Every once in a while, I google BTF to see what’s going on.  I was surprised to find out this morning that I made my way into Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegorical_interpretations_of_Genesis

I know its really not that big of a deal, but of all the scholars and experts that could have been used to make the case for interpreting Genesis (Like John Walton or Conrad Hyers, etc…), I find it delightfully strange that I was cited as an example.  Of course, I have never claimed to be on the cutting edge of anything.  From my perspective, the service I provide others in my blog or in my book(s) is simply to sort through the mountains of information on a particular topic and boil it all down in an easily digestible, easy to read, and easy to relate to fashion for the average non-scholar like myself. 

One thing I noticed from those academics and scholars that read manuscripts of BTF prior to publication is this: the deeper a trained professional dives into a particular field of knowledge, the less they are able to relate the broader aspects of that field to laymen like myself.  Those who are the exception to this general rule are the ones publishing popular scientific literature.  But for the most part, the biologist who spends 12-16 hours a day researching how to identify speciation events immediately wants to see everything through the lens of this narrow field.  The astrophysicist who studies nothing but brown dwarf stars might find it difficult to explain general stellar evolution to a non-astronomer in an understandable and accessible way.  In general, these folks who find themselves buried the technical details of their specific fields often lose touch with the ignorant and unlearned.  By contrast, I am under no pressure to push the intellectual envelope in any particular academic field (except for solving the technical problems of my customers and clients during the work-week).  The few technical articles I published based on my graduate work will never win any awards (ok - I did win a “best paper” award at an international conference).  I am basically free to study a broad range of topics at my own pace that all relate to issues of science and faith and connect the dots in such a way that hopefully saves other interested folks a little time in their journey.  The bonus is that I get to spend hours learning about whatever fascinates me.  If only I didn’t still need my regular 9-5 job to pay the bills!

On another note, my lack of blog posting over the past two months is a direct result of being consumed with my next project.  As some of you have already heard, I’m working on a follow-up book to BTF that deals directly and specifically with the theological problems of evolution, and how the data affect our doctrine.  Over the next few months, I’ll be posting excerpts from my work here for discussion and comment.

GJG

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 9:13 am and is filed under News and Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.