MLC to host science symposium

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- About 75 science educators in Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod schools across the country will gather on the Martin Luther College campus later this week for a symposium on the role of science in society.

The symposium which runs Thursday through Saturday will examine the relationship of science and the Church's teachings.

"It's an attempt to look at how science affects our every-day lives, and then look at it from a Christian point-of-view," said Prof. Richard Ash, one of the MLC symposium organizers.

Keynote speaker is Ryan MacPherson who recently received his doctorate in the history and philosophy of science at Notre Dame and who will begin teaching this fall at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato.

The symposium will be dealing with a number of controversial issues, Ash said.

Perhaps the ultimate issue to be discussed is death and its implications for life support and organ harvesting, presented by John Schuetze, a professor of pastoral and systematic theology at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

"Scriptural insights will be given to guide the ethical aspects of using life support systems and harvesting of organs," the prospectus states.

Then, there's a discussion of stem cell research and its applications: "Boon or Bane?" Presenting and leading the discussion on what a stem cell is, where the research is headed and how do Christians view it is Wayne Foelske, a biology teacher at Manitowoc (Wis.) Lutheran High School.

The topic of navigating the waters of "scientific creationism" will be presented by Bryan Schneck who is completing his master's degree work in science education at the Institute for Creation Research, Santee, Calif.

"The impact of the humanist/evolutionary agenda through textbooks, the media and society cannot be denied. We must prepare our students for this onslaught by teaching them to be critical thinkers and shrewd consumers in the realm of science," the prospectus continues.

Other topics to be dissected during the symposium include "The Christian and Bioethics," "Tracing the Path of Genome Research," "Proteins: The Frontier of Biological Science," "Chaos and the Christian Perspective" and "The Science Revolution."

Symposium participants also will be treated to a field trip for studying geology formations in south-central Minnesota, led by John Paulsen of New Ulm, director of special services at MLC.