Logos and Cosmos

Theme / Ministry: Catalyst Perspectives

Catalyst Perspectives: learning from women who love the sciences and Jesus 

When Argentinian academic Lorena Brondani joined the Logos and Cosmos Initiative in 2021, she found herself with her baby in her arms, juggling motherhood and a PhD while also learning how to build bridges between her Christian faith and her discipline. In this Catalyst Perspectives blogpost, Lorena explains how her experience led her to run an LCI project that will share the stories of women who love the sciences just as much as they love Jesus and their own families.  

Being a Christian woman in academia, combined with my experience as a wife, new mother and member of the IFES national movement in Argentina, have all shaped my life deeply. These personal experiences inspired me to seek out and listen to other women who share a love of science (especially the social sciences), the Lord and in the cases of mothers, the emerging life they are nurturing. This was the seed of my Logos and Cosmos Initiative project, which is called Conversations with Christian women academics from Argentina. 

How did these conversations begin? My calling to the academy 

For many years, I have felt called to the academy as a mission field – but my approach has evolved. As I progressed from my bachelor’s degree in social communication to a master’s in university teaching, I began to see that the university is a complex ecosystem. The Lord began to show me that bringing His kingdom to the university is broader than just reaching students, it also means reaching out to professors, researchers and non-teaching staff.

Photo of Lorena with her baby son
Lorena with her son

Now, as an academic and PhD student, I would say: “I became an intellectual to intellectuals, to win over intellectuals” (paraphrasing Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:22) But my vision of what it means to bring God’s kingdom through academia has been enlarged further by three specific experiences.  

The first was in 2014 when I read a report written by an Argentinian, female academic, following her participation in an IFES “Latin American Consultation of Researchers and University Professors” meeting held in Brazil in 2014. It was led by Vinoth Ramachandra, IFES Secretary for Dialogue and Social Engagement, as part of IFES’ Engaging the University ministry. 

I am not exaggerating when I say that this report marked me for the rest of my academic career and my Christian life. At that time, I had never known anything about how Christian scholars could see their classrooms, research projects, disciplines and science in general as a place to make a Godly contribution to the university and the world.  

My heart burned when I read about some of the challenges that were presented by Vinoth Ramachandra at the event. For example, the need for Christian academics to integrate theological and scientific perspectives on important issues, to orient their research towards projects that help their communities flourish, to defend the truth in science, and to work with intellectual honesty.  

The second experience that confirmed my “call” to serve God through my academic career was participating in a program for professors and research students at the IFES World Assembly in Mexico in 2015. It impacted me greatly to meet successful academic Christians from different disciplines, countries and cultures, all with the same goal; fulfilling God’s mission in the simple matters of everyday life. I remember the testimony of one professor who felt called by the Lord to make a difference by treating her students well, leaving behind the pride and arrogance that often comes with academia. I really identified with her story and made her decision my own.  

Finally, becoming a Catalyst at the Logos and Cosmos Initiative has helped me understand the complementarity between the sciences (mainly communications) and theology. It was a huge change from the messages that I grew up with in a Catholic context in Argentina, such as “beware of science” and the idea that science and theology are opposed, or compete with one another. 

Photo of Lorena teaching a class
Lorena teaching a class

During my studies at the LCI, I found it useful to read biographies of Christian scholars such as Dr Francis Collins1, an American physicist and geneticist who founded the Christian organization BioLogos.  I learned about models for relating science and religion by reading the work of Denis R. Alexander2, Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. I have been taking steps on the path of developing a “Christian mind,” an idea developed by Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff3. As a scholar of communication theory, I like to call this a “communicational mind,” which to me, means using the Bible to learn how to see contemporary social communication issues through the Christian lens of creation, fall and redemption. 

I’m continuing to work out the links between my Christian faith and my academic work, particularly my research for my PhD in social communication. As I continue on this journey, I was curious to learn from other women who had built bridges not only between their Christian faith and their academic discipline, but also with their family life (marriage, motherhood, singleness and divorce). When I began to look into this area, I found that very little research has been published specifically on the experiences of Christian women in academia, especially in Spanish. 

