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LIST OF CHRISTIANS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

MMM raised the question as to whether or not belief is higher among the less educated than among the highly educated.

Here, from Wikipedia is a list of currently living scientists who are also Christian believers.

Wikipedia also has a list of deceased Christian scientists.

I welcome readers views and comments

Pat

Wikipedia

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This is a list of Christians in science and technology. People in this list should have their Christianity as relevant to their notable activities or public life, and who have publicly identified themselves as Christians or as of a Christian denomination.

CURRENTLY LIVING

BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES.

Denis Alexander (born 1945): Emeritus Director of the Faraday Institute at the University of Cambridge and author of Rebuilding the Matrix – Science and Faith in the 21st Century. He also supervised a research group in cancer and immunology at the Babraham Institute.[212]

Werner Arber (born 1929): Swiss microbiologist and geneticist. Along with American researchers Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans, he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction endonucleases. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Arber as President of the Pontifical Academy—the first Protestant to hold that position.[213]

Robert T. Bakker (born 1945): paleontologist who was a leading figure in the “Dinosaur Renaissance” and known for the theory some dinosaurs were warm-blooded. He is also a Pentecostal preacher who advocates theistic evolution and has written on religion.[214][215]

Dan Blazer (born 1944): American psychiatrist and medical researcher who is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine. He is known for researching the epidemiology of depression, substance use disorders, and the occurrence of suicide among the elderly. He has also researched the differences in the rate of substance use disorders among races.[216]

William Cecil Campbell (born 1930): Irish-American biologist and parasitologist known for his work in discovering a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworms, for which he was jointly awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[217]

Francis Collins (born 1950): director of the National Institutes of Health and former director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute. He has also written on religious matters in articles and the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.[218][219]

Peter Dodson (born 1946): American paleontologist who has published many papers and written and collaborated on books about dinosaurs. An authority on Ceratopsians, he has also authored several papers and textbooks on hadrosaurs and sauropods, and is a co-editor of The Dinosauria. He is a professor of Vertebrate Paleontology and of Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lindon Eaves (born 1944): British behavioral geneticist who has published on topics as diverse as the heritability of religion and psychopathology. In 1996, he and Kenneth Kendler founded the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he is currently professor emeritus and actively engaged in research and training.[220][221]

Darrel R. Falk (born 1946): American biologist and the former president of the BioLogos Foundation.[222]

Charles Foster (born 1962): science writer on natural history, evolutionary biology, and theology. A Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Linnean Society of London,[223] Foster has advocated theistic evolution in his book, The Selfless Gene (2009).[224]

Tyler VanderWeele: American epidemiologist and biostatistician and Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also the co-director of Harvard University’s Initiative on Health, Religion and Spirituality, the director of their Human Flourishing Program, and a faculty affiliate of the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science. His research has focused on the application of causal inference to epidemiology, as well as on the relationship between religion and health.[225][226]

John Gurdon (born 1933): British developmental biologist. In 2012, he and Shinya Yamanaka were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that mature cells can be converted to stem cells. In an interview with EWTN.com on the subject of working with the Vatican in dialogue, he says “I’m not a Roman Catholic. I’m a Christian, of the Church of England…I’ve never seen the Vatican before, so that’s a new experience, and I’m grateful for it.”[227]

Brian Heap (born 1935): biologist who was Master of St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge and was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion.[228][229]

Malcolm Jeeves (born 1926): British neuropsychologist who is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, and was formerly President of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. He established the Department of Psychology at University of St. Andrews.[230]

Harold G. Koenig (born 1951): professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and leading researcher on the effects of religion and spirituality on health. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke.[231][232][233]

Larry Kwak (born 1959): renowned American cancer researcher who works at City of Hope National Medical Center. He was formerly Chairman of the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma and Co-Director of the Center for Cancer Immunology Research at MD Anderson Hospital.[234] He was included on Time’s list of 2010’s most influential people.

Noella Marcellino (born 1951): American Benedictine nun with a degree in microbiology. Her field of interests include fungi and the effects of decay and putrefaction.[235]

Paul R. McHugh (born 1931): American psychiatrist whose research has focused on the neuroscientific foundations of motivated behaviors, psychiatric genetics, epidemiology, and neuropsychiatry. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and former psychiatrist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Kenneth R. Miller (born 1948): molecular biologist at Brown University who wrote Finding Darwin’s God ISBN 0-06-093049-7.[236]

William Newsome (born 1952): neuroscientist at Stanford University. A member of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-chair of the BRAIN Initiative, “a rapid planning effort for a ten-year assault on how the brain works.”[240] He has written about his faith: “When I discuss religion with my fellow scientists…I realize I am an oddity — a serious Christian and a respected scientist.”[241]

