• Christian theism must be rejected by any person
  with even a shred of respect for reason George
  H. Smith, Atheist Philosopher
• Bible miracles are very effective with an
  audience of unsophisticates and children Richard
  Dawkins.
• Faith is when you believe something no one in
  their right mind believes. Archie Bunker

5
Consider, then What motivates research at the
Academy?

• Seeking Truth?
• Seeking the definition of Truth?

6
Seeking Fame?
And/OrSeeking Fame?

• Illustration (a real e-mail)...
• To marks_at_u.washington.edu
• From xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject Beller medal
• Dear Bob I am attaching a file that gives a
  short list of my contributions to optical science
  and education. If you feel that I qualify as a
  candidate for the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal, I
  would very much appreciate and be honored by a
  letter from you on my behalf for this medal.
  Please note that the letter must be at OSA by
  Oct. 1. The address is
• Optical Society of America
• Communications Dept.
• MS 112, 2010 Massachusetts Avenus. sic, NW
• Washington, DC 20036-1023
• Fax [phone]
• awards_at_osa.org
• I thank you in advance.
• Attachment Converted "Proposed Candidate for
  the Esther Hoffman Beller Medal.doc"

7

• e-mail from an IEEE Professional Society
  governing board concerning actions of an Awards
  Committee
• I have never known an awards committee where the
  members grant each other the awards/medals. I
  don't contest that the committee members are not
  deserving of an award, but the mere fact of
  serving on a selection committee should exclude
  one from receiving the awards being distributed.
• The Awards Committee was
• giving their members awards!

IEEE The Institute of Electronic Electrical
Engineers is the worlds largest professional
society with membership in excess of 350,000.
8

• Some nonscientist Christians, when they meet
  a Christian, will call on to debate evolution.
  That is definitely the wrong thing to do. If you
  know what problems scientists have in their
  livespride, selfish ambition, jealousythat's
  exactly the kind of thing Jesus Christ said that
  He came to resolve by His death on the cross.
  Science is full of people with very strong egos
  who get into conflict with each other. The gospel
  is the same for scientists as it is for anyone.
  Evolution is basically a red herring if
  scientists are looking for meaning in their
  lives, it won't be found in evolution. I have
  never met a nonChristian who brought up
  evolution with me. John Suppe, Member of the
  U.S. Academy of Sciences, Professor of geology at
  Princeton

9
The Modesty of the Academician
U.S. News World Report reports a poll of
university professors found that 94 of the
respondents thought they were better at their
jobs than their average colleague. U.S. News
World Report 16 Dec 96 p26
10
What motivates research at the Academy?
What motivates research at the Academy for some?
Truth, fame, and/or
Seeking God
11
Battle?
. U.S. News World Report 16 Dec 96 p26
Is there not a battle between Science and
Religion?
12
The HISTORY OF SCIENCE Says Different
Archaeology is forced to tell us that several
great civilizations have arisen and vanished
without the benefit of a scientific
philosophy Loren Eiseley, (1907-1977) Essayist,
Philosopher, Literary Naturalist.
13
HISTORY OF SCIENCE
the Christian world gave birth in a clear,
articulate fashion to the experimental method of
science itself. Loren Eiseley, Darwins
Century (Garden City, NY, Doubleday, 1958,
Doubleday Anchor Books, 1961), p.62.
14
HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Hebrew and Christian belief in a deity who was
at once a Creator and Law-giver rendered the
idea of the laws of nature valid. A.R. Hall,
Historian
15
The Beauty of Creation
1. In Science Math, Researchers see the Beauty
of Creation.
2. Some believe in a Creator of this beauty.
16
Motivation?

• Premise 1 Some Scientists, Engineers and
  Mathematicians embrace a belief in God.
  Motivation for research, in certain cases, stems
  in part from their curiosity of discovering Gods
  creation and the awe and remarkable beauty of the
  relationships they uncover.
• Science brings man nearer to God
• Louis Pasteur
• Louis Pasteur (John Hudsion Tiner, Louis
  Pasteur - Founder of Modern Medicine, Milford,
  MI Mott Media, Inc., 1990, p.75.)

