Donald Maccrimmon Mackay

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Subject: Science and Religion

Topic: Christians Contribution to Modern Science: Donald Mackay, Francis Collins.


Lecturer: Mrs. Chumchano Ovung
Presenters: Atoholi, Michi, Walukumla, Kainali
Respondent: Lijano, Kiviholi, Kalito, Vioto

Introduction
There are so many arguments on the works of some Christian scientists as to whether their works are
influenced by their faith or a totally different and independent from religion. In this paper hence we will
be looking at the works of Donald Mackay the Physicist and Neuroscientist, and Francis Collins an
American physician- geneticist and their contribution towards modern Science.

1 Donald Mackay
Donald MacCrimmon MacKay was born in Caithness Scotland in the northern fishing village of Lybster
in 9th August 1922. He studied physics at St. Andrews University graduating in 1943. Following three
years of service with the British Admiralty he pursued postgraduate research into the limitations of high-
speed electronic analogue computers receiving a Ph.D. at king’s college London in 1951. And a Professor
at the department of communication and Neuroscience at Keele University in Staffordshire, England ,
MacKay’s work with early computer technology which led him to study the differences (rather than the
similarities) between the human brain and computers. 1 His research in this field contributed to
developments in early information theory and the theory of brain organization. and he was also known as
the author of hundreds of journal article.2

1.1 Mackay’s Theory of Consciousness


For Mackay, the brain scientist consciousness confronts two fundamentally different kinds of “facts”:the
“inside story”-the personal experiences of an agent and the “outside story”-the observations of a detached
(i.e objective) scientist on brains and their functions. Each set a data is accessible from two different
perspectives, that the agent and the observer, respectively. The task of a theory of consciousness is to
provide an adequate account of the correspondences between these two set of data while acknowledging
their dependence upon the inside and outside perspectives, in Mackay’s view, by confusions about the
categorical distinction between these two kinds of facts, the nature of human beings, and the nature of
science. Mackay’s theory of consciousness was offered as a contribution to solving the first two
problems. The importance of
Understanding the categorical distinction between mental and brain activities arises from some unique
complexities of human nature. Mackay’s key anthropological claim is that a person is to complex
ontologically that the perspectives of the agent and observer by themselves each miss some real aspects of
the conscious agent. In particular, the phenomena of conscious agent cannot be directly detected by an
outside observer, and an agent is not aware of his or her own brain functioning. Furthermore, each
perspective is constrained in such a way as to prevent the simple concatenation of observer and agent
perspectives into a monolithic view of the conscious agent. This is true even though the aspects accessible
to the inside and outside perspectives are all real features of the same unitary entity, a conscious agent.

1
Donald MacCrimmon MacKay Gifford Lectures, https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/donald-
maccrimmon-mackay
2
Erik Johnson, “science, Chance, and Providence by Donald Mackay”(Oxford University: press,1978),
1.pdf.https:\\erkreads.files.wordpress.com.17\01\2020,7:30 p.m.

1
Mackay’s solution to these complexities is to use information theory as a conceptual “bridge” between the
two categories of events, mental and neural. He started with the neuroscientist’s working assumption of a
correlation between neural and mental events. Information theory then allows theories to explore the
correlation while maintaining the distinction. This strategy provides the background for his theory of
conscious agency3.

1.2 Mackay on Christianity-Science Relations


Mackay’s view of science and theology displays both his philosophical notion and his theory of
consciousness. The standpoint of the detached observer in science is complementary to that of the
religious believer as a conscious agent. Christian theology assumes the stance of the religious believer
and so provides a complementary perspective to that of the scientist. Therefore, science is agnostic with
respect to many claims made by theologies of the “Judeo-Christian “traditions. So logical relativity limits
the ontological import of scientific knowledge for theology and grounds the compatibility of science and
Christianity. For example, concerning life after death, Mackay believes that the embodiment of human
consciousness in the brain is logically consistent with a notion of disembodied existence to be more
plausible. Neuroscience cannot reasonably pontificate o n the nature of resurrected humans
.According to MacKay, he also shows that science not only comports well with Christianity, but that a
mutually enhancing, tentative dialogue is also possible between them. Example, Mackay speculates that
spiritual activities by human beings are embodied in psychological processes in a manner parallel to the
embodied of psychological processes in neurological activities. Spiritual activities might “show up” in
psychological correlates as changes in the patterns of a person’s values and priorities, and perhaps in the
way a person lives out those priorities. The relation between spiritual and conscious activity which occurs
in dialogue with God could involve the emergence of a new “level” of spiritual activity identifiable by a
feature of information flow among the “forms” of psychological activities.4

2. Francis Collins
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., (born April 14, 1950) is Director of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). He oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the
spectrum from basic to clinical research. Collins is an American physician-geneticist noted for his
landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project,
which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA
instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH
from 1993-2008.5

3
J.M.Van Der Meer,ed, Pascal Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science, University Press of America
& Ancaster 1996;
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258112725_Mind_brain_science_religion_Belief_neuroscience_in_Donald_M_Ma
cKay_Roger_W_Sperry

4
J.M.Van Der Meer,ed, Pascal Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science, University Press of America
& Ancaster 1996;
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258112725_Mind_brain_science_religion_Belief_neuroscience_in_Donald_M_Ma
cKay_Roger_W_Sperry
5
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “National Human Genome Research Institute”
https://www.genome.gov/10001018/former-nhgri-director-francis-collins-biography (25/01/2020).

