Dartmouth Apologia review, Part III

This is the final installment of my review of the Winter 2011 edition of The Dartmouth Apologia. As always, I encourage you to read the issue for yourself before reading my take on it.

The cover article for this issue, "Quantum Mechanics and Divine Action," was written by Emily DeBaun '12. Quantum mechanics is not an easily accessible topic, but DeBaun does a commendable job of explaining its basic tenets without making the reader feel condescended to. The article abruptly shifts focus in the latter half, temporarily leaving behind the world of physics and looking at the biblical treatment of miracles, aided heavily by Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. I thought the second half of the article was terrific, though there probably could have been a stronger transition joining the two. If anything, I would have preferred the primary focus of the article to have been on miracles in the Bible, with physics playing a secondary role, but as it is, there should be something for everyone in this piece.

"A Proof for the Existence of God," by Editor-in-Chief Peter Blair '12, is an exposition of Thomas Aquinas's "First Way." The First Way, which Aquinas put forth in his Summa Theologica, is a version of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. No doubt due to the denseness of the source material, Blair's article is itself somewhat viscous, but he does an admirable job of capturing the essence of Aquinas's argument and making it accessible even to those who don't have a background in philosophy or Thomistic physics. The article is unnecessarily verbose in places, but if you take time to wade through it, it will be time well spent.

Alexandra Heywood '11 contributed "God in the Gulag," a compact history of Christianity in the Soviet Union (and the article with the snappiest title, in my opinion). As the title suggests, she pays particular attention to the way Christianity survived and even thrived in the infamous Soviet gulags. It's a fascinating article that strikes just the right balance between detail and fluidity. As I've mentioned, my natural bent is more toward the historical and literary than the scientific and philosophical, so this piece, like Nauman's, is right up my alley. Still, even if you lean in the other direction, you will not be disappointed by the substance and rigor of Heywood's research and prose.

The final article in the Winter 2011 issue is "Free Will, Predestination, and the Value of Christian Debate." Written by Anna Lynn Doster '12, the article is much less about free will and predestination themselves than Christian debate, namely that between Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther in the first part of the sixteenth century. Doster does a great job of relating the facts and context surrounding this fascinating exchange without taking one side or the other. I recommend both the article and its bibliography to anyone interested in theology, history or two dynamic and thoughtful minds conducting a (somewhat) civil discussion on one of the biggest issues of the day.