Test of FAITH
Resources for Churches from The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Revd Dr Polkinghorne KBE is a Fellow of the Royal Society, former Professor of Mathematical Physics, Cambridge University and former President of Queens College, Cambridge. At the age of 48 he left a flourishing career to become ordained in the Anglican Church. After several years he returned to academia, working in the field of science and religion, and was made president of Queens College Cambridge. He is a prolific author and popular speaker on the science-faith dialogue.

Dr Wiseman runs the ExoPlanets and Stellar Astrophysics Lab at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She received a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, followed by research at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and as a Hubble Fellow at Johns Hopkins University where she remains a visiting scholar. Dr. Wiseman is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation (a Christian group) and regularly speaks to student and church groups on the excitement of seeing Godʼs ongoing creativity in nature.

*The views and opinions expressed by Dr Wiseman are personal and are not meant to represent those of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

From 1993 to 2008 Dr Collins was director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, overseeing the Human Genome Project. His research team identified the gene for cystic fibrosis in 1989, the neurofibromatosis gene in 1990, and the gene for Huntingtonʼs disease in 1993. His accomplishments have been recognized by election to the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and numerous national and international awards. He is the author of the bestselling book, 'The Language of God', in which he sets out his own faith journey.

Sir John Houghton is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and is currently Honorary Scientist of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research at the Meteorological Office; Honorary Scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; a Trustee of the Shell Foundation; and Chairman of the John Ray Initiative. Previously he was Chief Executive at the UK Met Office, and chairman of the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeʼs (IPCC) working group. He has won many awards including the prestigious Japan Prize. He was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion, and has traveled extensively to speak about his faith and climate issues.

Prof. Harrison is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He studied Science and Arts at the University of Queensland before moving to the United States to take up a scholarship at Yale University to study philosophy and religion. On returning to Australia, he completed his PhD at the University of Queensland. He joined Bond University in its foundation year, 1989, and was its Philosophy co-ordinator before taking up his appointment at Oxford in 2007.

Professor John Bryant is a biologist based at Exeter University and has many years of experience in research on the biochemistry of genes. he also has a keen interest in bioethical issues. He introduced one of the first bioethics courses for biology students in a UK university and runs workshops for biologists on teaching ethics. He has co-authored a book explaining bioethical issues for Christian non-scientists as well as a textbook, Introduction to Bioethics, for university students.

Dr Louis heads up a research group at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, as well as holding a readership in Theoretical Physics at Oxford University. He was born in the Netherlands, raised in Gabon, and received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Cornell University, USA. He is the international secretary for Christians in Science, and is involved in supporting Christian postgraduate students.

Dr Haarsma is an associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Prior to this she was a post-doctoral researcher and Visiting Assistant Professor in the Astronomy Department at Haverford College. She completed her PhD in Physics at M.I.T. in 1997. She has recently published a book on the relationship between science and Christianity with her husband: 'Origins: A Reformed Look at Creation, Design, & Evolution'

Prof. Picard is the director of affective computing research and co-director of 'Things that Think' at the M.I.T. Media laboratory. She is on the Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundationʼs division of Computers in Science and Engineering, the Advisory Board for the Georgia Tech College of Computing, and the Editorial Board of User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction: The Journal of Personalization Research. She has worked as a consultant for Apple, AT&T, BT, HP, i.Robot, and Motorola.

Doctor Denis Alexander is the director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion at St Edmundʼs College, Cambridge, and is a popular writer and speaker on science and faith. His latest book is called 'Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?' He is editor of the journal 'Science & Christian Belief' and is on the national committee of Christians in Science. Until recently, Denis was the head of an immunology (the study of the immune system) lab at The Babraham Institute, Cambridge

Professor Katherine Blundell is an astrophysicist based at Oxford University. Her research is on the physics of active galaxies. She recently set up a project, 'Global Jet Watch', that will use telescopes based at schools around the world. The children will be able to keep a 24-hour watch on a 'microquasar' that fires off jets of hydrogen at high speeds. She speaks on science to lay audiences and on science-faith issues to a wide variety of audiences.