17

• The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed
  at the work of the Creator. Into his tiniest
  creatures, God has placed extraordinary
  properties ...
• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
• John Hudsion Tiner, Louis Pasteur -
  Founder of Modern Medicine, Milford, MI Mott
  Media, Inc., 1990, p.75.)
• God is going to to reveal to us things He never
  revealed before if we put our hands in His.
• George Washington Carver (1865-1943)
• (who named his laboratory Gods Little
  Workshop.)
• Ethel Edwards, Carver of Tuskegee
  (Cincinnati, Ohio Ethyl Edwards James T.
  Hardwick, 1971) pp.141-42.

18
Biographys Top 100 Persons of the Millennium
1. Gutenberg, Johann 2. Newton, Isaac 3.
Luther, Martin 4. Darwin, Charles 5.
Shakespeare, William 6. Columbus, Christopher
7. Marx, Karl 8. Einstein, Albert 9.
Copernicus, Nicolaus 10. Galileo Galilei 11.
Da Vinci, Leonardo 12. Freud, Sigmund 13.
Pasteur, Louis 14. Edison, Thomas 15.
Jefferson, Thomas 16. Hitler, Adolf 17.
Gandhi, Mahatma 18. Locke, John 19.
Michelangelo 20. Smith, Adam 21. Washington,
George 22. Khan, Genghis 23. Lincoln, Abraham
24. Aquinas, St. Thomas 25. Watt, James 26.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeu 27. Bonaparte, Napolean
28. Bach, Johann Sebastian 29. Ford, Henry
30. Beethoven, Ludwig Von 31. Watson Crick
32. Descartes, Rene 33. King, Martin Luther
Jr. 34. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
35. Lenin, Vladimir 36. Fleming, Alexander
37. Voltaire 38. Bacon, Francis 39.
Alighieri, Dante 40. Wright Brothers 41.
Gates, Bill 42. Mendel, Gregor 43. Mao,
Zedong 44. Bell, Alexander Graham 45. William
the Conqueror 46. Machiavelli, Niccolo 47.
Babbage, Charles 48. Wollstonecraft, Mary 49.
Gorbachev, Mikhail 50. Sanger, Margaret 51.
Jenner, Edward 52. Churchill, Winston 53.
Curie, Marie 54. Polo, Marco 55. Magellan,
Ferdinand 56. Stanton, Elizabeth 57. Presley,
Elvis 58. Joan of Arc 59. Kant, Immanuel
60. Roosevelt, Franklin D. 61. Faraday,
Michael 62. Disney, Walt 63. Austen, Jane
64. Picasso, Pablo 65. Heisenberg, Werner
66. Griffith, D.W. 67. Zworykin, Vladimir
68. Franklin, Benjamin
69. Harvey, William 70. Pope Gregory Vll 71.
Tubman, Harriet 72. Bolivar, Simon 73.
Princess Diana 74. Fermi, Enrico 75. Pincus,
Gregory 76. The Beatles 77. Hobbes, Thomas
78. Isabella 79. Stalin, Joseph 80.
Elizabeth I 81. Mandela, Nelson 82. Bohr,
Neils 83. Peter the Great of Russia 84.
Marconi, Guglielmo 85. Reagan, Ronald 86.
Joyce, James 87. Carson, Rachel 88.
Oppenheimer, Robert J. 89. Anthony, Susan B.
90. Daguerre, Louis 91. Spielberg, Steven
92. Nightingale, Florence 93. Roosevelt,
Eleanor 94. Patient Zero 95. Chaplin, Charlie
96. Caruso, Enrico 97. Salk, Jonas 98.
Armstrong, Louis 99. Da Gama, Vasco 100.
Suleiman I
Blaise Pascal The father of computer engineering
James Clerk Maxwell The founder of
electromagnetics
Thomas Bayes The founder of statistical inference
http//www.biography.com/features/millennium/index
.html
19
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
...one of the greatest names in the history of
human thought
20
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• Newtons Contributions
• Newtonian Physics
• The Calculus
• Law of Universal Gravitation
• Optics
• Reflecting Telescope
• White light components