Martin Nowak (born 1965): evolutionary biologist and mathematician best known for evolutionary dynamics. He teaches at Harvard University and is also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Templeton Foundation.[242][243]

Bennet Omalu (born 1968): Nigerian-American physician, forensic pathologist, and neuropathologist who was the first to discover and publish findings of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football players. He is a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.[244]

Ghillean Prance (born 1937): botanist involved in the Eden Project. He is a former President of Christians in Science.[245]

Joan Roughgarden (born 1946): evolutionary biologist who has taught at Stanford University since 1972. She wrote the book Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist.[246]

Mary Higby Schweitzer: paleontologist at North Carolina State University who believes in the synergy of the Christian faith and the truth of empirical science.[247][248]

Andrew Wyllie: Scottish pathologist who discovered the significance of natural cell death, later naming the process apoptosis. Prior to retirement, he was Head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge.[249]

CHEMISTRY

Peter Agre (born January 30, 1949): American physician, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, and molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (which he shared with Roderick MacKinnon) for his discovery of aquaporins. Agre is a Lutheran.[250]

Andrew B. Bocarsly (born 1954): American chemist known for his research in electrochemistry, photochemistry, solids state chemistry, and fuel cells. He is a professor of chemistry at Princeton University.[251]

Gerhard Ertl (born 1936): 2007 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry. He has said in an interview that “I believe in God. (…) I am a Christian and I try to live as a Christian (…) I read the Bible very often and I try to understand it.”[252]

Brian Kobilka (born 1955): American Nobel Prize winner of Chemistry in 2012, and is professor in the departments of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Kobilka attends the Catholic Community at Stanford, California.[253] He received the Mendel Medal from Villanova University, which it says “honors outstanding pioneering scientists who have demonstrated, by their lives and their standing before the world as scientists, that there is no intrinsic conflict between science and religion.”[254]

Todd Martinez (born 1968): American theoretical chemist who is a professor of chemistry at Stanford University and a Professor of Photon Science at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. His research focuses primarily on developing first-principles approaches to chemical reaction dynamics, starting from the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics.[255]

Artem R. Oganov (born 1975): Russian theoretical crystallographer, mineralogist, chemist, physicist, and materials scientist. He is a parishioner of St. Louis Catholic Church in Moscow.[256]

Henry F. Schaefer, III (born 1944): American computational and theoretical chemist, and one of the most highly cited scientists in the world with a Thomson Reuters H-Index of 116. He is the Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Computational Chemistry at the University of Georgia.[257]

Troy Van Voorhis: American chemist who is currently the Haslam and Dewey Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[258]

John White (chemist): Australian chemist who is currently Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Research School of Chemistry, at the Australian National University. He is a Past President, Royal Australian Chemical Institute and President of Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering.[259]

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Stephen Barr (born 1953): physicist who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory and contributed papers to Physical Review as well as Physics Today. He also is a Catholic who writes for First Things and wrote Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. He teaches at the University of Delaware.[260]

Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943): astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. She is currently Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford.

Arnold O. Benz (born 1945): Swiss astrophysicist, currently professor emeritus at ETH Zurich. He is known for his research in plasma astrophysics,[261] in particular heliophysics, and received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Zurich and The University of the South for his contributions to the dialog with theology.[262][263]

Katherine Blundell: British astrophysicist who is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a supernumerary research fellow at St John’s College, Oxford. Her research investigates the physics of active galaxies such as quasars and objects in the Milky Way such as microquasars.[264]

Stephen Blundell (born 1967): British physicist who is a Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. He was the previously head of Condensed Matter Physics at Oxford. His research is concerned with using muon-spin rotation and magnetoresistance techniques to study a range of organic and inorganic materials.[265]

Andrew Briggs (born 1950): British quantum physicist who is Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Oxford. He is best known for his early work in acoustic microscopy and his current work in materials for quantum technologies.[266][267]

Joan Centrella: American astrophysicist known for her research on general relativity, gravity waves, gravitational lenses, and binary black holes. She is the former deputy director of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and is Executive in Residence for Science and Technology Policy at West Virginia University.[268][269][270]

Raymond Chiao (born 1940): American physicist renowned for his experimental work in quantum optics. He is currently an emeritus faculty member at the University of California, Merced Physics Department, where he is conducting research on gravitational radiation.[271][272]

Gerald B. Cleaver: professor in the Department of Physics at Baylor University and head of the Early Universe Cosmology and Strings (EUCOS) division of Baylor’s Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics & Engineering Research (CASPER). His research specialty is string phenomenology and string model building. He is linked to BioLogos and among his lectures are “”Faith and the New Cosmology.”[273][274]

Guy Consolmagno (born 1952): American Jesuit astronomer who works at the Vatican Observatory.

