Outline
Faith Illustrations
I teach at a University where the integration of Christian faith and discipline is encouraged and expected. I thought some of the work I have done with GeoGebra could be used to illustrate some ideas related to this that I have shared with my classes (or may now share, since I have it written up in this form where it is easier to share it). I hope the ideas shared here encourage you to think about how your faith relates to what you do. I have tried to write it in a progressive order, but sometimes it was difficult to know which idea should be presented before another idea. I went with an order that made sense to me in terms of a sequence of questions one might ask after one worksheet. I tried to address questions I thought might come up after one worksheet with ideas related to that question in a later worksheet (may not always be the next one).
Please do not look at these as theological statements, but rather as illustrations of how math and faith can be connected. They are ways that I see them connecting. I believe God created the order we see in this world, so the fact that some of the order and patterns we see in mathematics also appears in the arena of faith is not surprising to me.
I see this as a way to put into action the call in Mark 12.
Mark 12: 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
If I love God with all my mind, I should relate my formal study to what God reveals about Himself in the Bible. One way of loving my neighbor is to share the Truth of the Gospel, believing the Gospel has the power to change lives for the better both now and throughout eternity.
I also run a camp in the summer, https://sites.google.com/site/sbumathcon/math-contest-camp-2017, where I share some about how I see math, faith, and problem solving relating to each other. I would share only 1 or 2 of these in any one camp. At camp, I am not direct in encouraging the campers to respond to the claims made by Scripture in each case (and probably wouldn't even give the Scripture reference that relates). I hope those who find this book on geogebratube will really think about the ideas shared here.
I have been accepted to present a talk, Integrating Faith and Discipline – Beyond the Classroom, at the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences: https://acmsonline.org conference May 31-June 3, 2017. I hope to incorporate some ideas from these worksheets in what I present.