In late editions of his scientific works he
Newton expressed a strong sense of God's
providential role in nature. Microsoft
Encarta. http//www.newton.cam.ac.uk/newtlife.html
21
Namesakes

• Newtonian Physics
• Apples Newton
• Newtonian constant of gravitation 6.672 59
  10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2

• Newton (mks unit of force)
• Newtons rings
• Newton Optimization

22
God observed in nature...

• The beautiful system of the the sun, planets
  and comets could only proceed from the councel
  and dominion of an intelligent and powerful
  Being.

Isaac Newton Newtons Philosophy of Nature
Selections From His Writings (Hafner Publishing,
1953)
23
From Opticks by Isaac Newton(still in print!)

• God in the beginning formed matter in solid,
  massy, hard, impenetrable, moveable particles, of
  such sizes and figures, and with other such
  properties, and in such proportion to space, as
  most conduced to the end for which He formed
  them.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created. Revelation 411
24
Newton on Atheism
Newton
on Atheism
Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind
that it never had many professors.
Isaac Newton quoted from Newtons Philosophy of
Nature Selections From His Writings (Hafner
Publishing, 1953)
25
Michael Faraday (1791-1867)
Michael Faraday's scientific work laid the
foundations of all subsequent electro-technology.
Lenore Symons, IEE Senior Archivist http//www.ie
e.org.uk/publish/faraday/faraday1.html

• The Father of Electricity Faradays Contributions
• Faradays Law
• Discovered electromagnetic induction
  generators, motors transformers.
• The Faraday Effect
• A magneto-optic effect in which the polarization
  plane of an electromagnetic wave is rotated under
  the influence of a magnetic field parallel to the
  direction of propagation.
• Discovered Benzene

26
Michael Faraday...

• Build first practical electric motor.
• Coined the terms
• electrode,
• anode,
• cathode
• electronic
• Namesakes
• Farad unit of capacitance
• Faradays constant
• F96 485.309 C mol-1

27
Albert Einstein...
Albert Einstein
was a devoted admirer of Faraday. While still in
Berlin, he kept a large portrait of Faraday
in his study.
28
Faradays standard of duty was supernatural.
It was formed entirely on what he held to be the
revelation of the will of God in the written
word, and throughout all his life his faith led
him to act ... to the the very letter of it.
Dr Bence Jones "The Life and Letters of
Faraday. See also http//www.iee.org.uk/publish/
faraday/faraday2.html
29
Faraday AWARDS

• Did Faraday seek fame?
• Faraday was offered and refused the Presidency of
  the Royal Society. He responded no "I must
  remain plain Michael Faraday to the very last."

30
Thomas Bayes (1702 1761)
Bayes Theorem

• Baysian Inference Making classifications using
  an historical data base.
• Foundation of most modern e-mail spam filters.

Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence,1731, and D.R.
Bellhouse, The Reverend Thomas Bayes FRS a
Biography to Celebrate the Tercentenary of his
Birth lthttp//www.stats.uwo.ca/faculty/bellhouse/
bayesbiog.pdfgt
31
Thomas Bayes (1702 1761)

• Reverend Bayes was a pastor of the Presbyterian
  Chapel in Tunbridge Wells, 35 miles southeast of
  London.
• Bayes didnt bother to publish his mathematical
  work. It was all published posthumously. Bayes
  was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1742
  having no published works on mathematics.

Bayes did publish about his faith. God always
does that which is right and fit, and that all
his moral attributes, namely justice, truth,
faithfulness, mercy, patience, etc. are but
so many different modifications of rectitude.
Thomas Bayes, Divine Benevolence, 1731.
D.R. Bellhouse, The Reverend Thomas Bayes FRS a
Biography to Celebrate the Tercentenary of his
Birth lthttp//www.stats.uwo.ca/faculty/bellhouse/
bayesbiog.pdfgt
32
James Clerk Maxwell

• On an Electrical Engineering Students T-Shirt...

