The Extinct Cognitive Christian

The Christian belief is a natural outgrowth of an innate human yearning to make sense of our place in the world. Christianity is of great emotional and spiritual comfort to many because it teaches that we are important individually, that God has a special love for humans and wants us to spend eternity with Him. Although such a belief may help in coping with lifes cruelties, it precludes believers from seeing the world as it is, instead seeing it as they wish it to be. The fear of Christian leaders to give their own statements of faith any intellectual attention has led not only to the feeblemindedness of the Christian but also a weakening of the power of the God they worship. Prevailing biblical interpretations have effectively taken away many attributes of God, stripping Him of His omnipotent nature. Christianitys principles may be eternal, but expression of those principles requires continual development. Scientific progress may, on occasion, require a religious belief to be expanded, explained, or entirely restated as a result of emerging evidence. However, this is not happening. A scientific outlook would prevent the Christian imagination from the excesses to which it is prone. Dean Boening received his B. S. in the biological sciences, and education, from George Fox College and his M. S. in Public Health and Toxicology from Oregon State Unviersity. He regularly publishes in scientific journals and is currently a senior environmental scientist with Lockheed Martin Corporation.