2
Collins also has written a number of books on science, medicine, and religion, including the New York
Times bestseller, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. After leaving the
directorship of NHGRI and before becoming director of the NIH, he founded and served as president
of The BioLogos Foundation, which promotes discourse on the relationship between science and
religion and advocates the perspective that belief in Christianity can be reconciled with acceptance of
evolution and science, especially through the advancement of evolutionary creation. He is an elected
member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Collins was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007 and the National Medal of Science in 2009.6

2.1 Contribution to modern science


Before the middle of the twentieth century, the gene was an abstract concept thought to physically
resemble a "bead on a string," and within the scientific community, it was accepted that each gene was
associated with a single protein, enzyme, or metabolic disorder. However, this began to change during the
1950s with the birth of modern molecular genetics. In 1952, Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase proved
that DNA was the molecule of heredity, and shortly thereafter, Watson, Crick, Franklin, and Wilkins
solved the three-dimensional structure of DNA. 7 Collins' research laboratory has discovered a number of
important genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease,
a familial endocrine cancer syndrome, and most recently, genes for type 2 diabetes, and the gene that
causes Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare condition that causes premature aging.8

In 1994, Collins founded NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research (DIR), an intramural program of
genome research that has developed into one of the nation’s premier research centres in human genetics.
Collins was particularly excited by the rapid progress being made in uncovering genetic risk factors for
common diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and mental illness. These findings were made possible by
a relatively new research approach, called genome- wide association studies. This approach utilizes tools
created by HGP and the NHGRI- led international HapMap Project, which constructed a map of common
human genetic variation.9

Collins's work in his highly active lab demonstrated his commitment to research involving both rare and
common diseases. In April 2003, a team led by Collins identified the genetic basis of Hutchinson-Gilford
progeria syndrome, a rare disorder that causes a dramatic form of premature aging. Besides opening the
door to possible treatment strategies for progeria, the discovery may provide insights into the process of
normal human aging. The findings boosted to at least 10 the number of genetic variants associated with
increased susceptibility to the adult-onset form of diabetes, which affects nearly 21 million people in the
United States and more than 200 million worldwide.10

6
 "Human genome and embryology experts named to Pontifical Academy of Sciences". Catholic News
Agency. Retrieved January 5, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Collins. (25/01/2020).
7
Lejeune, J., et al. Mongolism: A chromosomal disease (trisomy). Bulletin de l'Academie Nationale de
Medecine 143, 256–265 (1959)
8
Collins, F. S., et al. Construction of a general human chromosome jumping library, with application to cystic
fibrosis. Science 235, 1046–1049 (1987).
9
"Human genome and embryology experts named to Pontifical Academy of Sciences". Catholic News
Agency. Retrieved January 5, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Collins. (25/01/2020).
10
Kanigel, R. The genome project. New York Times, 13 December (1987)

3
In addition to his long list of contributions to basic genetic research and scientific leadership, Collins is
known for his close attention to ethical and legal issues in genetics. He is a strong advocate for protecting
the privacy of genetic information and has served as a national leader in efforts to prohibit gene-based
insurance discrimination. Building on his own experiences as a physician volunteer in a rural missionary
hospital in Nigeria, Collins is also very interested in opening avenues for genome research to benefit the
health of people living in developing nations.11

2.2 Christian Faith


As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, he was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate
the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then he went to medical
school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of his patients. Challenged by one of those
patients, who asked "What do you believe, doctor?” he began searching for answers.

He had to admit that the science he loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is
the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a
beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the
possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?"

He had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was
astounded to discover, initially in the writings of the Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis and subsequently from
many other sources, that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on
purely rational grounds. After resisting for nearly two years, Collins found it impossible to go on living in
such a state of uncertainty, and he became a follower of Jesus.

Actually, He find no conflict here, and neither apparently do the 40 percent of working scientists who
claim to be believers. Yes, evolution by descent from a common ancestor is clearly true. If there was any
lingering doubt about the evidence from the fossil record, the study of DNA provides the strongest
possible proof of our relatedness to all other living things.

Conclusions
To sum up from above paper we discussed, we found that Donald Mackay and Francis S, Collins who
have both tremendous religious and great scientific achievement. The work and the life of these two great
Scientists explore our mind broader that science is keep on changing as new discoveries were made but
religious beliefs were in contrast founded upon Him who is the source of all things, both scientific and
religious. To conclude we have found that there is a wonderful harmony in the complementary truths of
science and faith. The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. Sciences are to explore the
wonderful work of God.

11
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “National Human Genome Research Institute”
https://www.genome.gov/10001018/former-nhgri-director-francis-collins-biography (25/01/2020).

4
E-sources
Collins, Francis S. M.D., Ph.D. “National Human Genome
ResearchInstitute”https://www.genome.gov/10001018/former-nhgri-director-francis-collins-biography
(25/01/2020).

Collins, F. S., et al. Construction of a general human chromosome jumping library, with application to cystic
fibrosis. Science 235, 1046–1049 (1987).

"Human genome and embryology experts named to Pontifical Academy of Sciences". Catholic News
Agency.Retrieved January 5, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Collins. (25/01/2020).

Lejeune, J., et al. Mongolism: A chromosomal disease (trisomy). Bulletin de l'Academie Nationale de Medecine
143, 256–265 (1959)

Johnson, Erik “science, Chance, and Providence by Donald Mackay”(Oxford University: press,1978),
1.pdf.https:\\erkreads.files.wordpress.com.17\01\2020,7:30 p.m.

MacKay , Donald MacCrimmon Gifford Lectures, https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/donald-


maccrimmon-mackay

Meer,ed, J.M.Van Der Pascal Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science, University Press of America &
Ancaster
1996;https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258112725_Mind_brain_science_religion_Belief_neuroscience_in_
Donald_MacKay_Roger_W_Sperry

Kanigel, R. The genome project. New York Times, 13 December (1987)

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