Author Archives: Jon Garvey

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About Jon Garvey

Training in medicine (which was my career), social psychology and theology. Interests in most things, but especially the science-faith interface. The rest of my time, though, is spent writing, playing and recording music.

The extinction of education

Posted on 08/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

By chance I discovered recently that my old Grammar School zoology teacher, Tony, is living not too far from me. Though he used to be called “Sir”. I’m tossing around whether to contact him after 43 years, remembering those old bumper stickers, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” I have reason to be very thankful to him and his colleague Des (also called “Sir”), who were responsible for getting me to Cambridge and enabling my career in medicine. And additionally, to any understanding I may have of the biological issues raised by evolution. How coincidental, then, that at the same time various British luminaries should be petitioning the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | 4 Comments

Growing up in Jesus’ world

Posted on 07/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

A little more reflection prompted by Karl Giberson’s Guardian piece. There Karl describes “surviving” his youthful evangelical subculture. It should not be forgotten, though, that individuals reject all kinds of childhood backgrounds. The bass player in a band I was once in wore a badge saying “I survived a Catholic School”. I met him at a Pentecostal Church. I’ve also known many people who feel they’ve escaped to Christianity from secular environments – whether from the narrowly materialistic parents who said “Religion won’t get you far in this life,” or from the zealously political homes where Karl Marx ruled and the kids went to party conferences rather than Sunday School. Atheism … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | 1 Comment

Bert Jansch

Posted on 05/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

I have to mark the passing of one of the greatest of British guitarists, Bert Jansch, who died today. Amazingly I only heard him play twice – the first time with Pentangle in 1970, and the second just a few years ago in Colchester. He did once make me a cup of coffee, though, when I bought a guitar from him in the days when he had a shop in Putney.

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…And from the Guardian

Posted on 04/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

Less edifying, in my humble opinion, is this piece in Monday’s Guardian by Karl Giberson, a key contributor to, and former Team Member of, BioLogos. His experience, of course, is his and not mine – I grew up in Britain, it would seem some years earlier than he did in North America. But I don’t recognise his view of Evangelical Christianity as an abusive environment for young people, nor his portrait of Francis Schaeffer, whose writings influenced me to think seriously and Christianly in every area of life, including my profession of medicine and my interest in science. And in everything else I encountered, come to that.

Posted in Creation, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | 3 Comments

From “The existence and attributes of God”

Posted on 04/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

My pastor sent me this excellent quote from  The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock, 1680. Since we cannot have a full notion of him, we should endeavour to make it as high and pure as we can… conceive of him as excellent, without any imperfection; a Spirit without parts, great without quantity; perfect without quality; everywhere without place; powerful without members; understanding without ignorance; wise without reasoning; light without darkness… and when you have risen to the highest, conceive him yet infinitely above all you can conceive of spirit, and acknowledge the infirmity of your own minds. And whatever conception comes into your minds, say, this is … Continue reading →

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Wallace without Grommit (but not without a designer)

Posted on 03/10/2011 by Jon Garvey

I was interested to hear about Michael Flannery’s 2011 book Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life. I’ve not read it yet, but some chapters are online here. The book is published by the Discovery Institute, clearly because it makes the case that Wallace, the co-founder with Darwin of the theory of evolution by natural selection, was a forerunner of the Intelligent Design Movement. DI is not the first to make such a claim, though, Stephen J Gould having written an essay to that effect in Panda’s Thumb.

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Another song of the month…

Posted on 30/09/2011 by Jon Garvey

I’ve just put up another new song on my website, again for a limited period. In case anyone’s interested, that is. It’s about death and hope, I guess – set in a funeral parlour, but I lost the cheesy organ music, except for relics of a hymn in the song itself. Strings and cor anglais courtesy of my E-mu Proteus, but otherwise me.  Hope you like it. Once I’ve posted all the current songs it’ll be time to put the new album up.

Posted in Music | 1 Comment

Stop the glot…

Posted on 28/09/2011 by Jon Garvey

The Labour leader Ed Milliband was on the lunchtime news just now, speaking from the party conference. Because it was a prepared speech, his cultured English was punctuated by entirely gratuitous and hugely annoying  glottal stops. Now I’m not averse to this regional variation, it being common from my childhood in the ghettoes of Guildford. But those of who went to Grammar School soon lost it with most of the rest of the patois. When I use it (not infrequently) it is part of a complete linguistic package, not grafted willy nilly on to Received Pronounciation. Milliband forgets to do it when he’s answering questions. 

Posted in Politics and sociology | 1 Comment

On philosophical bias

Posted on 27/09/2011 by Jon Garvey

Jerry Coyne has celebrated Amazon’s offer of a free Kindle version of James Shapiro’s Evolution: A View from the 21st Century by asking for comments on the book. (Beware: some people seem to have been charged for their download!) Coyne hasn’t read it himself, but says that Shapiro is “heterodox in his views.” He should know, since they are both at the University of Chicago. Even so, “heterodox” seems an odd choice of words.

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 3 Comments

And while we’re typing…

Posted on 26/09/2011 by Jon Garvey

Talking about the magical abilities of time, here’s my B B Warfield quote for today, anticipating Bill Dembski by a century or so, and without the maths: “What chance cannot begin to produce in a moment, chance cannot complete the production of in an eternity… What is needed is not time, but cause. Even an eternal process cannot rid us of the necessity of seeking an adequate cause behind every change… We may cast our dice to all eternity with no more likelihood than at the first throw of ever turning up double sevens.” Warfield, of course, never adequately grasped that natural selection can slowly build up even single sevens as … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 3 Comments