For the creation of the class, Davis and Poe have been named recipients of the 1998 John Templeton Foundation Science and Religion Award. The Templeton Foundation awards professors across the country for classes that integrate science and faith. This year 93 classes were named winners of the Science and Religion Award. Davis, professor of chemistry-physics, and Poe, associate professor of Christian studies, created the course to explore major scientific concepts and major faith commitments of Christianity, with the hope of producing constructive discussion about the relationship between science and faith.
Faith speaks about creation from the perspective of who made it and why.
By putting science and faith together in one class, we can help Christian students better understand the questions and answers of science and faith. The class, scheduled to begin this fall, developed out of discussions between Davis and Poe about the link between science and faith and the responsibility of Christian higher education to offer classes that explore the relationship. To demonstrate that wholeness, Davis and Poe plan to ask their students five questions and address each question from a scientific perspective and a religious perspective. They will address each question by pairing five major areas of science with key themes of Christianity. Davis serves as Union's associate provost and director of institutional research.