Cees Dekker (born 1959): Dutch physicist and Distinguished University Professor at the Technical University of Delft. He is known for his research on carbon nanotubes, single-molecule biophysics, and nanobiology. Ten of his group publications have been cited more than 1000 times, 64 papers got cited more than 100 times, and in 2001, his group work was selected as “breakthrough of the year” by the journal Science.[275]

George Francis Rayner Ellis (born 1939): professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking, published in 1973, and is considered one of the world’s leading theorists in cosmology. He is an active Quaker and in 2004 he won the Templeton Prize.

Paul Ewart (born 1948): professor of Physics and head of the sub-department of Atomic and Laser Physics within the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, and fellow and tutor in physics at Worcester College, Oxford, where he is now an emeritus fellow.[276][277][278][279]

Gerald Gabrielse (born 1951): American physicist renowned for his work on anti-matter. He is the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics at Harvard University, incoming Board of Trustees Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for Fundamental Physics at Low Energy at Northwestern University.[280][281]

Pamela L. Gay (born 1973): American astronomer, educator and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting. Doctor Gay received her PhD from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2002.[282] Her position as both a skeptic and Christian has been noted upon.[283]

Karl W. Giberson (born 1957): Canadian physicist and evangelical, formerly a physics professor at Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts, Giberson is a prolific author specializing in the creation-evolution debate and who formerly served as vice president of the BioLogos Foundation.[284] He has published several books on the relationship between science and religion, such as The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions and Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and Believe in Evolution.

Owen Gingerich (born 1930): Mennonite astronomer who went to Goshen College and Harvard. He is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and Senior Astronomer Emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Mr. Gingerich has written about people of faith in science history.[285][286]

J. Richard Gott (born 1947): professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University. He is known for developing and advocating two cosmological theories with the flavor of science fiction: Time travel and the Doomsday argument. When asked of his religious views in relation to his science, Gott responded that “I’m a Presbyterian. I believe in God; I always thought that was the humble position to take. I like what Einstein said: “God is subtle but not malicious.” I think if you want to know how the universe started, that’s a legitimate question for physics. But if you want to know why it’s here, then you may have to know—to borrow Stephen Hawking’s phrase—the mind of God.”[287]

Monica Grady (born 1958): leading British space scientist, primarily known for her work on meteorites. She is currently Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University.

Robert Griffiths (born 1937): noted American physicist at Carnegie Mellon University. He has written on matters of science and religion.[288]

Frank Haig (born 1928): American physics professor

Daniel E. Hastings: American physicist renowned for his contributions in spacecraft and space system-environment interactions, space system architecture, and leadership in aerospace research and education.[289] He is currently the Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[290]

Michał Heller (born 1936): Catholic priest, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion. He also is a mathematical physicist who has written articles on relativistic physics and Noncommutative geometry. His cross-disciplinary book Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion came out in 2003. For this work he won a Templeton Prize.[note 6][291]

Antony Hewish (born 1924): British radio astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 (together with Martin Ryle) for his work on the development of radio aperture synthesis and its role in the discovery of pulsars. He was also awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1969. Hewish is a Christian.[292] Hewish also wrote in his introduction to John Polkinghorne’s 2009 Questions of Truth, “The ghostly presence of virtual particles defies rational common sense and is non-intuitive for those unacquainted with physics. Religious belief in God, and Christian belief … may seem strange to common-sense thinking. But when the most elementary physical things behave in this way, we should be prepared to accept that the deepest aspects of our existence go beyond our common-sense understanding.”[293]

Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. (born 1941): American astrophysicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics for his discovery with Russell Alan Hulse of a “new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation.” He was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Physics at Princeton University.[294]

Colin Humphreys (born 1941): British physicist. He is the former Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science and a current Director of Research at the University of Cambridge, Professor of Experimental Physics at the Royal Institution in London and a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Humphreys also “studies the Bible when not pursuing his day-job as a materials scientist.”[295]

Ian Hutchinson (scientist): physicist and nuclear engineer. He is currently Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Christopher Isham (born 1944): theoretical physicist who developed HPO formalism. He teaches at Imperial College London. In addition to being a physicist, he is a philosopher and theologian.[296][297]

Stephen R. Kane (born 1973): Australian astrophysicist who specializes in exoplanetary science. He is a professor of Astronomy and Planetary Astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside and a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability and the habitable zone of planetary systems.[298][299]

Ard Louis: Professor in Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford. Prior to his post at Oxford he taught Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge where he was also director of studies in Natural Sciences at Hughes Hall. He has written for The BioLogos Forum.[300]

Jonathan Lunine (born 1959): American planetary scientist and physicist, and the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and Director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University.[301]

Juan Maldacena (born 1968): Argentine theoretical physicist and string theorist, best known for the most reliable realization of the holographic principle – the AdS/CFT correspondence.[302] He is a professor at the Institute for Advanced

OTHERS

Robert J. Wicks (born 1946): clinical psychologist who has written on the intersections of spirituality and psychology. Wicks for more than 30 years has been teaching at universities and professional schools of psychology, medicine, nursing, theology, and social work, currently at Loyola University Maryland. In 1996, he was a recipient of The Holy Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, the highest medal that can be awarded to the laity by the Papacy for distinguished service to the Roman Catholic Church.

