Last night I attended Concordia's annual Poehler lecture. This year's speakers were brothers Dr. Dale Trapp and Dr. Thomas Trapp. The Drs. Trapp took turns reflecting on their fields of expertise. Dr. Dale Trapp explained that science seeks to answer the "who, what, where, when, and how" questions of creation; it strives to understand what already is. Faith, on the other hand, answers the "why" question of creation. Dr. Thomas Trapp shared his insights on approaching the bible from an ontological point of view, rather than a teleological one. He concluded the lecture with sage advice to teachers and students.
The Poehler Lecture Series fits well with the Honors Program overall. The title of the program in Latin is In Litteris Fideque, which translates to "In Faith and Learning." Faith and learning is what the Poehler Lectures are all about. Just as the honors students do, each speaker looks at how faith and learning intersect and work together.
The demonstrations Dr. Dale Trapp used to illustrate certain concepts in his lecture were extremely helpful. I was particularly interested in the scale of small to large. Without images like that, it is nearly impossible to grasp how tiny some parts of creation are and how enormous other parts are. My classes focus mainly on the cellular level, and I sometimes forget consider the bigger picture (or smaller picture, as the case may be).
Leave a comment