Maxwells Equations
And God said...
and there was light.
33
Quotes

• Was it a god who wrote these lines Ludwig
  Boltzmann Nobel prize winner in Physics - on
  Maxwells equations (quoting a line from Goethe).

• To anyone who is motivated by anything beyond
  the most narrowly practical, it is worth while to
  understand Maxwells equations simply for the
  good of his soul J.R. Pierce, Electrons, Waves
  and Messages, Hanover House, 1956.

• Maxwells equations can be appreciated, by
  those who understand them, on an aesthetic
  level. Halliday Resnick, Physics II, Wiley
  (1962) a widely used undergraduate Physics
  text.

34
James Clerk Maxwell

• As with Faraday, his profound investigations
  into nature were concomitant with deep religious
  reverence for natures cause.
• Sir Joseph Larmor in the Biographical Notes to
  James Clerk Maxwell, Matter and Motion, (Dover,
  1991).

35
The only desire which I can ...have is, like
David, to serve my own generation by the will of
God, and then fall asleep. Maxwell (near
death). Lewis Campbell William Garnet,
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell, London
1882, p.309

• I believe ... that Man's chief end is to
  glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.
• James Clerk Maxwell

Ian HutchinsonMIT IAP Seminar The Faith of
Great Scientists, Jan 98
36
Dimitri Egorov

• Egorov worked on triply orthogonal systems and
  potential surfaces and made major contribution
  to differential geometry.
• Egorov also worked on integral equations and a
  theorem in the theory of functions of a real
  variable is named after him

Born 22 Dec 1869 in Moscow, RussiaDied 10 Sept
1931 in Kazan, USSR

• In 1923 Egorov was elected president of the
  Moscow Mathematical Society
• In 1923 Egorov became director of the Institute
  for Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State
  University

http//www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Ma
thematicians/Egorov.html
37
Dimitri Egorov

• The Church was repressed after the revolution.
  Egorov defended them. In 1922-23 and again in
  1928, clergy were executed in mass.
• Egorov tried to prevent the attempt to impose
  Marxist ideology on scientists.
• In 1929 Egorov was dismissed as director of the
  Institute for Mechanics and Mathematics and given
  a public rebuke.

• Egorov was arrested as a "religious sectarian"
  and put in prison. An "Initiative group" took
  over the Society in November 1930. They expelled
  Egorov denouncing him as a reactionary and a
  churchman.
• Egorov went on a hunger strike in prison and
  eventually died.

http//www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Ma
thematicians/Egorov.html
38
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

• Keplers Laws

1. The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with
the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
http//www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scien
tists.html http//csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect
/history/kepler.html
39
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

• Keplers Laws

http//www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scien
tists.html http//csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect
/history/kepler.html
40
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

• Keplers Laws
• III. The ratio of the squares of the
  revolutionary periods for two planets is equal to
  the ratio of the cubes of their semimajor axes.

http//www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scien
tists.html http//csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect
/history/kepler.html
41
Johannes Kepler

• Throughout his life, Kepler was a profoundly
  religious man. All his writings contain numerous
  references to God, and he saw his work as a
  fulfilment of his Christian duty to understand
  the works of God. Man being, as Kepler believed,
  made in the image of God, was clearly capable of
  understanding the Universe that He had created.
  Moreover, Kepler was convinced that God had made
  the Universe according to a mathematical plan.
• When asked Why do you do science?", Kepler
  answered that he desired in his scientific
  research to obtain a sample test of the delight
  of the Divine Creator in his work and to partake
  of his joy.

http//www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scien
tists.html http//www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/histor
y/Mathematicians/Kepler.html
42
Blaise Pascal (1623-62)

• PASCAL a high level programming language
  designed by Niklaus Wirth in 1974 as a teaching
  language for computer scientists.
• Pascals Law the pressure in a fluid is
  transmitted equally to all distances and in all
  directions. (hydraulics!)
• PASCAL A unit of pressure. 1 bar equals
  100,000 Pascal
• Pascals triangle.

