God and the Engineer: An Integration Paper

by Timothy R. Tuinstra Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Cedarville University
Email: [email protected]

I. I NTRODUCTION versity. This discussion then leads naturally into a

discussion of the epistemological and philosophical
Cedarville University exists to equip Christian underpinnings of engineering within the framework
students for lifelong leadership and service marked of biblical Christianity in Section III. In Section IV
by excellence and grounded in biblical truth. So I take up the biblical view of vocation or calling and
states the mission statement of this great institu- deal specifically with engineering as a legitimate
tion. The challenge for her faculty is to flesh out calling for Christian men and women. In Section
this mission in individual courses, laboratories, and V I address the need for a sense of moderation
interactions with students across the campus. This is concerning our conception of what engineering and
the mandate of “biblical integration”. The challenge technology can do for mankind in a fallen world.
for Christian professors is to see the whole realm Finally, in Section VI I describe how we may make
of knowledge holistically and to teach their students specific applications in the engineering classroom.
to do the same. Greg Bahnsen describes well the
task of integration when he says, “...God’s word II. W HY C HRISTIAN H IGHER E DUCATION ?
demands unreserved allegiance to God and His truth As we enter the 21st century, many Christian
in all our thought and scholarly endeavors [1].” The thinkers are becoming alarmed at the growing num-
believing professor then has no choice but to get ber of Christian young people whose thinking is
down to business in the task of integrating. She increasingly muddled when it comes to issues of
must show that God is not silent when it comes to Christian doctrine and the application of such doc-
her discipline. She must help her students to put trine to life issues. As J. P. Moreland and William
the pieces together. The human mind as created Lane Craig so aptly describe, “Our churches are
by God longs to see unity and coherence in the unfortunately overly-populated with people whose
observed world. James Orr says that such a mind minds, as Christians, are going to waste [3].” Immer-
“is not content with fragmentary knowledge, but sion in a pluralistic culture with its assumptions that
tends constantly to rise from facts to laws, from no particular person or group has a corner on truth
laws to higher laws, from these to the highest is partly to blame for this phenomenon as American
generalizations possible [2].” To help students to do youth are exposed on all sides to various multimedia
this and to see God and His glory as the highest outlets that preach the tenants of postmodernism.
generalization is biblical integration as I understand Those who claim to have a foundation built on
it. absolute truths are labeled as bigots, are called
This paper addresses specifically the task of doing intolerant, and sometimes said to be dogged by so-
biblical integration within the context of the engi- called “Cartesian Anxiety” [3]. In fact the one group
neering programs within Christ-centered universi- about which it is acceptable to be intolerant is those
ties. In Section II I briefly defend the idea of Christ- who claim to have access to absolute truth.
centered higher education. I elaborate on some It is in the middle of this theologically chaotic
reasons why parents should desire Christ-centered time period in our history that Christian colleges
higher education for their children as opposed to the and universities are called to help students to think
education that they might receive in a secular uni- through what it means to be a Christian living in this
relatively young century. There has perhaps been no III. T HE P HILOSOPHICAL AND
time with greater need for thinking, educated Chris- E PISTEMOLOGICAL F OUNDATIONS OF
tians to flood the culture with biblical Christianity. E NGINEERING
It must be understood here that a Christ-centered
When we as scholars at Christ-centered institu-
university should not merely exist to do “vocational
tions are called to perform biblical integration, we
training” although a large part of what we do is
are fundamentally being called to find the connec-
to prepare students to assume some vocational role
tions that exist between our respective disciplines
upon entering society. In other words, the primary
and the greater realm of knowledge and truth and
role of a Christ-centered institution of higher learn-
especially with truth as it is found in Holy Scrip-
ing should not be to help students to get a “good”
tures. Many times this call is met with disdain from
job following graduation. Naturally, having a good
those in engineering and mathematics because it is
job is important for the provision for one’s family
easy to think that there are few or no connections
and we do hope that students will find good jobs.