David A. Booth (born 1938): British applied psychologist whose research and teaching centre on the processes in the mind that situate actions and reactions by people, members of other species, and socially intelligent engineered systems. He is an Honorary Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham.[356]

Robert A. Emmons (born 1958): American psychologist who is regarded as the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude.[357] He is a Professor of Psychology at UC Davis and the Editor-In-Chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology.[358]

Paul Farmer (born 1959): American anthropologist, physician and proponent of liberation theology. He is co-founder of Partners In Health, the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University and Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.[359]

David Myers (academic) (born 1942): American psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Hope College. He is the author of several books, including popular textbooks entitled Psychology, Exploring Psychology, Social Psychology and general-audience books dealing with issues related to Christian faith as well as scientific psychology.[360]

Andrew Pinsent (born 1966): Catholic priest, is the Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford.[361][362]

William B. Hurlbut: bioethicist and consulting professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University Medical Center. He served for eight years on the President’s Council on Bioethics and is nationally known for his advocacy of Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT). He is a Christian of no denomination and did three years of post-doctoral study in theology and medical ethics at Stanford.[363][364]

Alister McGrath (born 1953): prolific Anglican theologian who has written on the relationship between science and theology in A Scientific Theology. McGrath holds two doctorates from the University of Oxford, a DPhil in Molecular Biophysics and a Doctor of Divinity in Theology. He has responded to the new atheists in several books, i.e. The Dawkins Delusion?. He is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford.[365]

Denis Lamoureux (born 1954): evolutionary creationist. He holds a professorial chair of science and religion at St. Joseph’s College at the University of Alberta —the first of its kind in Canada. Co-wrote (with Phillip E. Johnson) Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins (1999). Wrote Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution (2008).[366]

Michael Reiss (born 1960): British bioethicist, science educator, and an Anglican priest. He was Director of Education at the Royal Society from 2006 to 2008. Reiss has campaigned for the teaching of evolution,[367] and is Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, where he is Pro-Director of Research and Development.[368]

Hugh Ross (born 1945): Canadian Christian apologist and old Earth creationist who runs Reasons to Believe.

Bienvenido Nebres (born 1940): Filipino mathematician, president of Ateneo de Manila University, and an honoree of the National Scientist of the Philippines award

Justin L. Barrett (born 1971): American experimental psychologist and Director of the Thrive Center for Human Development and Professor of Psychology at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology after being a researcher at the University of Oxford, Barrett is a cognitive scientist specializing in the cognitive science of religion. He has published “Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology” (Templeton Press, 2011). Barrett has been described by the New York Times as ‘an observant Christian who believes in “an all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly good God who brought the universe into being,” as he wrote in an e-mail message. “I believe that the purpose for people is to love God and love each other.”‘[369]

100 replies on “LIST OF CHRISTIANS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.”

First time in ages that there is no “Pat says” section to the blog. I know it’s not an observation pertaining to the content but just have to say I missed it.

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12.25: Really again….Pat Says for today would require a smart, clever brain to stand side by side with the people referred to on blog….MMM and MC will be allowed Mickey for positions…

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Why should we make any effort to respond to what Mournful Mick of the Mournes spews out on atheism? I have better things to do than give any credence to this old coffin dodger.

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12 31: Timmy, you don’t have the capacity to decipher MMM’s sneering contempt for religious belief- Catholicism particularly – from his moderate comments in non religious issues. I’m beginning to think you are only an ABC commenter…..too facile and simple…

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Such as @12:17?
There’s no need to allocate credence before exercising your critical faculties, …….if that’s not too much trouble, ….or if you have any?
MMM

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One get the distinct impression that MMM’s choice of words is based on the number of syllables they contain rather than on their aptness for communicating. He’d prefer ‘consume’ to ‘eat’ and ‘imbibe’ to ‘drink’ and ‘copulate’’ to ‘f…..’ The end result is a post with many polysyllabic offerings which he is not quite able to marshal. Syntax is not his forte, probably due to the self-confessed ‘mediocre’’ early education he received in Ireland before he scaled the academic heights of a UK experience of further studies. All of which contributes to a bumptious tone and a dearth of content. In short: a bag of wind.

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Ref 9.32: no fewer than a dozen like faults here, “necess-itating” the Piece to be suffixed by an “In Short” statement.

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9.32: Super observation. MMM often makes good contributions but over embellishes his flow of thoughts with too many words. All for show…it doesn’t necessary convince us of anything except his atheism. He has a propensity for latching on to anti church narratives. He is intolerant of those with religious faith.

