Archive for the ‘Assignment 4’ Category

The Bible in Transmission Autumn 2006

2 September, 2006

The Autumn issue – is it autumn already? What happened to summer? – of The Bible In Transmission is out; the theme is Sustainable Development. It includes:

Jane Williams ‘Theologies of the environment’
Sam Berry ‘Is religion bad for the environment?’
John Houghton ‘The crisis of sustainability’
Ian Hore-Lacy ‘Christian stewardship and energy sustainability’
Edward Echlin ‘Living sustainably locally’
John Guillebaud ‘Population growth, global warming and sustainability of the environment’

Writing book reviews

26 July, 2006

One subject that I’m often asked to clarify for students is the writing of book reviews. In general book reviews should not be a mere description of the book – though it should include that. Some good questions to bear in mind when writing a review include:

  • Who is the intended audience for the book? Scholars in the field or general readers?
  • What is the author’s purpose in writing the book?
  • What are the author’s central arguments?
  • Is the book lacking information or argumentation that you expected to find?
  • Are the ideas logically presented and easy to follow?
  • What is the author’s style? Formal or informal? Is it appropriate to the intended audience?
  • Are facts in the book accurate? You may need to check outside sources to determine accuracy. Note any errors or weak arguments.
  • How do the ideas in the book relate to other ideas and arguments on the same topic? You may need to read other works in the field in order to make a comparison.
  • Is the author’s point of view objective? Does the language used create bias?

Taken from here.

Other useful information can be found here, here and here.

And because this is an ethics unit, one key question to consider is:

  • what type of ethical arguments (natural law, consequentialist, deontologist, virtue ethics … ) is the author using?

Assignment 4

22 April, 2006

1. Science and Religion

There are no shortage of articles on science and Christianity in Pespectives on Science and Faith, the journal of the ASA.

The UK counterpart to the ASA is Christians in Science; the CiS journal is Science and Christian Belief.

2. Christian approach to the environment

  • The Christian Ecology Link (CEL) is a multi denominational UK Christian movement for people concerned about the environment. It also has a useful list of resources.
  • Christian Environmental Studies centre
  • A Rocha: an international conservation organisation working to show God’s love for all creation
  • The John Ray Initiative (JRI) is an educational charity bringing together scientific and Christian understandings of the environment in a way that can be widely communicated and lead to effective action.”

3. Celia Deane Drummond’s Genetic Engineering booklet