Chaplaincy Network meetings

In 2005, our meetings happened at Newman Hall, downstairs in Seminar Room 2.


What we did in the first semester, 2005 :

March 14th Alan Creak An atheist has doubts : reflections on Antony Flew's change of mind.
March 21st Don Nield The young-earth creationist position.
March 28th ... was Easter Monday ... ... so we weren't there.
April 4th whosoever will ... A CURRENT AFFAIRS discusssion.
April 11th Robert Sheehan Does it matter what we believe ?
April 18th ... was in the mid-semester break; and, furthermore ...
April 25th ... was ANZAC day ... ... so we didn't meet.
May 2nd Alan Creak Whatever happened to SIN ?
May 9th Rev Uesifili Unasa 'Will God stay buried ?' : A paper delivered to the Sea of Faith Conference 2003 by Rev Dr John Salmon.
May 16th Alan Creak Conservatives versus Liberals : does it have to be "versus" ?
May 23rd Alan Creak By special request : Conservatives versus Liberals : does it have to be "versus" ? Part 2. ( We didn't quite get finished last time. )
May 30th Robert Sheehan "Something like World Views", he said. And that's just what he did. It was good.


What we did in the second semester, 2005 :

July 18th Alan Creak GOD, REASON, and TERROR
July 25th Donald Nield A Roman Catholic position on evolution ?

( The attendance was bigger than it had been for years. This was probably because the meeting was - mysteriously - featured on the university web site's front page as a significant event of the day. Discussion was vigorous, and ended with considerable enthusiasm for further debate on the topic next week. )

August 1st Alan Creak, sort of. BY POPULAR REQUEST : Continuing last week's discussion on "A Roman Catholic position on evolution ?". We started from two articles recently published in the New York Times; the paper is a bit sniffy about allowing access to its files ( = I think you have to pay ), but these two references appear to contain the material :

( Despite the "popular request" expressed by acclaim at last week's meeting, hardly anyone turned up. The four people - all regular members - who did enjoyed a satisfying discussion of some of the material in the first reference, in more detail than we had last week. )

August 8th Uesifili Unasa Holy God or Useful God ?
August 15th Donald Nield Gene pool, genealogy, Genesis.

This will have something to do with recent news items about objections to requests for DNA samples to be used in attempting to investigate prehistoric migration patterns. Some relevant articles are :

Claire Harvey : Stirring up the gene pool;
Claire Harvey : Gene team drops blood tests;
Raymond Bradley : Charlatan tohunga alive and kicking.

August 22nd Alan Creak Alan writes, in an electronic mail communication : 'I shall try to engage your interest in a discussion of the hymn "A safe stronghold our God is still".

In offering this topic, I am moved in part by the discussion at yesterday's ( August 15th's ) meeting, in which the threat of modern DNA studies to traditional beliefs was mentioned. The hymn dates from around 1500, when beliefs in Europe were essentially unsullied by modern science, and perhaps offers a parallel of sorts. ( That the author of the hymn was Martin Luther might remind us that the Christian church has never had trouble in finding something to fight about. )'

- and then there was the mid-semester break.
September 12th Alan Creak Marriage, society, and Christianity.

Musings stimulated by two articles by Simon Collins on page A6 of the New Zealand Herald, 2005 September 3 :

September 19th Philip Holder The rôle of knowledge in Christian faith and practice.
September 26th Dick Cook If Jesus is the answer, what's the question ?
October 3rd Philip Crump 21 years without a war.
October 10th whosoever will ... A CURRENT AFFAIRS discusssion.
October 17th Don Nield The "Intelligent Design" theory.

HOMEWORK : Keep up with the news on the "Dover trial" ( http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10348082 ).

Alan Creak,
2006 May.