The beginnings of my project: initial findings 

When I interviewed female Christian scholars for my LCI pilot project in 2021, I discovered that many of them have spent a lifetime giving just as much love and dedication to the university and their academic career as they do to their own families and children.   

Those who are mothers have had to slow down, get up early, but not stop their academic production. Those who are single have often suffered social, cultural and even religious pressures to marry or have children but that did not stop their mission to the university, their academic contributions to society or their devotion to Jesus Christ.

Zoom screengrab of Lorena conducting an interview on zoom
Lorena (left) conducting an interview

Divorcees are also messengers of the kingdom of God in their classrooms, in their senior career positions and through their publications, and have not necessarily had a marriage interrupted “because of” their university career, as some might assume. 

The women I spoke to were remarkably diverse but they have all cultivated an active and creative spirituality and have loved God “with all their minds” (paraphrasing Deuteronomy 6:5 and Mark 12:30). 

My pilot project raised many questions about the intersections between women’s spirituality, their academic work, and their gender and family roles (marriage, motherhood, singleness). To explore the triangular intersections among these three areas, my project will collect and share the life stories of at least six female, Argentine academics.  

My goal is to develop inspiring resources that demonstrate how these three areas can complement and enrich each other, and encourage young, female Christian students who hope to pursue academic careers. I will conduct in-depth interviews and use them to publish a printed book, an e-book, a short film and a series of short audiovisual clips.  

My project today: conversations with Christian, women academics from Argentina 

After my proposal was accepted by the LCI in April, I began with times of prayer, mentoring and indispensable feedback. By the grace of God, I have a wonderful project team made up of women who have served/are serving with IFES movements in Latin America. Together, we  identified the women who would be interviewed for the project.  

Screengrab of four participants at Lorena's project team prayer meeting on zoom
Project team prayer meeting

In July I began recording the first few interviews. To give a taste of what the women talk about, the stories include: the “long singleness” of an academic woman who married at age 50; a historian and academic mother who knew how to deal with self-esteem and guilt; and a single academic who knew how to cultivate rest and seek out Christian mentoring for her academic work.  

Looking at the progress I have made so far, I am grateful that I have had two incredible consultation meetings with external advisors and participated in a course titled “Past, Present and Future of Feminism” with Dr Sarah Williams, Research Professor in the History of Christianity at Regent College.  

I am given hope by the encouraging messages I have received from the other Catalysts in my cohort, such as: “I’m very curious about the facts you’ll have on single women!” ;  “Thank you for revealing these women to us”; and “The project will bring many important lights for women in science.” 

Lorena Brondani is studying for a doctorate in social communication at Austral University in Argentina and is an advisor to ABUA Argentina ( the IFES national movement) in her hometown, Paso de los Libres, Corrientes.

Find out more:

  • Follow Lorena’s progress with her project on her personal blog (in Spanish)
  • Read about all 18 of our Catalysts’ projects on our project webpages 

ENDNOTES

1Collins, Frances (2016) “How Does God Speak? The scientific evidence of faith (Ariel, 2016)

2Alexander, Dennis (2007) “Models for Relating Science and Religion” The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

3Wolterstorff, Nicholas (2014) “Christian Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century: Prospects and Perils “ (Cambridge, United States: Editorial Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing & Co. Translated by Moisés J. Zelada. chap.1, pp. 1-17)

Catalyst Perspectives: how art can speak to us about God, the world and ourselves 

In this Catalyst Perspectives blogpost, architecture professor Marcio Lima discusses how art can help reveal the mysteries of God, the human condition and its meaning. He also shares how his LCI project will nurture Christian students in Brazil to be agents of God’s kingdom through their research and artistic production.  

“But even before I learned to read, I remember first being moved to devotional feeling at eight years old. My mother took me alone to mass … on the Monday before Easter. It was a fine day, and I remember today, as though I saw it now, how the incense rose from the censer and softly floated upwards and, overhead in the cupola, mingled in rising waves with the sunlight that streamed in at the little window. I was stirred by the sight, and for the first time in my life I consciously received the seed of God’s word in my heart.”