to our biblical worldview in these disciplines. It is
The goal of a Christ-centered college or university
relatively easy for those in the humanities and art
is to prepare students for the vocation of life. Listen
to evaluate modern movements in culture in light
to these words of former Wheaton College professor
of biblical truth. Christian biologists have much
Dr. Arthur Holmes, “None of us wants the kind of
fertile ground in which to labor when it comes
dehumanized brave new world that manufactures
to biblical integration because they can deal with
men and women to fill jobs. Our technological
issues of origins and design and creationism in
society has been indicted for making productivity
general. It is straight forward for those in the social
the purpose of society, rather than people [4].” Our
sciences to apply biblical analysis to the study of
goal at a school like Cedarville should not be simply
history or biblical principles to the development of
to make our students productive. Our goal should
philosophies in criminal justice or social work.
be to teach them what it means to live and think
Christianly and to be as Jesus Himself said, “salt It is, on the other hand, a more difficult thing
and light”. to bring biblical worldview thinking to bear on
the study of engineering. It seems to me that the
We must give to our students something that they reason for this difficulty is that engineering and even
could never get if they attended one of the state mathematics seem at first blush to be amoral and to
schools or other secular institutions. We must help be built upon easily derived first principles using
them to build a biblical weltanschauung1 , a view logic and reason. We are accustomed to thinking
of the world that is not fragmented, but whole and about these disciplines autonomously, i.e. apart from
tied together by the Lord Jesus Christ, the timeless God.
Author of all truth. According to James Orr, once
Correcting these attitudes requires a fundamental
a student has been taught and has internalized a
paradigm shift for believers engaged in these fields
uniquely Christian weltanschauung, “He is commit-
and teachers within these disciplines. We must begin
ted to a view of God, to a view of man, to a view
to realize that engineering and mathematics have
of sin, to a view of Redemption, to a view of the
their epistemological roots in the Christian world-
purpose of God in creation and history, to a view of
view. I would like to make a case for this in this
human destiny, found only in Christianity [2].” It is
section.
my belief that if we merely prepare students with
techniques that will help them to land a good job The first point to be made is that biblically, Christ
following graduation that we have failed them and is the fountainhead and source of all knowledge.
we have failed to follow through with the integrative Colossians 2:3 tells us that in Christ “are hidden
mandate given to us by our university and by our all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” In
Creator. other words, ultimately anything that is known about
anything finds it’s source in Christ, the A and the Ω.
This implies that both engineering and mathematics
1
German for “world view” and all other disciplines find their epistemological
root in Christ. This seems foreign to us at first IV. T OWARD A C HRISTIAN V IEW OF VOCATION
because we are so accustomed to thinking in terms
of the natural and the spiritual, the secular and the The concept of vocation seems to be an idea lost
sacred and we seldom are wont to bring the two in modern American culture. For most in America,
together in our thinking. Francis Schaeffer was well one’s job or one’s profession is simply the means to
known for using the illustration shown in Figure an end, particularly the end of pursuing one’s own
1 [5] which shows the divide between the secular agenda bound up in the notion of the “American
and the sacred in the mind of modern man. We Dream”. The “American Dream” drives people to
tend to view engineering and mathematics as secular earn as much money as possible so that they may
callings. have a nice home in suburbia, drive a nice car, send
their children to a good school, and then finally
retire well with a moderate nest egg which can be
used to pamper themselves in the later years with
Sacred, Spiritual all of the niceties that the world has to offer. In
America, work is seen as a necessary evil that must
be endured for a few years if the “greater good” of
reaching one’s own material goals is to be reached.
This is a completely unbiblical way for Christians
Secular, Natural to approach their work, but in this day and age,
this is the mentality that many Christian students
Fig. 1. Illustration used by Francis Schaeffer. have as they enter college looking for a job that will
“pay well”. This is a leading edge at which biblical
integration needs to be done in the classroom.
