Richard G. Colling
Richard G. Colling teaches biology and was the chairman of the biological sciences department at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Colling earned his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Kansas in 1980.
In 2004, Colling published the book Random Designer: Created From Chaos, To Connect With the Creator.
Evolution at Olivet
After Colling wrote Random Designer,[1] a book attempting to reconcile the foundations of modern evolutionary biology with the tenets of the Christian faith, and especially since its use in biology courses, controversy grew among Nazarene Church officials. Due to pressure from donors and board members, in September 2007 Olivet President John Bowling prohibited Colling from teaching the general biology class he had taught since 1991 and banned professors from assigning his book. According to an interview with Newsweek, the reason behind Bowling's response was to "get the bull's-eye off Colling and let the storm die down." Opposition to the book was initially led by Stephen Anthony, the Eastern Michigan District Superintendent, and Ted Lee, the Indianapolis District Superintendent and chairman of the Board of Trustees. Neither Anthony nor Lee have a biology or science degree, but hold honorary doctoral degrees. The stance that science and religion are diametrically opposite is not suppressed by all Nazarene colleges and universities: Darrel R. Falk of Point Loma Nazarene wrote a book[2] similar in intent to that of Colling, while Karl Giberson of Eastern Nazarene, the first Nazarene scholar to publish with Oxford University Press, has written three books on the tensions between science and religion,[3] and is under contract for a fourth book titled Saving Darwin. The Church of the Nazarene does see "knowledge acquired by science and human inquiry equal to that acquired by divine revelation," and President Bowling supported Colling in a letter to trustees when he expressed that, while the church "'believes in the Biblical account of creation' and holds that God is the sole creator, it allows latitude 'regarding the "how" of creation.'"[4] The Nazarene Manual specifically states: "The Church of the Nazarene believes in the biblical account of creation (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . .”—Genesis 1:1).We oppose any godless interpretation of the origin of the universe and of humankind. However, the church accepts as valid all scientifically verifiable discoveries in geology and other natural phenomena, for we firmly believe that God is the Creator. (Articles I.1., V. 5.1, VII.) (2005)[5]
See also
References
- ^ Random Designer: Created from Chaos to Connect with the Creator, Browning Press, 2004, ISBN 0975390406
- ^ Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Worlds Between Faith and Biology, InterVarsity Press, 2004, ISBN 0830827420
- ^ Worlds Apart: The Unholy War between Religion and Science, Beacon Hill Press, 1993 ISBN 0834115042
With Donald Yerxa, Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002 ISBN 0742507645
With Mariano Artigas, The Oracles of Science: Celebrity Scientist Versus God and Religion, Oxford University Press, 2006 ISBN 0195310721 - ^ "Can God Love Darwin, Too?" by Sharon Begley, Newsweek, Sept. 17, 2007 issue
- ^ Manual, p.371