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12:01: You make the typical RCC mistake of interpreting my questioning as intolerance. Indeed intolerance appears more an RCC disposition at anyone questioning its teachings.
I have said previously, and repeat, that I do not seek to convince anyone towards atheism, just that they provide reasonable answers to reasonable questions.
Religious belief, when holding itself up to be paramount, should not expect automatic deference and respect, especially when it seeks to control behaviour and expects financial privileges.
MMM

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12:17 am – Everybody deserves a chance to have their say and be heard and, discussions are non the different; it’s called dialectical reasoning.
If most people were open to reasonable discussion – as opposed to one way dictatoria, then – there would be far less frustration and more understanding in our world.
—-
“No man is an island entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as any manor of thy friends,
Or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind…
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.”

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Perhaps Mournful would do us a list of famous Northern Ireland social workers? I’ll start it off with William McGrath, Raymond Semple, Joseph Mains and Sharon Shoesmith.

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Thanks Pat for this. Although I am in many ways, as someone once described me here, a Bog-Trotter, I do actually have some academic qualifications. And I have been amazed as to the kind of people who have come to Mass in my various experiences. While that might be the case, I am very much an amateur. On an entirely different note, I will have one more drop of the good stuff before I retire myself to the old bed until the dawn sun peaks once again through the curtain, heralding a New Day.

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And all the very best to you Tommy. You sound like a very decent, and very human guy, in touch with both your inner self, and external reality.
Keep ‘er lit.
MMM

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Having spent time in academia, my (non-scientific!) impressions were: (1) religious belief was more commonly encountered among scientists than in the arts or social science faculties; (2) scientists who were committed Christians were more likely to be evangelicals than mainstream Anglicans or Roman Catholic’s.

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I don’t think that you spent much time in academia if you don’t know how to use an apostrophe correctly.

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Apologies for the apostrophe, but it was the blog’s fault and not an elementary error by me.
The same thing can happen when the system ‘corrects’ ITS to IT’S.

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4:51: “committed Christian scientists more likely to be evangelicals.” That set me thinking.

Might it be that an evangelical trait of single mindedness pairs with an ethos of hard work, industrious living and God fearing family values and encourages high academic and professional achievement? I believe that quite a significant number of Irish emigrants to USA from a Presbyterian background have been high achievers. Their culture of hard work and industry is as noteable as their religious fervour.
Then there is an interesting consideration of the extent one trait influences the other, if indeed it does.
MMM

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Spot on, MMM.

By depressing contrast, the institutional Roman Catholic Church historically was at war with independence of thought, seeing this as heresy (which incurred extreme penalties, including death).

I associate this institution with intellectual, emotional, and spiritual ignorance and retardation, along with the promotion of superstition.

Were all of Europe still under the heel of papism, innoculation, such as the Covid-19 vaccine, would, by papal decree, be prohibited under Natural Law, and Genesis, the ‘reasoning’😅 being that we suffer pain and disease by divine ordinance. This, and other pseudo-theological bullshit, would remain dominant.

Europe owes Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation an incalculable debt of gratitude.

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+Pat: In relation to this blog, when I consider both the minimal responses, and additionally, the impoverished nature of existing responses, to my very regular stringent criticisms of religious belief, and in particular, RCC ecclesiology and practices, I wonder what value there may be in putting forward any comprehensive and much more impressive list of prominent atheists, both historically and present. Anyone interested can easily Google it by checking on prominent atheists. Please do!
For now, all I would say is, that having viewed many so called eminent religious believers debate their beliefs with prominent questioning atheists, the shibboleths of their religious beliefs are constantly readily shredded to the point of ridicule. And that’s not down to superior persuasive articulation, but rather strong supportive concrete evidence and sheer sensible logic, as opposed to the fatuous unsupported faith based claims of religiousbelievers. It’s really pathetic watching those convinced by the inadequacy of their own stupidity
I conclude with some quotes: “Faith means not wanting to know what is true.” Nietsche.
“The god who created the universe, if he created it, is clearly a maniac, totally selfish in requiring that we spend all our lives thanking him. So what kind of God is that?” Stephen Fry.
And, best of all, Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, “I didn’t see any God up there!”
MMM

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Evidently MMM has fallen for the type of “uncertein story” as mentioned by Blessed Cranmer in his preface to the 1549 BCP. I thought I had read that Mr. Gagarin returned to the Orthodox Church in which he was baptized. While I couldn’t confirm that, after a superficial search of the internet I did learn that he never said that “best of all” quote.
Perhaps Mr. Gagarin is singing the full Slavonic services in the heavenly realms as we deal with lesser matters here in earth.

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An important addition would be Rev Professor John Polkinghorne, retired Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge and former President of Queens’ College, also an Anglican priest.
And Russell Standard, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the Open University.
Do you have John Lennox, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford?