The critical question to ask at this point has been The word vocation comes from the Latin meaning
asked by James Nickel, and that is “Why does math- “call” or “calling” and has historically been used to
ematics work?” [6]. I would extend this question by indicate the call of God in a person’s life either
asking not only why mathematics works, but why in the calling of a lost sinner to himself or as it is
can it be applied so successfully to problems that intended for this work, the call of God in a person’s
engineers are so eager to solve? The answers to life relating to what will be their chief employment
these questions are epistemological in nature. These in this world.
are the questions that unbelievers are not eager During the Middle Ages, callings were seen dual-
to answer because their materialistic worldview is istically as either “sacred” or “secular”. Those who
not able to account for the order and logic that is were members of the clergy or educated classes
present in the universe. A materialistic worldview were said to be involved in a sacred vocation while
cannot account for the fact that the constants e all others, particularly the common and uneducated
or π won’t change tomorrow thereby rendering working class were said to have secular vocations
many of our engineering designs inoperable. A or callings. Those in sacred vocations were in work
naturalistic worldview can have no explanation for which would count within the kingdom of God,
why Maxwell’s equations predict so accurately all while those involved in secular vocations did work
electromagnetic phenomena in the universe that we of little or no lasting value within the Kingdom of
know of. God.
However, as believers, we know why mathematics A fundamental shift in paradigms occurred dur-
describes reality and can be used to create mar- ing the time of the Protestant Reformation. Mar-
velous wonders for the betterment of mankind. The tin Luther himself contributed significantly to the
reason is that there is a Creator who “calls those Christian understanding of the doctrine of vocation.
things that are not as if they were”. He has created Says Luther,
a world of order for us to understand and to use for “From all this it follows that there is really no
His glory and for the good of our fellow men. difference between laymen and priests, princes and
bishops, ‘spirituals’ and ‘temporals,’ as they call professionals such as engineers. Work is no longer
them, except that of office and work, but not of seen as simply a way to earn a living, but instead
‘estate’; for they are all of the same estate-true it is seen as a vehicle for service to other human
priests, bishops and popes-though they are not all beings. Work is no longer about serving one’s
engaged in the same work, just as all priests and own ambitions, but is instead imbued with purpose
monks have not the same work.” [7] outside the self. The engineer no longer does her
Luther raised the status of the so called “tempo- work as unto men but as unto God Himself who
ral” callings to that of spiritual callings. For Luther sees all men and the work they do. Work done for
all callings are spiritual and bring glory to God. the Lord is never done in vain.
Listen to Luther again,
“A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work A. The Creation Mandate - The Purpose of Work
and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike A Christian view of work and vocation must find
consecrated priests and bishops, and everyone by it’s root in Scripture. Many Christian doctrines have
means of his own work or office must benefit and their basis in the Book of Beginnings, Genesis, and
serve every other, that in this way many kinds of the biblical doctrine of vocation is no exception.
work may be done for the bodily and spiritual In Genesis 1:28, before the fall of man, we see
welfare of the community, even as all the members God commanding the man and the woman to “Be
of the body serve one another.” [7] fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
We could also list the engineer with Luther’s list subdue it.”2 God later gave the man Adam the task
of consecrated professions. All men and women of naming all of the animals in the Garden of Eden
regardless of their profession are prophets, priests, (Genesis 2:19-20). This command has come to be
and kings. Note also the motivation which Luther known as the Creation Mandate. It consists of two
attaches to professions. The primary motivation is main directives, one of which is that mankind must
not to earn money, but to serve the society. The engage in procreation to populate the world. The
worker is to look past her work to see those whom second part of the mandate calls on mankind to
she serves. bring the world and its resources into subjection
John Calvin also elevated the status of “secular” essentially declaring humans to be the pinnacle of
work when he said, creation who may make use of the world and its
“...the Lord bids each one of us in all life’s resource to further God’s end of bringing glory to
actions to look to his calling. For he knows with Himself. Men are God’s vice-regents in this world,
what great restlessness human nature flames, with being given the task of ruling it with and for Him.
what fickleness it is borne hither and thither, how Engineers fulfill a special place within God’s
its ambition longs to embrace various things at Creation Mandate. There are few professions whose
once...Therefore each individual has his own post so purpose is more directly involved in subduing cre-
that he may not heedlessly wander about throughout ation than engineering. The engineering profession
life.” [8] is everywhere concerned with making the world
The Puritans were also known for their elevation a little better for mankind while extracting and
of the “secular” callings. Their great concern was making use of its resources to produce great benefits
that all people everywhere should be employed in for people everywhere. In doing so, the engineer is
their occupations in a manner that was pleasing unto uniquely equipped and positioned to love her neigh-
God. Listen to Cotton Mather, bor through her profession. Consider briefly two
“A Christian should be able to give a good great examples of the ways in which the profession
account, not only what is his occupation, but also of engineering has benefitted mankind.
what he is in his occupation. It is not enough that One of the engineering marvels of modern times
a Christian have an occupation; but he must mind is modern medical imaging. Engineers have also
his occupation as it becomes a Christian,” quoted in given us the ability to take a look into the human
[9].