— Father Zossima in The Brothers Karamázov, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880)  

Can the arts reveal something about God, or the world or ourselves in a unique way? This is a question that has challenged me for some time. It seems to me that Russian author Dostoevsky answers this question in the affirmative. The excerpt above is a line from Father Zóssima, a character who is a spiritual guide in Dostoevsky’s book The Brothers Karamázov. The quote shows how the architecture, the light, and the dance of the incense smoke rising to the dome of the church were significant to the character’s religious experience.  

I share Dostoevsky’s view that the arts can contribute to an expansion of our knowledge of the world and of God, not necessarily through cognitive means, but through affective (emotional) ones.  

This is why I proposed a project for the Logos and Cosmos Initiative that explores the relationship between art and theology. I understand art as a profound manifestation of existence. It can speak to us about the world in a more intense way and can function as an instrument of knowledge. Art can make tangible – through the material – the highest attributes of the human spirit. In a sense, art shows human beings what it means to be fully human. 

Photo of a stained glass window in a church
A church in Mexico

My project consists of developing a research program in theology and the arts for students of ABUB Brazil, my IFES national movement. The program includes training, mentoring and research support. It will feature a foundations course focusing on the relationship between the arts and the basic Christian motif of creation, fall, redemption and restoration. After the course, we will have a mentoring program for students to develop a research project related to the arts, architecture and theology. Some students’ research projects may also include the production of artistic works.  

Photo of students listening at a workshop given by Marcio
Marcio’s recent workshop

In the meantime, as part of my project, I recently had the opportunity to lead a workshop (see left) for the ABUB national congress, where students explored the theme of art, justice and the kingdom of God.  

My whole LCI project is connected with the formation I received through the IFES community of students. 

Since I was a university student, this formation challenged me to try to relate my faith to my academic training in architecture. When I understood that being a Christian impacts all areas of life, I sought to develop theological and practical connections between my faith and worldview and my discipline.   

During my master’s degree, for example, I chose a topic that allowed me to discuss architecture from a human and transcendent point of view, looking for points of contact between these two subjects. When I was introduced to the Logos and Cosmos Initiative, I saw the opportunity to further develop these relationships and connect with a community of researchers who also have this commitment from their disciplines. It was an opportunity to continue the formation I received as a student, where I had already learned how our lives should not be dichotomous, but integrated by the knowledge and reality of God. 

However, this was all in sharp contrast to my Christian upbringing in a Pentecostal evangelical church. I grew up in an environment where we were presented with a gospel in which the secular (or material) life and the spiritual life were separated and didn’t need to be connected. It was like that dualistic vision, more Platonist than Christian, between the material world and the spiritual world, between the body and the soul. Although there was no opposition to science or to academic study, these areas were treated as secular aspects of life that had almost nothing to do with the spiritual life.  

At the Logos and Cosmos Initiative, myself and my fellow Catalysts are developing quite the opposite mindset: the understanding that there is no secular life and religious life.

The reality of God permeates the entire cosmos, all our life in its various manifestations. We are integrated beings. What fragments us is sin, provoking a dualistic vision that has damaged the way in which Christians relate, or even fail to relate, to science and the university. 

This integral vision even rejects a purely rationalistic reading of the human being. When we consider the wholeness of the human being, which in an Augustinian vision displaces the center of gravity of human identity from the brain to the Kardia (the Greek word for the heart and guts – the seat of our emotions), we recognize the importance of the arts in this process of understanding reality. The ability of art to disrupt the fabric of reality reveals to us more of the mystery of the human condition, as well as its meaning. 

This integral understanding of the human being that the Christian faith points to informs my work as an architect and academic.  

First, I can point to social injustices, in Brazil and also in Latin America where we see a large number of people who are homeless or live in substandard housing, without health or structural stability. In this sense, my work focuses on stimulating and sensitizing students about the need to get involved in low-income housing projects, in the improvement of degraded areas, in providing decent spaces for human existence, not only in terms of structure and sanitation but also from an existential and human point of view.  

