Mathematics Commons^™

Introduction (1983), Robert Brabenec

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1983

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents (1983), Association Of Christians In The Mathematical Sciences

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1983

A Fourth Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Edited by Robert L. Brabenec, Wheaton College

A Comparative Study Of Christian Mathematical Realism And Its Humanistic Alternatives, Paul Zwier

ACMS Journal 2004

This paper addresses the growing popularity of views of mathematics that see it primarily as a social entity and that reject Platonism. It contrasts two Christian realist philosophies - those of Alvin Plantinga and Vernon Poythress - with the secular perspective of Philip Davis and Reuben Hersch. It affirms the insight of Davis and Hersch that mathematics is indeed a social entity. However, it argues that belief in God enables a fuller understanding of mathematics - one that accounts for the apparent transcendence of mathematics and its power to explain concepts in the physical world.

Reality And Imagination In Mathematics And Religion, Dave Neuhouser

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

What does either reality or imagination have to do with mathematics? What does either reality or imagination have to do with religion? The thesis of this paper is that mathematics and religion, both, should be closely related to reality and that imagination is essential in both areas. In fact, imagination is essential in our attempts to understand reality.

Theology And Philosophy Of Mathematics, Russell V. Benson

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

This paper examines history and philosophy to explore the answer to the theological question of whether or not Christians should pursue the mathematical sciences.

A Response To Professor Poythress’S “Science As Allegory”, Paul Devries

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

This paper critiques some of the arguments given by Vern Sheridan Poythress in his paper, Science as Allegory, particularly about the claims that the universe is poetry and that science is poetry.

Teaching Mathematics Distinctively, Paul J. Zwier

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

By examining previously used education models, Paul Zwier how he developed his current methods of teaching mathematically distinctively.

Probabilistic Ways Of Thinking, Garnet Hauger

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

Events of the tiniest probabilities occur every day, and yet we tend to think of these events as unusual and even miraculous. So what should be a Christian's response to such events? Beginning with some simple concepts of probability, this paper examines the role that chance plays in our lives.

An Integration Of Integrations Of Christianity And Mathematics—A Response To Harold Heie, Gene B. Chase

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

There are three general approaches taken to integrate Christianity and Mathematics: the applicational, the incarnation, and the philosophical. This paper discusses these views and responds to the approaches of Harold Heie.

Some Contributions Of Stanley Jaki To An Understanding Of Mathematics, Paul Devries

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

This paper comments on passages from the books by Stanley L. Jaki, Science and Creation, The Relevance of Physics, and The Road to Science and The Ways to God.

Random Variables And A Sovereign God, Lloyd Montzingo

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

This paper takes a brief look at the history of conflict between the concepts of chance and divine activity. After reviewing some evidence for randomness in the universe, present philosophical and theological views from four different scientists on this subject are presented. The discussion concludes with some questions and observations concerning those questions.

The Development Of Algebraic Structures During The Nineteenth Century, Richard Stout

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

I remember entering the faculty lounge one day while I was in graduate school and hearing a logician chiding some of the algebraists in the room. He said, "Don't you fellows ever get tired of just plus and times?" His remark, said in jest, had more to it than he may have realized. The fact that there is structure to algebra, represented by plus and times, was a vital discovery in the nineteenth century. It would lead algebra away from a reliance on numbers to a much more formal approach, one in which many different types of algebraic structures could …

Mathematics As Rhyme, Vern Poythress

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

Using the analogy between the universe and a choral poem, one may view mathematics as the “rhyme” of the universe. In that perspective new light is thrown on the unique subject matter of mathematics, the a priori character of its truths, and the relation of mathematics to other areas of knowledge. A route is thereby opened for richer use of creativity in mathematics.

Communicating Spiritual Insights In Mathematics Classes, Verbal Snook

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

Science As Allegory, Vern Sheridan Poythress

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

Microcomputers In Mathematics And Science Courses, Carlos Pereira

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Computer Science, Millard B. Niver

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

Mathematics: Freedom Within Bounds, Harold Heie

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

A Reaction To The Poythress Paper, Paul J. Zwier

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

This paper reacts to the metaphor of Vern Sheridan Poythress’s papers, Science as Allegory, exploring what makes a good metaphor and the quality of argument it produces.

Science As Allegory, Vern Poythress

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

The universe is God’s choral poem, and science is a system of allegories within it. That is the thesis that I propose to expound and defend. Yet it is not a “thesis” at all, if the word “thesis” commits me to a certain kind of strict logical defense. I am not putting forward my thesis that science is allegory as the endpoint of a deductive or inductive argument. Rather, it is a springboard for a program of exploration and reflection that turns upside-down some conventional ways of thinking about science.

Introduction (1981), Robert Brabenec

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

A Third Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Table Of Contents (1981), Association Of Christians In The Mathematical Sciences

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1981

No abstract provided.

Random Variables And A Sovereign God, Lloyd Montzingo

ACMS Journal 2004

This paper takes a brief look at the history of conflict between the concepts of chance and divine activity. After reviewing some evidence for randomness in the universe, present philosophical and theological views from four different scientists on this subject are presented. The discussion concludes with some questions and observations concerning those questions.

Making Curriculum Decisions And The Nature Of Mathematics, Paul Zwier

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

This paper explores the pedagogical decisions made by those teaching mathematics by discussing the various values and priorities of a mathematics course.

Mathematics In The Christian Philosophy Of Life, C. Ralph Verno

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

It is universally agreed that mathematics is important, that it is indeed very significant in life. This would be admitted even by those who are ignorant of or who dislike mathematics. There would be much less agreement, however, about why mathematics is important or significant. Such disagreement exists even more among mathematicians and mathematics educators. Unhappily many of the Christians who think about such things (and there are not very many who think about them at all) basically share the utilitarian view of many non-Christian thinkers, although endeavoring to place it within a Christian context. They think it is wonderful …

Brief Position Paper For Panel Discussion On Relation Of Mathematics And Christianity, C. Ralph Verno

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

Some people view a conjoining of Christianity and Mathematics as improper. They miss the point of the relationship. The content of mathematics is not affected by Christianity. The relationship does not concern what, or how (the Christian doesn’t solve equations or differentiate differently), but it concerns why. It concerns such things as the interpretation and appreciation of the beauty, the symmetries, the coincidences, the remarkable properties, man’s creative role, etc. This paper explores the relationship between Christianity and mathematics as part of a panel discussion on the topic.

On Kuyk’S Complementarity In Mathematics, Gene B. Chase

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

This paper examines Willem Kuyk’s book, Complementarity in Mathematics, and the interplay between the subjects of mathematics.

Are Mathematical Objects Ontologically Real? Ideas And Suggestions, Frank R. Bernhart

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

This essay will consider a few ways that realism in the modern philosophy of mathematics might be understood and defined.

Intuitionism, Terence H. Perciante

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

Intuitionism derives philosophically from Kant's Conceptualism -- the object of the mathematical knowledge only have reality within the mind, they do not have reality apart from our thinking. This paper examines the nature of intuitionism and its strengths.

Two Philosophical Problems About Mathematics, Stephen Barker

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1979

Mathematics is a flourishing field of human endeavor, a field that is accorded great respect and high standing. For 2500 years or more, many of the best minds available have worked in this field; and the results produced have indirectly been of enormous value to other fields, such as physics, engineering, architecture, economics, and so on. But with is mathematics about? Physics studies moving bodies; engineering studies bridges; architecture studies buildings; economics studies commercial behavior: here there are phenomena we can point to that constitute the subject matter. But what does mathematics study? If you answer “Numbers”, or “Abstract types …