Such doctrine gives new meaning for Christian 2
Emphasis mine
body to identify diseases and other problems pre-
viously hidden from our eyes. Computed tomogra-
phy, ultrasound, and nuclear magnetic resonance all
provide different views into the body and facilitate
the diagnosis of serious diseases such as cancer,
heart disease, and other ailments. God’s common
grace through the engineering profession is clearly
seen as lives are prolonged and the quality of life is
improved by devices such as the CT scanner shown
in Figure 2.

Fig. 3. RADAR imaging allows meteorologists to pinpoint the

probable locations of tornados before they touch down in many cases.

wrest the power and secrets of God’s creation for the

benefit of men and women everywhere. In this way
they perform services and create products that allow
people to be comfortable, to be safe, and to have
longer lives. God in His common grace has provided
for the engineering profession and when men and
women are called to be engineers, they are in their
profession being obedient to God’s command to
love one’s neighbors.

V. T OWARD A C HRISTIAN V IEW OF

T ECHNOLOGICAL P ROGRESS
Fig. 2. Computed Tomography and other medical imaging modalities Even as men subdue the creation for the glory of
have allowed us to “see” inside the human body increasing the
chances of detecting cancer and other diseases while there is still
God in obedience to the Creation Mandate, a bal-
time. ance must be struck between optimism concerning
the good that can be done and pessimism because
Another fabulous example of life-saving technol- of the fall of mankind into sin. We read in Genesis
ogy is RADAR imaging. Modern Doppler RADAR 3 that Adam and his wife Eve disobeyed God’s
imaging allows meteorologists to pin-point the lo- command concerning the eating from the Tree of
cation of tornados prior to their actually touching the Knowledge of Good and Evil and all mankind
down. Modern image processing algorithms have fell into a sinful state in Adam. By the time we read
been applied to the RADAR data so that tornado Genesis 11 we see man using technology to rebel
warnings may be issued automatically. This has against God and to disobey His commands by gath-
saved numerous lives. An example of this technol- ering together in one place and building the Tower
ogy is shown in Figure 3 for an actual tornado which of Babel thereby disobeying the Creation Mandate
occurred in the Oklahoma City area. to populate the world. Man’s technology then was
These are just two of many examples of how used for the furtherance of his own ambitions. In
God has placed engineers in a unique position to this section, I look at the effects of man’s sinful
condition upon technology. I first of all seek to show Some would argue that many technological in-
that technology is not neutral. Secondly, I look at novations are pursued for truly altruistic purposes.
the often overblown almost salvific promises made Certainly these innovations are good? It is my un-
by proponents of unbridled technological progress. derstanding, however, that even technology pursued
Finally I argue for a distinctly Christian view of out of desire to make the world a better place
“doing” technology. carry within in them the seed of fallenness that at
some point will bring about a host of disturbing,
A. Is Technology Neutral? unintended consequences. Consider for a moment
the improvement in health care technology. While
To answer this most important question requires no one will argue with the fact that the increase
looking briefly at the doctrine of sin and studying its in life-expectancy due to improved health care is
affects on man. We need to understand the effects a wonderful blessing for society, who would have
of sin on the mind or the “noetic effects of sin”. seen the moral struggle now faced at the end of
The biblical doctrine of sin teaches us that men are life? We are now able to keep people biologically
in every part and in every way tainted by sin. Sin alive for years while deep inside we know that
affects every ability of man including his ability to a loved one has no awareness whatsoever of life
think and reason concerning technology. In Genesis and surroundings. This is the fruit of our fallenness
6 we read God’s assessment of fallen mankind when being borne out of what may be considered morally
He says in verse 6 that “every intent of the thoughts upright technologies. This is unavoidable in our best
of his heart was only evil continually.” This taint of engineering efforts. This thought will never be far
sin carries over into every aspect of the lives of from the believing engineer’s mind.
