Ken Van Dellen
Grew up in Ellsworth, Michigan. Son of Dr. Jerrian and Mrs. Anna (Terpstra) Van Dellen. Married to the former Pearl Kiel.
B.A. Calvin College, biology major (before Calvin had a geology department); M.S. Michigan State University, invertebrate zoology w/ botany cognate; M.S. University of Michigan, geology (following PhD candidacy and abandoning research for medical, financial, and family reasons).
Teacher: SW Minnesota Christian HS, Edgerton, Minnesota - biology and chemistry; Fitzgerald Jr-Sr HS, Warren, Michigan - general science, biology, earth science; Macomb Community College, Warren, Michigan - geology, environmental science.
In retirement: formerly a counselor in crisis center, currently team leader in English as Second Language at Arab American Friendship Center (a Christian organization); also spent a wonderful semester as volunteer visiting lecturer at Daystar University in Nairobi and Athi River, Kenya, where I thought God had sent me only to teach biology and environmental science, but other opportunities for service kept surfacing.
We established a scholarship in geology at Calvin College and, soon after, aware of the two means by which we know God (Belgic Confession Art. 2), we established another at Calvin Seminary.
Fellow, American Scientific Affiliation (Christian scientists); member, Affiliation of Christian Geologists; member, Geological Society of America.
Posted in: Genesis - Again!
John, I wasn't insulting you. We operate in two different reality systems, and now things are getting touchy. We both benefit from the application of the geologic principles that you disagree with, so God gives gifts to us both, even though we disagree on how He operates. Enjoy the Earth resources that He guides the geologists to find for us to use.
I'm going to opt out of email alerts to comments here, so if you don't get replies, it's not that I'm ignoring you, it's that I don't know that you posted.
Blessings,
Ken
Posted in: Genesis - Again!
Hello.
I've just joined the Network, and enjoyed reading your discussion on a subject that is of great interest to me.
Let me make a few comments.
Science and theology are both human endeavors. When we do science, we learn about how God sustains and governs his creation, and when we do theology, we learn that God made everything that is, we learn how he covenants with humans who rebel against him, we learn of the plan of salvation, and we learn how to live as Christians. While scientists make mistakes sometimes, so do theologians. We have learned that we were mistaken about some things we thought the Bible clearly taught. Today, we may be at the point in our understanding of Genesis, where the Church was at the time of Galileo in their understanding of the structure of the solar system and universe.
I would encourage you to look at an interesting table at http://www.ualberta.ca/~dlamoure/1_beyond_handout_b.pdf. Surveys show that most scientists do not fall in the last column, as is commonly believed, nor in the last two columns. They are mostly in the first three columns. A high percentage of Christian scientists are not in the first column, but are concentrated in the second and third columns.
My Christian scientist friends believe that they serve God by studying his creation, and rather than finding reasons not to believe, they find their wonder and awe increasing as they learn more about his work.
As a Christian geologist, I am delighted that our theologians and other scholars are looking at Genesis more carefully. The key messages are, I believe, God is creator, and we should worship and honor him, but we fall very short. These messages are presented in the language of ancient times, using ancient understandings, and the idea of a three-tiered universe with an inverted dome above Earth, infertility always being the "fault" of the woman, ancient men being fertile only at ages that are multiples of 5 (usually; see genealogies), for example, are probably neither part of the message or historically accurate, even if they are in the Bible.
If you would like a copy of the table that I've highlighted a bit, drop me a note. I'm happy to answer geology questions, too.
Sorry for being long-winded!
Blessings.
Posted in: Disabling Approach to 'Repeal and Replace'
My heart goes out to Mr. DeYoung. Some of those near and dear to me have disabilities so I can sympathize. Nevertheless, I would like to respectfully point out why I think this post is an excellent example of "good" and "not-good" in a church publication. It might have been useful to edit this item just a little before posting it. I think it's "good" to submit a list of features one might hope for in legislation; I think it's "not good" to attach that list to rumors, baseless accusations, and other such statements such as those in the first three paragraphs of this post, in a denominational magazine or website such as this.
This post begins with a vague "Multiple reports suggest..." and goes on to a derogatory comment about the President-elect well before the inauguration and follows that with an attack on Rep. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House. (Ryan was depicted in political ads a few years ago pushing grandma over a cliff in her wheelchair, but some view him as one who lives his Christian beliefs, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit.) This introduction concludes by questioning the morality of legislators in the early weeks of a new term for not providing evidence that legislation still being written will be completely satisfactory. This makes one wonder if it isn't just a tad politically oriented.
If we are going to have political statements here, perhaps we should seek some balance. Would the monitors consider a post that reported that, for the first time in history, a U.S. president spoke at the annual meeting of Planned Parenthood, leading abortion provider in the U.S. and dealer in body parts of aborted babies? This would be the same president who, as a state legislator stated that he trusted doctors performing abortions to provide necessary care for viable infants surviving abortions. These are doctors who believe a dead baby is the best solution to an unplanned pregnancy. As the adoptive father of two grown daughters, now the mothers of five terrific grandchildren, I beg to differ.