The Ichthus has been trying to look at a variety of fields of study from a Christian perspective, but we tend to focus on philosophy, theology, and art because that’s what the editors and writers specialize in. So this post is my attempt to reach out to students from other fields. I know not all fields may seem as biblically relevant as what else we focus on, so I’d like to remind you all of some scriptures that show you how applicable your field truly is. Hopefully, this will inspire someone to write more posts about other fields.
You know God must have liked math, because he made it possible for mathematicians to create awesome things like this fractal.
Mathematics – “Be fruitful and multiply” is repeated numerous times in Genesis. Now, I know it doesn’t say “find the derivative function,” but for the ancients, learning to multiply was a pretty big deal. If they were supposed to do that, there’s no way God doesn’t want you to evaluate differential equations in our modern world.
Economics (Freshwater School) – 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'” Clearly, Paul understands perverse incentives. If Paul understood it, there must be room for you to develop greater understanding about incentives and why government intervention can make the situation worse.
Economics (Saltwater School) – Acts 2:45 says, “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” If the early Christians did it, it must be good for the government to do it today! Welfare, Medicare, and Social Security definitely count, and if you want it to be effective, you should study it.
Physics – Judges 7:13 says, “It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” See that right there? It’s describing applied force. That gives you the leeway to study at least applied forces, frictional forces, and tensional forces; perhaps even electromagnetic and gravitational ones, too, if you’re lucky.
Biology – Acts 12:17 says, “Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.” If an infinite number of angels can fit on a pinhead, then they can surely show up in a animal or plant cell. And then what happened? A light shone in the cell! That sure sounds like illumination and enlightenment about what was going on in the cell: mitosis, active and passive transport, transcription, etc.
Maybe you’re thinking to yourself: I’m not really into politics or economics, math or science. Maybe your passion is comedy. This post proves that we need funny folks, too! As Ecclesiastes 3:5 reminds us, there always is “a time to laugh.” So if you’re not sure whether your area of expertise fits with the Ichthus‘ mission, trust us, it does! So start writing!