Blaise Pascal
(1623-62)
Blaise Pascal (1623-62)
43
Pascal Computer Engineer

• In 1642, Pascal began to create a machine that
  would be similar to an everyday calculator to
  help his father with his accounting job.
• He finished the final model in 1645.
• He presented one to Queen Christina of Sweden and
  he was allowed a monopoly over it by royal
  decree.

http//www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/index.
html
44
Pascal the Mathematician
http//www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us/project/pascal/b
laise3.htm
45
Pascals Triangle
Pascal's Triangle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ...

• 1 1
• 1 2 1
• 1 3 3 1
• 1 4 6 4 1
• 1 5 10 10 5 1
• 1 6 15 20 15 6 1
• 1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
• ...

46
Pascal AWARDS
Fame is so sweet that we love anything we
connect with it, even death. Blaise Pascal
(Pensees)
47
Why do we watch a lot of TV, Monday night
football play computer games?Pascals
thoughts...

• Man finds nothing so intolerable as to be in
  a state of complete rest, without passions,
  without occupation, without diversion, without
  effort. Then he faces his nullity, loneliness,
  inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, emptiness.
  And at once there wells up from the depths of his
  soul boredom, gloom, depression, chagrin,
  resentment, despair.

48
Pascals Thoughts

• ...there are two ways people avoid thinking about
  such matters diversion and indifference.
  Regarding diversion, Pascal says we fill up our
  time with activities to avoid facing the truth of
  our state. The natural misfortune of our
  mortality and weakness is so miserable, that
  nothing can console us when we really think about
  it.... The only good thing for man, therefore, is
  to be diverted so that he will stop thinking
  about his circumstances.
• http//www.probe.org/docs/pascal.html

49
Nirvanas Curt Cobain offers a Translation of
Pascal

• With the lights out it's less dangerous
• Here we are now. Entertain us.
• The denial, the denial, the denial, the
  denial,
• Smells like Teen Spirit
• Nirvana

50
Were all motivated by belief in God?
Pierre Simon Laplace (1749-1827). Laplace
transform Laplace Noise Laplace helped to
establish the metric system.
51
Laplace
Napoleon appointed Laplace Minister of the
Interior but removed him from office after only
six weeks because he brought the spirit of the
infinitely small into the government.
Napoleon asked Laplace why God was not mentioned
in any of his work on celestial mechanics.
Laplace responded ... Sire, je navais pas
besoin de cette hypothese. Sire, I had no need
of that hypothesis. Petr Beckmann, A History of
Pi, St. Martins Press, 1971.
52
What a beautiful creation!
Researchers see The Beauty of Creation! Some
ask Who Created this beauty?
Premise There is no lack of proof of God
through His work. Predisposed by a blind faith
world view and numbed by the continual presence
of miracles, there is only an unwillingness to
accept the evidence.
53
The mere existence of a cell should be one
of the greatest astonishments of the earth.
People ought to walking around all day, all
through their waking hours, calling to each other
in endless wonderment, talking nothing else
except that cell
54
If anyone does succeed in explaining it, within
my lifetime I will charter a skywriting airplane,
maybe a whole fleet of them, and send them aloft
to write one great exclamation point after
another, around the whole sky, until all my money
runs out. Lewis Thomas, quoted by Henry Brand
and Philip Yancey, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
(Grand Rapids Zonderman, 1980) p.25
55
Romans 120 Ever since the creation of the world
his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power
and deity, has been clearly perceived in the
things that have been made. So they are without
excuse
56
Premise 2
Numerous great researchers embrace Christianity
The knowing of God, the creator of the
universe, personally. Belief in Gods supremacy
and saving grace made possible through the
sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ.
http//www.ccci.org/laws/index.html
57
Is this viewpoint prevalent today?