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Evangelical Christians very often go into medicine or other health care because of their ideal of service.
I often think what makes people believe things with no evidence is desperation or difficulty – not uncommon in human life and this can often drive people to a search for belief.
However this also goes for other beliefs, for example people would have to feel very scared of the world to believe that vaccination causes autism or 5G masts spread coronavirus, or that Donald Trump was a great president.
I have just confirmed MMM’s point 🤣

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Who gives a feck what poor bastard ends up in Glasgow. Never seen a worse shithole when I visited that god forsaken place, never again.

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Recently watched a Skynews report on Youtube which started off by stating, “of the ten most deprived areas in the UK, eight of them are in Blackpool.” Presumably, the other two are in Glasgow.

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Any priest appointed to a Blackpool parish needs a medal the size of a dustbin lid.
It’s an awful place with no redeeming qualities apart, perhaps, from the trams.
You can’t even get on the beach for much of the day because the tide is in, and when it’s out it is too cold to sit on the beach due to the overcast skies and cutting wind off the Irish Sea.

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I would love to be a a priest in the worst part of Blackpool.

The opportunities for ministry there would be wonderful, if daunting.

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@11.58 I do not know how many times it needs repeating but be sure that the much loved Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen will be appointed Archbishop of Glasgow. Put Bishop John to the back of your mind. You are wasting words speaking about him within the context of an appointment to Glasgow.

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@9.35 There is no news other than Bishop Hugh of Aberdeen will be appointed. Folks speculate on this blog to no good effect. Accept it from me, Bishop Hugh Gilbert is the man who will be appointed.

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@2.29pm That is a matter of opinion. If I had the choice between Glasgow and Blackpool it would definitely be Blackpool. Lancashire folk are much more pleasing and friendlier than Glaswegians. The gay scene in Blackpool is much less bitchy and harsh than in Glasgow. Nice close by places in Blackpool including Lytham and Fleetwood whereas Glasgow offers the Gorbals, Possil and Springburn. Utter shit tips

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I’ve only been to Blackpool once but have been to Glasgow many times.

I like the people and the ambiance of both places.

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There are no deep fried mars bars in Blackpool. Blackpool is crawling with Scottish coaches each year checking into their cheap 4 night specials apart from 2020 because they are gagging to get away from the horrid holes like Glasgow. They all want everything for nothing and haggle over stuff at 99p, tight as ducks arses the jocks and mean as dishwater. You can spot them a mile away

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The Catholic Church doesn’t have great track record when it comes to science, preferring the biblical narrative. Think Gallileo, Copernicus and others. If they didn’t fit the bible version, they were against them, and persecuted them. It’s the same with so many other issues that face us today. Just the other day the US Bishops kicked off on Day 1 of Biden’s Presidency with the usual list of culture wars issues – abortion, sexuality, gender etc. In all these life and moral issues, the Church is still hugely mortgaged to the biblical understanding of these things. In start contrast the science presents a very different understanding and interpretation, which as the past has shown is generally correct, because it’s based on science and fact. I am not suggesting that the Church simply resorts to a laissez faire attitude in these matters. What it should do is realise and interpret these things in the light of scientific knowledge and stop being so know all and black and white about them, and so by causing so much trouble for themselves and for those who listen to them. The Church is fighting a rearguard action on these matters, while the rest of the world and mankind is beginning to see them in a different light and move forward with the science. For example, the ‘intrinsically disordered’ moniker that is ascribed to homosexuality is simply wrong, based as it is on a misunderstood and discredited understanding of humanity and human sexuality in the biblical narrative. The harm done by this to countless millions is not diminished by any ‘pastoral guidelines’ that are issued to be ‘nice’ to the gays ! The very basis of the Church’s understanding is wrong. They need to follow the science. I doubt if they will. The decisions are made by men who are by generation incestuously imbued with these values, and many of whom find themselves struggling with their own identity and often filled with self-loathing. No wonder they stick to a rigid understanding which they can inflict on others in their anger and self-hatred. It’s pitiful. I don’t expect much change from that quarter. So, I make up my own mind and conscience, and having listened them and to others, including the scientists, I believe I have a much more holistic, holy and God given understanding of these things than does the official Church. Many people are moving in the same direction as me, and the Church and its teaching on these matters is becoming increasingly irrelevant in our lives.

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A fantastic, well balanced comment.

I add, if many of todays scientists were born 3,500 years ago would their scientists papers be books within the bible? Or more directly; is the bible due an update on the basis that God still speaks to us and still unravels the mystery of his creation to us and through us?

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I think that God is having a break from speaking to us. Rumour has it that He’s still trying to get His head round how computers work.
And when He does, we’ll have more clarity in His communications to us: certainly more than apparitions on Knock walls or Lourdes grottos anyway!

