For Immediate Release

Teachers Attend Princeton Seminary Event on Intelligent Design

Princeton, NJ, June 29, 2006–Princeton Seminary’s Center of Continuing Education held an event titled “Bible, Theology, and Intelligent Design” on June 28 at the Erdman Conference Center on the Seminary campus. The seminar was designed specifically for public school science teachers, and qualified for professional development hours from the New Jersey Department of Education. This is the first time the Seminary has offered an event focused on the needs of school teachers.

The morning seminar explored the history of the conflict between Darwin’s theory of evolution and the theory of intelligent design. The theory of evolution is a scientific theory that explains the presence and variety of life on earth, and is based on the theory of natural selection, as described by Charles Darwin in his book The Origin of Species, published in 1859. The theory of intelligent design argues that the scientific theory of evolution is inadequate because it doesn’t account for the complexity of life on earth, and thus that a non-natural intelligent agent, such as God, must have designed certain features of creation. Some people of faith advocate the theory of intelligent design, and reject the scientific theory of evolution. This seminar countered that stance by considering the ways in which the theory of evolution is compatible with religious views of life.

The seminar was led by two Seminary faculty members, Wentzel van Huyssteen, the James I. McCord Professor of Theology and Science, and Chip Dobbs-Allsopp, associate professor of Old Testament. Van Huyssteen serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Theology and Science, and is coeditor of the Science and Religion Series (Ashgate Press). Dobbs-Allsopp’s academic interests include literary theory and methods of study, Semitic linguistics, and Northwest Semitic languages and literature.

Bunny Jaskot, a public high school teacher in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and President of the Biology Teachers Association of New Jersey, said she came to the event to find ways to reduce misconceptions about the theory of evolution and what it means for religion. “There’s so much to know,” she said. “If we don’t understand what a scientific theory is, then we compound misunderstandings, and if we don’t understand how to read ancient texts, then we mistake ancient constructs for current understandings,” she said.

For Cherry Sprague, Supervisor of Science at Princeton Regional Schools, the event was about facilitating students’ thinking and learning. “We’re all learners,” she said. “We have to be open as educators and give validity to all of our students’ questions.”

“Teachers are the people who educate the leaders of tomorrow,” said Hui Chen, the Seminary’s dean of continuing education. “Princeton Seminary has an obligation to provide its resources in sound theological scholarship to equip those who are called to shape our future, so that they can engage in these important questions of faith and education in the most thoughtful manner.”

For more information about this or future programs, contact the Center of Continuing Education at 609.497.7990.