mankind in this world. Some technological ambitions of mankind are
Unfortunately, Thomas Aquinas and others taught clearly sinful such as the desire of nations such as
that the fall of man was incomplete. According to Iraq to develop weapons of mass destruction so that
Aquinas, man’s ability to reason and think remained they may use them on their neighbors including the
unaffected by sin. Such teaching has led to the nation of Israel. Even as I write this paper, there
belief that man through reasoning can solve his is grave concern that the fundamentalist Islamic
own problems without God’s help. Such thinking government of Iran is seeking to develop nuclear
was particularly prevalent during the time of the weapons in defiance of the international community.
Renaissance and was a major tenet of Enlightenment It is easy to see the grave consequences of the fall
thinking. During these periods of time, confidence in the development of technology in cases like this.
in man and in his abilities to solve his own problems We next consider cases that are much more difficult
became the reigning philosophy of the day. We to address and understand.
sometimes call this view humanism.
Christians, however, must not succumb to human- B. Can Technology Save Us?
istic patterns of thinking and Christian engineers One of the temptations that engineers, scientists,
must not fall prey to over-zealous confidence in their and technologists face is the temptation to put too
creations. Because of the effects of the Fall, I would much faith in the benefits and triumphs of tech-
argue with Monsma et al. [10] that technology is nology. Consider the words of Rufus Dawes, the
not neutral. New technological developments do not president of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, “Here
occur in a vacuum and many of the driving forces are gathered the evidences of man’s achievements
behind new technology are based on sinful and in the realm of physical science, proofs of his
warped ambitions. Mankind develops technology power to prevail over all the perils that beset him,”
based on perceived needs and desires of consumers quoted in [11]. It is easy to make grandiose promises
and Scripturally, there is certainly nothing neutral concerning the benefits of technology and at no time
about these needs and desires. As Monsma et al. has this temptation been more real than today in
put it, when we do technology, we are involved in the so-called Information Age. This “worship” of
“valuing” which is always tainted by sin. technology is sometimes called technicism.
 One arena in which these claims are made is in childish error of worshiping the new gadgets which
the area of modern communications technologies. are our own creation as if they were our masters,”
Quentin Schultze has said, “We are succumbing to quoted in [13]. Says Schultze, “Our tendency to
informationism: a non-discerning, vacuous faith in adopt every new information technology uncritically
the collection and dissemination of information as - without discerning the options, setting appropriate
a route to social progress and personal happiness limits, and establishing humane practices - is simply
[12].” We are told that the more ubiquitous commu- irresponsible [12].” Hunt says, “Glitzy machines
nication technologies become, the more enlightened have a way of mesmerizing us so that we do not
we will become because since we are communi- think about the unintended consequences they create
cating with one another, we will understand each [14].”
other better. For example the growth of the Internet We as Christians and especially Christian engi-
is purported to be an unprecedented opportunity for neers must take the place of prophets in our time.
accomplishing world peace as people from around As our culture hails the powers and soteriological
the world can now share ideas. We clamor for benefits of modern technology, we must be the
government funding so that the public school and ones that stand and remind mankind that ultimate
library classrooms around the world can be wired salvation is not to be found in the engineering
for the Internet, claiming that children who have and technological accomplishments of men. In fact
access to the Internet will be better educated than we must remind people that in the hands of the
any children ever before. We spend thousands if not unregenerate, technology can in fact lead to ill
millions of dollars to have the Internet piped through consequences that none of us can imagine.
the ether to our PDAs and IPhones.
