Words at the Fault-line of Faith and Science

About the Book

Scientific discovery and subsequent engineering has provided this age with remarkable comfort and every conceivable gadget. It has also provided most folks with sophisticated means for personal entertainment, which keep them fully occupied. The time left over after our busyness for contemplation of deeper matters is very short, if at all. The questions, “Who I am?” and “Why am I here?” are not given much time. The poems of this book (some in rhyme, some in free verse) address these questions in short and focused musings that could prompt readers to devote more time to their deliberations about their destiny. The author is convinced that the revelations made by modern science and diligent Christian theology are wholly compatible and their juxtaposition in short verse is somewhat novel. Poetry is a very personal expression of one’s thoughts, and your expressions will likely be different from those in this compilation.

About the Author

J. Donald Chapman was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, the son of a grocer who taught him much about stacking shelves, checking out groceries, driving the delivery truck and working on the business books. It could be said that this apprenticeship was as great a part of his education as his formal schooling. It is unfortunate that most kids today never get such a chance. His university training was in engineering physics, radiation physics and biophysics and was not a path that he predetermined. Doors were opened by making the required grades and accepting scholarships. He was mentored and trained during his university years by four icons of the radiation research field; in radiation physics (Doug Cormack), radiation chemistry (Ged Adams), cell biology and biophysics (Ernest Pollard) and charged-particle radiotherapy (Cornelius Tobias). His career has been blessed with success in obtaining peer-reviewed grants, mentoring several brilliant graduate students and medical residents, serving on several editorial boards and receiving six international research awards. Much of his research is summarized in the medical physics textbook, “Radiotherapy Treatment Planning – Linear/Quadratic Radiobiology” that was published in 2015 by CRC Press.

Don was raised in a Christian family with five other kids, was taken to Sunday School every Sunday, doted over by a loving mother and nurtured by the greater family of aunts, uncles and grandfather. He was supported during his university years by participation in functions of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. It can be said that he was as diligent in seeking understanding about matters of his faith as about his science. From graduate school days, he began writing his musings on specific themes of nature and faith in poetry of free verse and rhyme. This became his personal habit for fixing his current thoughts in words that others would understand. So words and language were an important tool for both his development as a scientist and as a mature Christian. Some poems were previously published in the volume, FAITH IN WORDS – A POET’S CREED, Durango Publishing of Penticton, BC. That compilation was designed mainly for family and friends and included several poems that had been written for family reunions and personal events. This current volume has been compiled for those who struggle with questions relating to the meaning to their lives and if we really matter. Popular science today teaches that we humans are the end product of an evolution of matter that was exploded some 14 billion years ago into the cosmic space we can see today with sophisticated observatories. Now much of what modern science is observing and describing is undoubtedly true but the Christian faith teaches that the physical also has an important spiritual meaning. So while there has developed a fault-line between science and faith over the past hundred or so years, both approaches strive to seek the truth about physical reality and the meaning of human life. The author believes that these are complimentary revelations that should attempt to learn from each other instead of trying to outdo the other. It should be apparent that this author does not have enough faith to be an atheist and certainly is still searching for true answers to many questions.