Prof. McGrath holds the newly created chair in Theology Education at Kingʼs College, London. At the time of shooting he was Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, and a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He originally studied chemistry at Oxford University, followed by research in molecular biophysics at Oxford, gaining a theology degree at the same time. This was followed by further study in theology at Cambridge and ordination into the Anglican Church. His current research is on the reformulation and renewal of natural theology.

Rev Dr Alasdair Coles is a lecturer in neuroimmunology at Cambridge University and an honorary consultant neurologist to Addenbrookeʼs and Hitchingbrooke Hospitals. He is involved in research into new treatments for multiple sclerosis. His amateur research interest is in the neurobiological basis for religious experience. Alasdair was ordained in the Church of England in 2008 and is now a curate at St Andrews Church, Cambridge, alongside his medical and scientific work.

Professor Simon Conway Morris is Professor of Evolutionary Paleobaeology at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of the Royal Society. His most recent research is on the evolution of characteristics or structures, such as the eye, which have emerged independently in different organisms (convergent evolution). He often speaks on the philosophical implications of these patterns in the history of evolution, and he has written two books looking at the science of convergent evolution and what it means for us, called The Crucible of Creation and Lifeʼs Solutions: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe.

Catherine Cutler is a horticulturalist who is passionate about care for the environment. She is horticultural supervisor at the Eden Project, an environmental park and educational centre in Cornwall. She studied horticulture at Wye College, the University of London. Following this she spent some time in Borneo working on a project called 'Forests Absorbing Carbon Dioxide', where she and others were trying to re-establish native tree species in Borneo to those areas being cut down for forestry. She then worked for the Royal Horticultural Society before joining the Eden Project.

Dr William A. (Bill) Dembski is a mathematician and philosopher. His first degree was in psychology, and since then he has achieved PhDs in mathematics and philosophy as well as postgraduate studies in divinity. He is now teaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the USA. He is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, the leading Intelligent Design research and education centre in Seattle. Bill is the author of many books, and has won numerous prizes for his work. He has been very involved in the Intelligent Design movement, taking part in numerous conferences, lectures and debates.

Professor Ian Hutchinson is a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is head of MITʼs department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. He and his research group are leaders in exploring the confinement, using strong magnetic fields, of plasmas hotter than the sunʼs centre, aimed at producing energy from controlled nuclear fusion reactions. Ian has written and spoken widely on science and Christianity and is a member of the MIT Christian Faculty Fellowship.

Dr Cherith Fee Nordling is a theologian with a background in pastoral care and counselling. She worked in law for twelve years before returning to university to study theology - first at Regent College in Canada, and then she completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She has spent time at Calvin College, teaching and setting up spiritual development programmes through Bible study, mentoring and other activities along with her husband and others. She has also taught theology at Regent College, Calvin Theological Seminary, Wheaton College and Kuyper College.

Paul Taylor is the Senior Speaker for Answers in Genesis (UK/Europe), an organization that promotes Young Earth Creationism. He was born in Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire, and grew up in Stalybridge. He learned to play the piano early in life and was educated at Chethamʼs School of Music, Manchester. An interest in science took him to Nottingham University to study chemistry, and he was a science teacher for seventeen years. Paul became a Christian in his early teens and was soon convinced of the scientific and historical nature of the early chapters of Genesis. He has written four books and now frequently travels to speak on this interpretation of Genesis.

Dr David Wilkinson trained first as a scientist and then as a theologian. His first PhD was in astrophysics, looking at the process of star and galaxy formation, and mass extinctions. After this, he studied theology at Cambridge and became a Methodist minister. Later he completed a PhD in theology and since then has held a number of different positions at Durham University in apologetics and theology. He is now Principal of St Johnʼs College and Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University.