• References to God continued in the scientific
  literature until the middle to late 1800's. It
  seems likely that the lack of religious
  references after this time seem more from a
  change in social and professional conventions
  among scientists rather than from any change in
  underlying thought. Indeed, contrary to popular
  myth, scientists appear to have the same range of
  attitudes about religious matters as does the
  general public. Alan Lightman (MIT) in Origins

http//www.leaderu.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scien
tists.html
58
Christian ProfessorsToday
59
Isaac Newton on Christ
There is one God, the Father, ever-living,
omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, the Maker of
heaven and earth, and one Mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus. Sir Isaac Newton
60
Newtons Proclamation
We account the Scriptures of God to be the most
sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of
authenticity in the Bible than in any profane
history whatsoever... Worshiping God and the Lamb
Jesus Christ in the temple God, for his
benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb,
for his benefaction in redeeming us with his
blood. Sir Isaac Newton Tryon Edwards, D.D., The
New Dictionary of Thoughts-A Cyclopedia of
Quotations (Garden City, NY Hanover House, 1852
revised and enlarged by C.H. Catrevas, Ralph
Emerson Browns, and Jonathan Edwards descendent,
along with Tryon, of Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758), president of Princeton, 1891 Sir
Isaac Newton. Henry H. Morris, Men of
Scienice-Men of God (El Cajon, CA Master Books,
A Division of Creation Life Publishers, Inc.,
1988), pp. 23-26. The Standard Book Company,
1955,1963), P. 47. Henry H. Halley, Halley's
Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI Zondervan
Publishing House, 1927, 1965), P. 19. Charles E.
Jones, The Books You Read (Harrisburg, PA
Executive Books, 1985), P. 118.
61
Faraday Speculations
Though the thought of death brings the thought
of judgment, it also brings to the Christian
thought of Him Jesus Christ who died, and
rose again for the justification of those who
believe in Him. Michael Faraday Walter Jerrold,
Michael Faraday, Man of Science, p. 120. Stephen
Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses
(Portland, OR American Heritage Ministries,
1987 Mantle Ministries, 228 Still Ridge,
Bulverde, Texas), p. 147.
62
Faradays faith in Christ
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of
God. The Christian religion is a revelation and
that revelation is the Word of God. Michael
Faraday George Wilson, Short Biographies for
the People, Vol. IV. Stephen Abbott Northrop,
D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon
American Heritage Ministries, 1987 Mantle
Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, BuIverde, Texas), p.
147-8.
63
James Clerk Maxwell and the Christian
Proposition Ian HutchinsonMIT IAP Seminar The
Faith of Great Scientists, Jan 98
Clearly, from this early age, a devout
Christian faith and demanding mental discipline
were, for Maxwell, part of the same experience.
http//silas.psfc.mit.edu/Maxwell/maxwell
.html
64
James Clerk Maxwell
Think what God has determined to do to all
those who submit themselves to his righteousness
and are willing to receive his gift of eternal
life in Jesus Christ. They are to be conformed
to the image of his Son and when that is
fulfilled and God sees they are conformed to the
image of Christ, there can be no more
condemnation. James Clerk Maxwell. http//www.lea
deru.com/offices/schaefer/docs/scientists.html

65
Blaise Pascal

• We know God only through Jesus Christ
  through Jesus Christ we know God. All who have
  pretended to know God, and prove Him without
  Jesus Christ, have only had impotent proofs.

Pensees is French for "thoughts"
"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of
every man, which only God can fill through His
Son Jesus Christ."
66
Pascals Wager
Pascal's Wager
How can anyone lose who chooses to become a
Christian? If, when he dies, there turns out to
be no God and his faith was in vain, he has lost
nothing - in fact, he has been happier in life
than his nonbelieving friends. If, however,
there is a God and a heaven and hell, then he has
gained heaven and his skeptical friends will have
lost everything in hell! Henry H. Morris, Men
of Science-Men of God (El Cajon, CA Master
Books, A Division of Creation Life Publishers,
Inc., 1988), pp. 15-16.
67
Pascals Wager A Venn Diagram
68
Science Faith
Premise 1 Some Scientists, Engineers and
Mathematicians embrace a strong belief in God.
Motivation for research, in certain cases, stems
in part from their curiosity of discovering Gods
creation and the awe and remarkable beauty of the
relationships they uncover. Knowing the painting
is not the same as knowing the painter. Premise
2 The knowing of God, the creator of the
universe, personally. Belief in Gods supremacy
and saving grace made possible through the
sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
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What Christians believe