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9`35. There is no news from Glasgow. It will be some time before a new Archbishop is appointed. In the interim the diocese is being administered by the eminently capable and affable Mgr Hugh Bradley.
Ab Philip was buried on Thursday with simple dignity.
There is however lots of talk among both clergy and laity about the Bishop of Paisley’s rush to be seen in the media in the wake of the Archbishop’s death while the rest of the clergy, out of respect for the grieving Tartaglia family, maintained a dignified silence.
May Abp Philip rest in peace.

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11:56am
You’re right Dennis it’ll be a while before they find a replacement, because let’s face it theirs not much choice from the shower of bishops they have. I hope you’re right about Mgr. Bradley AKA Hattie Jacques because of his fearful size, he won’t have his sorrows to seek trying to administer the mess he’s been left.

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Mgr Hugh Bradley – aka – Hattie Jacques has been added to the camp name list, Bp Pat.

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It wasn’t all that long ago I saw him on Priest School. He came over as very nice, but I have since learned he favoured the SNP, unfortunately.

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For a time Alister McGrath attended the Green High, a grammar school where I live, (Dowpatrick) before moving on to Methodist College, in Belfast.

The blog info on McGrath is incomplete: McGrath holds three, not two, doctorates. Not mentioned is his doctorate in intellectual history, that is, ‘the history of intellectual ideas’.

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+Pat: yes, it’s Saul.
Nothing to do with that fella from Tarsus: just where the boul St Paddy floated his boat, up the Quoile in a float. There’s a big statue up there to commemorate the occasion.
And all this stuff and nonsense about him travelling Ireland converting the Druids and High Kings and collecting snakes to tip in sea……..Well that’s baloney too. He only managed up English St in Downpatrick before collapsing, so they stuck him in Brigid’s grave under that big rock up by the cathedral. It’s still there so that’s proof isn’t it?

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It’s ‘Saul’. Saul is only a short distance from certain outskirts of Downpatrick.
Magna lives here.

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There IS absolute, conclusive, objective and irrefutable proof of God’s existence, and its revelation to each and every one, in due course, will be recognised by many who profess themselves atheist. Not because this revelation will appeal to their rational and empirical mindsets, but because so many atheists are truly good people. And they will recognise that Good Heart, not through those mindsets, but through their own good hearts. For God is love, and a human heart that loves will be drawn to this instinctively, completely, and with eternal gladness and gratitude. It will find itself at home, and at last.

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The all too familiar poster at 1:32pm has not made a single interesting observation or developed an argument, save to nit-pick ( do the “Woke” brigade allow that? ) over points of grammar and punctuation, which are usually attributable to carelessness on the key-board. He delights in claiming the lack of education of other posters, which suggests he is trying to compensate for his own limitations. Nobody needs A levels to make a positive contribution to this blog. I recall that one of Magna’s insecurities was to boast not one but two doctorates. Calm down, dear.

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2.37

You’re a liar.

There was nothing callous about the treatment of this clerical parasite. He was treated in a public hospital, like the vast majority of Catholics in Mexico. But other clerical leeches grumbled that he should have been treated in an expensive private hospital, UNLIKE the vast majority of Catholics in Mexico who cannot afford such privileged treatment.

No wonder Catholics worldwide are turning their backs on this filthy, caste-ridden institution.

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I’ve saved your frequently recurring text and can posit it now, to save you the bother of typing it.
The only hospital ward you need is Ward 15 at the Downshire.

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5.03
So you have nothing to say on clerical parasites’ expecting preferential, and financially privileged, treatment for their own, even though not one of them works for a living but sponges off those who do, and even though Pope Francis himself, Parasite-in-Chief, has said that pastors should have the smell of the sheep about them?
Thought not.
But then, you’re a clerical parasite, too, aren’t you? And utterly useless with it.😕
Catholics need to awaken to the fact that these spongers, moochers, parasites and leeches will not only siphon off your hard-earned pennies, they will insist on sending fellow parasites off for private and privileged treatment, even the sexual deviants among them, to countries as far away as The States. They will spend tens of thousands of pounds (YOUR money) on flying their useless colleagues first-class to colossally expensive clinics across the globe. As I asked a friend whose son has health problens of his own, would they do this for him? Like hell they would! They would tell him to join the ever-lengthening queues of the NHS.
STOP GIVING THESE BONE-IDLE, GENTLEMEN-OF-LEISURE PARASITES YOUR MONEY.

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It is a paradox, Bp Pat, but I am sure a serialisation of Kitty Kirby’s former life would be of more interest to readers.

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For example,
Right click on the above picture
Click Open image in new tab
Highlight address along the top… then Right click… Copy
Then Paste it to your comment

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Pat @4.12pm I noticed you said you would like to be a priest (not possible) in the worst part of Blackpool. What about the worst part of Glasgow? I know most of Glasgow is the worst part.

