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Scientist, Theologian Dedicated to Open Faith and Science Dialogue
3/12/2009
 With a long and varied career as an engineer, physicist, professor and Methodist minister, Dr. John F. Wilson exemplifies a life where faith and science coexists in harmony.
“Faith has always been the center of my life from as early as I can recall,” Wilson said. “For me there has never been a question about God’s place in my life, so I have not wrestled with questions about the existence of God where many of my fellow scientists find conflict.”
Serving as the University of St. Thomas Center for Faith and Culture Scholar in Residence since 2007, Wilson combines his scientific and theological expertise to direct and organize conferences and symposia to foster dialogue among a consortium of scientists, religious leaders and academicians.
“We need to respond to the questions being raised in the culture between science and religion, otherwise folks do not feel they can make a commitment to Jesus Christ and the Church and maintain intellectual integrity.”
Since 1994, The Center for Faith and Culture has identified the University’s interest and dialogue with a variety of cultures to study how the Gospel can be a cultural leaven. The Center studies the relationship of the Gospel’s vision, values, ethical and moral norms, symbols, relationships and roles within cultures.
“John Wilson fits in well at UST, a pluralistic community that shares the common mission to understand the world and larger issues posed by science, human nature and the existence of God,” said Dr. John Hittinger, UST professor of philosophy.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and Purdue University with a Master of Science in industrial management, Wilson worked for E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Inc in research and management. He earned a Master in Science in physics at the Drexel Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in physics at the University of Houston, where he served as an assistant research professor in particle physics before his retirement in 2007. Wilson has also served as a professor and adjunct professor of physics at Houston Community College and the University of St. Thomas respectively.
Wilson said he heard the call to ministry as early as junior high school, but his strength in math and science led him to initially pursue a career in engineering.
“In 1957, that’s what you did if were good at math – you became an engineer,” he said. “Later in my mid-20s, when I was reading Plato, I realized I was not living the kind of life that was making the kind of difference I wanted to. I didn’t have the same passion for science that I have for theology. I have a passion for both because I like to probe deeply into issues. In physics, you probe the physical world deeply. In theology, you probe the meaning behind the physical world.”
Fast forward a couple decades and a world of life experience, Wilson said he felt “God tugging at him again,” and he began teaching the New Testament at Houston’s St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Sunday school. Continuing his commitment to the Methodist Church, Wilson was commissioned as a provisional deacon and later appointed as associate pastor of evangelism at St. Luke’s. In 2001, Wilson enrolled at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University where he earned a Master’s in Theological Studies.
When the Center for Faith and Culture approached Wilson about joining the staff and expanding his evangelization efforts to encourage greater dialogue about faith and science, Wilson said, “I had prayed about it and I felt that it was God continuing the process of my journey. I requested that the Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church change my appointment from St. Luke’s United Methodist Church to the University of St. Thomas. I’m happier working here at St. Thomas than any place I have worked. I have found a sense of peace and fulfillment – to a great extent it’s the community.”
As the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “The Origin of Species,” has spurned even more discussion on the hot-button evolution issue, Wilson organized several evolution events for the Center for Faith and Culture including a lecture by Fr. George Coyne, S.J., President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, entitled, “A Continuing Exploration of the Fertility of the Universe.” Fr. Coyne will return for a subsequent conference in Spring of 2010. On March 13, Professor Charles M. Wood, Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at the Perkins School of Theology at SMU, will speak about “Providence and the Problem of Evil.” On Oct. 20, the Center for Faith and Culture will host Professor John Haught, Senior Fellow of Science and Religion at the Woodstock Theological center at Georgetown University, who will speak about, “Evolution and Faith: What is at Stake.”
To contact Dr. John Wilson, e-mail wilsonjf@stthom.edu.
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