The second aspect, to which I have dedicated myself more in recent years, is to understand architecture and the arts as a manifestation of what the human being is in all its depth. Our goal is to understand how the existence and essence of the human being is manifested through artistic languages and how they can be privileged means to understand the mystery of life.  

Photo of Catalyst Marcio Lima
Marcio Lima

Therefore, it is our duty as Christian scholars to seek these interfaces and show that the Christian worldview has much to contribute to the world, such as the development of a broader anthropology of the human being. We are challenged to see our work as scholars as part of God’s action for the renewal of the world, as agents of God’s Kingdom.  

My goal for my LCI project is for students to understand how the arts are part of our lives, and how the arts can reflect what restored relationships look like, both with God, creation and between humans. The arts are part of our reality as human beings made up of body, soul, reason, and emotion.  

Finally, my hope and prayer is that this project will contribute to the formation of students who are artists. My project’s goal is not that these Christian artists only make Christian-themed art to nurture their faith, but that – above all – they understand their role as artists who have faith and produce art for the good of the world. Not a production created as a sub-culture or enclave, but art created for the life of the world. As Christian philosopher James K. Smith1 puts it: 

“…not art that simply augments piety, but art whose infusion of faith invites a wider world to imagine why it is possible to believe – art that invites any and all human beings to confront the vortexes of hunger and longing we call ‘soul’ (…) I am fascinated and inspired by those writers and sculptors whose God-possessed imaginations create works that capture both their neighbors and their fellow pilgrims.” 

— Christian Philosopher James K. Smith

Those of us who are artists, architects, and writers are invited to give the reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15), in an imaginative, creative, and poetic way. This is our challenge! 

Marcio Lima is a professor of architecture and urban planning, and is also studying for a PhD in modern religious architecture University of São Paulo in Brazil. He has been involved in ABUB Brazil for the past 10 years, first as a student and now as a volunteer staff worker.

Find out more:

  • Follow Marcio’s project’s progress on his personal blog 
  • Read about all 18 of our Catalysts’ projects on our project webpages 
  • Watch a 2-minute video of Marcio discussing his project (video is in Spanish but an English transcript provided) 
  • Listen to the recent Voices of IFES podcast in which Marcio was interviewed about his project and his experience as a Catalyst. Video and audio is in Spanish but an English transcript is provided. 

ENDNOTES

1Smith, James K. “For the Good of the World” on Monergismo.com

Catalyst Perspectives: No More Double Life 

After growing up in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi1, Onesphore Hakizimana enrolled at the University of Rwanda with hopes of becoming a doctor. But God had different plans for him. In the second blogpost in our Catalyst Perspectives series, Onesphore explains how he said goodbye to his “double life” and is discovering the richness of God through his graduate studies in animal science.  

I went to university to find myself. I wanted to become a doctor. But human medicine wasn’t available on my campus so I had to study animal science instead. Disappointed, I asked myself: “What is this subject going to contribute to the great life that I dreamed of?” 

I soon came to realize that I was using academics for selfish gain. Through my involvement with GBUR Rwanda (my national student movement), I learned that the purpose of life is to serve God and to live for him alone.  

My perspective changed but I was still left with the problem of a dichotomy, or divide, between my studies and my faith. I viewed my academic studies purely as something which gave me the opportunity to be on the university campus and witness to students. I didn’t know how to glorify God through my studies.  

After graduating, working as a GBUR campus staff member only added fire to my problem. Once again, I saw this dichotomy in the discipleship we were doing. We told students that to live is for Christ but we didn’t show them how to do that practically. 

God challenged me. Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations.2” But did he mean for us to do that by bringing people into the four walls of the church or a Christian meeting? Reading the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 also made me realize that God gave each of us a ministry according to our abilities. Everyone is a full-time minister for the Lord. 

I decided to go back to university to earn a master’s degree in animal science and to learn how to serve God through my academic work – although I still didn’t know how to do that.  