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You seemed to have worked everywhere in the 70’s, some of it disputed however. How do you get from Wales to the Gorbals and then to the north of ireland. The mind boggles. You were never part of any Scottish diocese.

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In the 70s I mainly worked in Wales – Bridgend, Neath and Cardiff. I did supply work in Glasgow, Liverpool and Ossory. I came to Down and Connor in 1978.

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Utter rubbish. Please do not belittle my native city. There are lovely parts of Glasgow, parks and museums.
The beautiful parts are to the west, the Kelvins(Park, Side etc) and south of the river, the hills
(Sims, Nits and yes Priesthill)
The worst bits are to the East such as Bridgeton (the home of the billy boys).
The Glasgow people are the friendliest you will meet. They will give you their last penny to help you out. Not a bit like the maggie moochers.
The Garngad is particularly welcoming.
Garngad Lad

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Pat @4.52pm. The biggest laugh I had today was when some twit on the blog criticised someone else for saying DOWpatrick as opposed to DOWNpatrick. My reply was that it was near SaWEL and BallyNAYhinch. Some dicks on the blog are so serious they were quick to point out I had mispronounced Saul as SaWEL. Even you Pat fell into this trap to point out the mistake. Therein is the lesson for everybody. Stop being so serious and pointing out the faults/mistakes of others. Don’t be so quick to know it all and correct others. The laugh is on you including the clown who is neither Keiran or from rat infested Killyleagh.

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@6.49I would like to point out that the matters to which you have given quick shrift are of importance. We deal with serious subjects that should not be trivialised.

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7.05: Sadly, all serious issues on this blog and up being trivialized and strewn to pieces by idiots and morons.

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Bishop Pat, hoping timorrows blog will be more interesting, juicy and mouthwatering. Keep the scandals coming as we have nothing else to look forward to during lockdown. More on the druggie priests up north perhaps or some dirty scoundrel sex scandal priest.

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Parrots only have one phrase they tend to keep repeating over and over again @ 8.05pm, you being a case in question birdy.

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5.23: Poir Margie Cratina – all puffed up with page 25 (yet again) “faux outrage” and boiling with hate speech. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Margie used all this volcanic surge of negative energy into more useful causes…like doing something for homeless people on a soup run, or buying firewood for the elderly (if he notices them) or shopping errands for the housebound….or visiting a lonely person and giving comfort- even through a glass window!! Now, this would be very.rewarding, productive and CHRIST-LIKE. I am assuming of course that there is a lost humanity deep inside Magna…I’ll come join you or you can join me in these acts of kindness.

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Blackpool is rough. Visit regularly as I have a few rentals there. The gay saunas are filthy and full of fat old men who need a wash, the gay scene that was once thriving has died a death and it is a scary place to be. The Church in the Town Centre once run by the Jesuits is right in the heart of the pubs, clubs, homeless central, and drugs land. The Priest supplies food a few days a week to the homeless and gives out clothing. He seems to handle it all ok. Blackpool Town Centre has the highest premiums from home and car insurance in the UK. The other young and cute Priest who is spoken about on here is in South Blackpool. Went to Mass there last year and he is a right looker, but speaks in a fake posh accent lol. He won’t look look out of place wandering around in his lace and Roman collar, they prob think he is off to a stag do.

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Compare that to Glasgow insurance premiums and the state of saunas. You are probably a fat old man yourself because how do you know the saunas are filthy if you didn’t visit them yourself in the first place you moron.

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8.25. I never said I don’t visit them. I do, plus the ones in Glasgow which are clean. I’m not fat. I’m 5’11, weight 12 stones, 34 waist, 15 collar and fairly well endowed thanks. I don’t know many Scots men with small willys. Why am I a moron.

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Too many awful bitchy queenie types attacking one another on this blog today. It reminds me of those horrible nasty viscious queens on the scene in a clique who laughed at you and whispered together as a new person arrived on the scene. God, spare me from this behaviour

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Bishop Pat, just saw an early edition of tomorrows Sunday Times and the results of its UK wide poll on the state of the Union. In light of brexit the majority of Scotland want a referendum on independence and a majority in N Ireland want a border poll for Irish unity. The break up of the UK and you heard it on the blog before buying your paper tomorrow.

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Good riddance to Nippy Krankie and the other moaning Scots who are a massive drain on the English taxpayers, as is Northern Ireland.

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I’m from Magherafelt originally but came to study at Glasgow Uni and stayed. Best think I’ve ever done. Great city, rich in culture, music, Arts, sport etc. Fabulous restaurants and great, great people. I married one.
Every time I go back to Magherafelt and have spent time with family I can’t wait to get away from the parochial, narrow minded culture that prevails there. It’s so refreshing to get back to my adopted vibrant home city.

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