However, we forget the truths that were discussed VI. I MPLICATIONS FOR THE E NGINEERING
earlier that the root of man’s problem is not that he C LASSROOM - D OING B IBLICAL I NTEGRATION
has access to too little technology or communica- In this paper, I have discussed the epistemology
tion. It is rather that his heart is corrupted by the of engineering, I have discussed the validity of
deceitfulness of sin. Wiring all the classrooms in engineering as a vocation, and I have argued that
the world with the Internet will not keep children or engineering and technology are not morally neutral.
adults for that matter from finding instead more ad-
vanced ways to sin. Giving people access to mobile A. Can we teach philosophy in engineering?
communications such as cellular phones (certainly a There are a number of topics within specifically
modern engineering marvel) does not lead to better electrical engineering which are wonderful opportu-
relationships between people. E-mail does not lead nities to address the epistemological underpinnings
to more intimacy with others, but usually fosters of engineering. These opportunities usually arise
banal, trivial, and meaningless communications. within the context of teaching natural (i.e. God
Many of the world’s leaders are the leading given) laws of nature which we exploit in engineer-
proponents of this religion of technology. Listen to ing to make the world better for its occupants.
the late President Ronald Reagan, “...as we acquire One example that comes to mind occurs within
more and more knowledge from new technologies, the teaching of electromagnetics when Maxwell’s
we no longer move forward in inches or feet, we equations are presented. Why is it that Maxwell’s
begin to leap forward. There’s nothing that the set of four integro-differential equations describe
United States of America cannot accomplish if the all electromagnetic phenomena and predict so many
doubting Thomases would just stand aside and get practical applications which we make use of today
out of our way,” quoted in [10]. such as the propagation of radio waves? Is this
There have, however, been prophets among those mere coincidence or is there a God who wants to
who heralded forth the power of technology. One communicate to us that He is a God of order and
such prophet who feared technicism was the twen- beauty? No one who understands Maxwell’s equa-
tieth century mathematician Norbert Wiener who in tions can look at them without seeing the symmetry
his day feared that people were falling “into the and simple beauty that they describe. As believers
we don’t just see equations. For us it’s as if the one B. Teaching Engineering Students to Value Engi-
Eternal Omnipotent Creator who told the winds and neering as a Vocational Calling from God
the waves to be still declared that, “For all time and
in all places in the universe, It seems to me that the doctrine of Christian
vocation carries a number of implications for the
engineering classroom. The first and most important
~ = 0,
∇·B (1) of these is that the engineering professor herself
must believe passionately that she has been called
by God to the field of engineering to help make a
~ = ρ,
∇·D (2) better world for others and to subdue creation for
the glory of God. This passion should be visible to
~ every student in her classroom and should cause her
~ =− ∂B
∇×E , (3) to pursue excellence in teaching. She should seek to
∂t convince the young people in her class that by being
and engineers they can serve God by serving others.
~
~ = J~ + ∂ D .00
∇×H (4)
The second implication follows directly from
∂t the first one and that is that if engineering is a
legitimate calling for believers, that we should teach
A second example that I can think of especially our students to be the best engineers that they can
in the field of electrical engineering is the Fourier be. Mediocrity is not an option for the Christian
transform. Again, it is difficult to look at the Fourier engineer. Why shouldn’t engineers graduating from
transform by which almost any signal can be broken Cedarville be the cream of the engineering crop?
down into a linear combination of sine and cosine Why shouldn’t they be the best available with an
waves and see anything but the beauty that the uncommon understanding of their respective fields?
Creator “built into” the universe. The same could be And we must teach them that they are to be the best
said of wavelets by which we decompose functions they can be not so that they can make a high dollar
down into a linear sum of short-time functions. Both paycheck when they graduate, but instead because
the Fourier and wavelet transform have extremely they want to do the dirty work of the creation
powerful implications without which many modern mandate transforming the world for God’s glory and
technologies would not be possible. Duane Litfin the good of mankind.