Photo of Onesphore Hakizimana
Onesphore Hakizimana

When I heard about IFES’ Logos and Cosmos Initiative (LCI), I celebrated that this was an answer from God. I became a Catalyst in 2021 and we started with a course called “Engaging the University.” I discovered that if my old self has died and “Christ lives in me3,” then it means that when I am on the campus, it is as if Christ is on the campus in order to reach the people he loves. And more than that, we can redeem science and its outcomes for the Lord. 

“As an animal scientist, the creatures I study were created to glorify God. When I study them, I can see that science itself has a way to express God.”  

An article by Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff4 introduced me to the idea of developing a Christian mind. As Christians we have “the mind of Christ5”, enabling us to see the created world through the eyes of Christ. As Christian academics, if we are both studying the Word of God and immersing ourselves in our discipline then we will be able to discover the richness and wisdom of God embodied in creation. We will be able to draw out the treasures of God hidden in our academic discipline and then use these insights to bring created things back into their original purpose.  

My view was also broadened by John Stott’s idea of double listening6 – listening to both God (through scripture) and to the cries of the world around us. Our role is to connect those two voices through our discipline so we can answer the needs of the world around us.   

In this way, science can help us follow The Great Commandment (loving God and others). When God created the world, he didn’t reveal everything to us. But he gave us analytical minds that we can use to study the world and find answers that will help to restore creation and help it flourish.  

Photo of Onesphore Hakizimana weighing a chick

As an animal scientist, the creatures I study were created to glorify God. When I study them, I can see that science itself has a way to express God.  

The book of Genesis describes how God created animals and told humans to rule over them and subdue the earth. People rely on animals for food, livelihood and companionship. I can use my expertise to manage animal breeding and animal performance so we can provide food for people at a time when we are facing global challenges such as land scarcity, food insecurity and a growing population. For example, for my master’s thesis, I researched how to use insects as a food source for poultry. My thesis was considered by the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture and this year, they are going to adopt it as a way to feed their animals.  

Connecting my academic discipline and my faith has also helped me with The Great Commission (making disciples). I am able to bring out the wonder of God that I find in my discipline and show it to my fellow students. I can talk to them about faith in a language they understand. While studying genetics, I talked to one of my friends about God and he became a Christian.  

Over the next year, my project for the LCI will be to work with my national movement to lead a series of workshops and debates on the topic: Seeing God in Animal Sciences. This will inspire and create awareness among students, ministers, and professionals about how God can reveal himself through any discipline and how we can redeem our disciplines. My hope is that my project will equip Christian students to discover their God-given calling to use their academic work to reach their fellow students and transform their communities by restoring the creation.  

We were all put here to work in the garden of God’s creation. How can you change your perspective on your work or academic discipline? How does your area of expertise connect with your Christian faith? What are the treasures of God hidden there? 

ENDNOTES

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide 

2Matthew 28: 19 

3 Galatians 2:20 

4 Wolterstorff, Nicholas (2019) “In This World of Wonders: Memoir of a Life in Learning” WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 

5 1 Corinthians 2:16 

6 Stott, John (1992) “The Contemporary Christian: Applying God’s Word to Today’s World” Chapter 6: The Listening Ear. 

Catalyst Perspectives: Are Christianity and science opposed? 

In the first blogpost in our new Catalyst Perspectives series, PhD student Albertine Bayompe Kabou from Senegal shares how her perspective on the relationship between Christianity and science has evolved.

Albert Einstein once said that “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind1.” But for me, I grew up with the idea that science and religion are opposites. My father is a retired teacher and I’m from a Catholic family so my studies were always on one side and going to church was on the other side.  

This dichotomy was reinforced when I went to university. Academics there said that Christians didn’t like science, based on the trial of Galileo2. The Italian astronomer was tried and condemned by the Catholic Church for promoting the theory that the earth revolves around the sun. I later discovered that Galileo was a believer and his discoveries were not a contradiction between science and the bible but between science and interpretations of the bible. 

Evidence was another issue that came up at university. People said: “Have you seen God? Do you have evidence?” Science is based on the observation of things. But those things did not appear by chance. They are created by God. And I have come to believe that God is the master of science. 

“Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?”
(Job 37: 16)

The Bible tells us that God is the one whose science is perfect. The book of Job says: “Stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?” (Job 37: 14-16) 

Should we say that the one who has perfect science (God) is also against it? No! On the contrary, the Word of God encourages us to seek understanding by relying on Him. Proverbs 8:10-11 says: “Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” 

I came to Christ as an undergraduate but everything changed for me during my PhD when I encountered Impact, the IFES group for researchers in Senegal. Here, I was finally told that I could glorify God by serving him with my studies. As an economist, I had always wanted to honour God with my research but I didn’t know how. 

My perspective on faith and science changed even more when I joined the Logos and Cosmos Initiative (LCI) in 2021 as a “Catalyst.” It was a love affair right from the very first course we did, called “Engaging the University.” The course caused me to review my position vis-à-vis the university and life on campus.  

It’s important to understand that in my context when a young person says they want to go to university the first thing they hear is “Be careful!”. University is a synonym for corruption and parents worry that their children will be corrupted by bad influences. 

Photo of Albertine Bayompe Kabou
Albertine Bayompe Kabou

So when I started university, I had this attitude that I would just go to my classes and then go back home. And that’s it. I tried not to be in contact with anyone else. 

When I read a John Stott book3 as part of my LCI studies and learned about his idea of “double listening” – listening to both scripture and the world around us – it was a huge change for me. I said to myself: “Albertine, you have to start listening to the university, you have to be in contact with the university and start making your contribution. You have something to give to the university.” 

John Stott’s idea of double listening inspired the topic of my project for the LCI, which is about poverty. 

Photo of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar
Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar

In collaboration with my national student movement, GBU Senegal, I plan to conduct a study to help understand the root causes of poverty among students. There are a lot of struggles students face at my university – Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (pictured left). These include poverty and delays in scholarship payments, and a recent report4 found that some poor students prostitute themselves to cope with poverty. 

In the development of many poverty eradication strategies, the state does not involve the people concerned. So I want to consult the students themselves and then equip them to be agents of change in their own exit from poverty.   

My study will include questions about students’ economic situation and also about their life and religious beliefs. In Senegal, Islam is the main religion and traditional Quranic schools called “Daaras” are known to encourage a culture of begging5 among their students.  

I will also examine attitudes towards poverty that are part of the African ancestral tradition, in which people engage in rituals to worship their ancestors or other deities. For example, I will see if there are students who believe that their poverty is caused by a curse and that they can’t change their situation unless the curse is undone.  

I believe we need to understand other people’s faith traditions: if we are called to be light, then first of all we have to understand the darkness around us. 

After I have completed my study, next year I plan to organize a conference that will bring together students as well as experts on theology, economics, sociology and entrepreneurship, to discuss strategies to combat student poverty. 

The bible talks about both economic and spiritual poverty. My project will aim to fight poverty while also sharing the light of the gospel. God says he is the refuge of the poor. I believe this reality will be a way of comfort for people who are poor, to know that someone – that a big God – is taking care of them. 

ENDNOTES

1 Einstein, Albert (1950) “Out of My Later Years” Philosophical Library Inc. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1UxYzuI2oQC&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false 

2 Galileo’s trial: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair#:~:text=From%20Wikipedia%2C%20the%20free%20encyclopedia%20Galileo%20before%20the,Galilei%20by%20the%20Roman%20Catholic%20Inquisition%20in%201633. 

3 Stott, John (1992) “The Contemporary Christian: Applying God’s Word to Today’s World” Chapter 6: The Listening Ear. 

4 Maïmouna, Ndiaye (2021) “The sources of student prostitution” (Report at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal) 

5 Human Rights Watch report (2010) “Off the backs of the Children: Forced Begging and Other Abuses against Talibés in Senegal”https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/04/15/backs-children/forced-begging-and-other-abuses-against-talibes-senegal#; Wikipedia article on “Daaras” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daara 

PHOTO CREDITS

Clouds Photo by Stephanie Klepacki on Unsplash

Photo of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar: Rignese, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 via Wikimedia Commons