• 1. God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for
  your life.
• He loves you wants you to know Him
  personally!
• 2. Man is SINFUL (imperfect)
• and SEPARATED from God.
• Therefore, you cannot know
• and experience God's
• love and plan for your life.
• www.ccci.org/laws/languages.html

perfect imperfect
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What Christians Believe (cont)...

• 3. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's
  sin. Through Him you can know and experience
  God's love and plan for your life.

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What Christians Believe (cont)

• 4. We must individually RECEIVE the gift of Jesus
  Christ as Savior and Lord (Master) then we can
  know and experience God's peace, love and plan
  for our lives.

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Pascals Conversion
Pascals conversion to Christianity. Found in
the lining of his coat on his death
Memorial In the year of grace, 1654,On Monday,
23rd of November, Feast of St Clement, Pope and
Martyr, And others in the Martyrology, Vigil of
St Chrysogonus, Martyr, and others,From about
half past ten in the evening until about half
past Twelve, Fire! God of Abraham, God of Isaac,
God of Jacob, (Ex 36 Mt 2232)Not of the
philosophers and scholars.Certitude. Certitude.
Feeling. Joy. Peace.God of Jesus Christ."Thy
God and my God." (Jn 2017)Forgetfulness of the
world and of everything, except God.He is to be
found only in the ways taught in the
Gospel.Greatness of the Human Soul."Righteous
Father, the world hath not known Thee, But I have
known Thee." (Jn 1725)Joy, joy, joy, tears of
joy.I have separated myself from Him."They have
forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters." (Jn
213)"My God, wilt Thou leave me?" (Mt
2746)Let me not be separated from Him
eternally."This is eternal life,That they might
know Thee, the only true God, And Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent." (Jn 173) Jesus Christ...
Monday, Nov 23, 1654
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.God of
Jesus Christ."Thy God and my God." (Jn
2017)Forgetfulness of the world and of
everything, except God.
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Pascals Conversion (cont)
Jesus Christ I have separated myself from
HimI have fled from Him,denied Him,crucified
Him.Let me never be separated from Him.We keep
hold of Him only by the ways taught in the
Gospel. Renunciation, total and sweet.Total
submission to Jesus Christ and to my
director.Eternally in joy for a day's training
on earth."I will not forget thy words." (Ps
11916) Amen.
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Pascals Conversion (cont)
PRAYER (traditional language)Almighty God, who
didst grant to thy servant Blaise Pascal a Great
intellect, that he might explore the mysteries of
thy creation, and didst kindle in his heart a
love for thee and a devotion to thy service
Mercifully grant to us thy servants, according to
our several callings, gifts of excellence in
body, mind, and will, and the grace to use them
diligently and to thy glory, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
PRAYER (contemporary language) Almighty God,
who gave your servant Blaise Pascal a great
Intellect, that he might explore the mysteries of
your creation, and who kindled in his heart a
love for you and a devotion to your service
Mercifully give us your servants, according to
our various callings, gifts of excellence in
body, mind, and will, and the grace to use them
diligently and to your glory, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
(translation by Emile Caillet and John C.
Blankenagel, Great Shorter Works of Pascal,
Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1948). See
http//justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/233.html

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Solomons Sage Advice
Solomons Sage Advice for Scholars...
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their
collected sayings like firmly embedded
nails-given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my
son, of anything in addition to them. 12b. Of
making many books there is no end, and much study
wearies the body. 13. Now all has been heard
here is the conclusion of the matter Fear God
and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12
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Finish