expresses similar sentiments when he says, “The A third and final implication for the engineering
Christian scholar shares with the non-Christian all classroom is that we need to be wary of trying to
of his fascination with the things in themselves, but “sanctify” the classroom by performing perfunctory
she is moved in addition by the impetus of her “spiritual” exercises such as daily prayer or devo-
deepest Christ-centered convictions and loyalties. tionals as if the doing of engineering were not a
She wants not only to measure the creation; she spiritual activity. While there is certainly nothing
wants to celebrate it for what it is and what it does: wrong with beginning the engineering class or lab-
it is Christ’s artistry and it tells us of him [15].” oratory with prayer, such activities do not make the
It is up to the believing engineering professor to classroom Christ-centered. We must instead teach
grasp these opportunities with passion and to point our students that the design of a circuit or of a
students beyond the mechanics of equations to the signal processing algorithm are in themselves acts
God who imbued His universe with such stunning of worship to Almighty God when one proceeds
beauty. Without a professor who is willing to do with those activities as unto the Lord. What does
this, students will simply see the equations and laws a God glorifying circuit look like? It works and it
as expressions to manipulate to get the right answer performs the task that the designer intended for it
and will miss the beauty of the Creator who is the to perform. Students could be challenged early on
author of the beauty. God is not silent as we study in a given course to see their work in the course as
the laws that we apply in engineering. Let’s listen. worship. This could also be the theme of one on one
contacts that the professor has with the students in technologies and theory required to design and build
challenging them to do their best. They should do a variety of analog and digital communications
their best because God is the God of engineering. devices. Such a class could conceivably explore the
advantages and disadvantages of the ubiquity of
C. Teaching Engineering Students to have a Real- personal communications such as cellular phones
istic View of Technology and other modern wireless devices. A couple ques-
Christians are often just as guilty of being ex- tions could be asked. Do personal communications
tremely pragmatic when it comes to the issues of systems improve or degrade interpersonal relation-
technology. We assume that just because some new ships? In other words, do such systems have the
technology can be designed and built that it should tendency to deepen relationships in a biblical sense
be designed and built. Because they are visionaries or to make them more shallow? What about e-mail?
who thrive on solving unsolved problems, engineers What about the Internet? What about the availability
are particularly notorious for this kind of thinking. of on-demand video to hand-held devices? Is this a
Engineers seldom do the critical thinking necessary good thing or a bad thing? What I am suggesting is
to determine what principles should govern the that there be a deeper dialog within engineering cur-
design of a particular technology. We also often riculum concerning these matters. So often, the can-
assume that with technology the end justifies the do spirit of engineers trumps the critical thinking of
means. We too seem to forget that technology is not whether or not to design some technological object.
neutral. How then do we teach this to young engi- Just because we can beam bits over the cellular
neering students, the shapers of future technologies? phone system fast enough to send a movie to a palm
First we must teach them biblical theology. Of device does not imply that such a system should be
course at Cedarville University, this is something developed.
that occurs primarily outside of the engineering What I am really arguing for here is that we as
classroom in the context of the Bible minor which Christian professors teach biblical wisdom to our
all students complete. An essential component of the engineering students. It is so easy for us to be simply
theology which must be taught there is that man’s about technique in engineering. Certainly we need
greatest need is to be saved from his sins and to be a lot of technique in an engineering curriculum, but
in right standing with God. This is in sharp contrast technique in a moral vacuum leads to devices that
to the teachings of our modern technological culture may in fact do more harm than good in society.
where what man needs is more education, access Engineering graduates from Christ-centered schools,
to more communications technology, and a better of all graduates, should be well versed in biblical
health care system to name just a few. We need thinking in order that they might make wise deci-
to be teaching our students that while the devel- sions within their vocations.
opment of technology is very helpful and perhaps
it could be argued commanded by God in the VII. C ONCLUSION
Creation mandate, technology development cannot
make people get along better, love their spouse or In this paper, I have tried to articulate my view of
children more, or cleanse them from the guilt of sin. teaching engineering in a Christ-centered university.
Therefore, Cedarville engineering students must be Biblical integration really boils down to one thing
theologically grounded. and that is...living and teaching before our students
We have discussed the role of the Bible minor in to the Glory of God. We must make God and His
giving students a realistic view of engineering. How worth weighty in our classroom. God must be the
can the engineering professor foster this realistic all consuming sun that brings all of the disciplines
viewpoint in the hearts of her students? I think to do into orbit around Himself. There must not be any
so involves exploring with students the boundaries doubt as I teach and interact with students that God
of what engineering should be doing. For example, is Who He claims to be. Will my students have a
I teach a communications course at Cedarville. more lofty view of God and His creation through
This course exposes students to the fundamental having been in my classroom, in my laboratory, or
in my office? My prayer in my own teaching career
is that they would answer in the affirmative.
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[5] F. A. Schaeffer, Escape From Reason. England: Inter Varsity,
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