Science & Faith
What happens when faith stops avoiding science—and starts asking better questions?
Join us for an honest exploration of the intersection of science and faith through four thought-provoking conferences featuring renowned speakers, engaging discussion, and space for your biggest questions. From AI and human identity to biomimetics, UFOs, and the mysteries beyond the cosmos, we’ll examine whether science and belief are truly at odds—or deeply connected.
Saturday
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June 27
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Saturday - June 27 -
Join us for a special one-day Science & Faith Seminar hosted in partnership with Reasons to Believe on Saturday, June 27 in Cedar Hall. This conference will explore compelling conversations surrounding faith, science, creation, and the wonder of God’s design through engaging teaching sessions and Q&A discussions. Featured speakers include renowned scholars Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross, who will cover topics such as Beyond the Cosmos, Why I Believe God Exists, Who Are We? The Scientific Case for the Image of God in the Age of AI, and more. The day will include multiple teaching sessions, live Q&A opportunities, and lunch. Whether you’re deeply interested in apologetics, science, theology, or simply curious about how faith and reason intersect, this conference is designed to encourage thoughtful conversation and strengthen your faith.
Cost $25
Salem Alliance Church
555 Gaines St NE
Salem, OR 97301
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Meet the Speakers
Dr. Hugh Ross
Founder of reasons to believeAstrophysicist
Dr. Hugh Ross is founder and senior scholar of Reasons to Believe, an organization dedicated to demonstrating the compatibility of science and the Christian faith. With a degree in physics from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in astronomy from the University of Toronto, Hugh continued his research on quasars and galaxies as a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology before transitioning to full-time ministry.
President & CEO of Reasons to believeEmmet Marsh
Dr. Fazale R. Rana attended West Virginia State College and then Ohio University, where he earned a PhD in chemistry. His postdoctoral work was conducted at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia. He now serves as President and CEO of Reasons to Believe.
Biochemist
Topics
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Science has opened new vistas that dramatically expand our view of the Creator and His awesome capacities. I use tabletop demonstrations to show how phenomena that seem impossible in the 4- dimensional world of length, width, height, and time become answerable when examined in the context of trans- and extra-dimensional reality.
Why is God not a created entity? How can God listen to all our prayers at the same time? How can God be both singular and plural? How can God foreknow and predestinate and yet grant us free will? How can Jesus in just 6–9 hours on the cross atone for all the evil that all of humanity has committed? What science has learned about trans- and extra-dimensions helps explain these and other paradoxical doctrines people encounter in Scripture and provides us with a powerful tool for establishing that the Bible alone is the inspired, inerrant written Word of God.
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People everywhere are looking for honest answers to questions surrounding UFOs (now officially called unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAP), life on other planets, and space travel. About 99% of UFO reports can be explained by natural phenomena, military activity, or hoaxes. The remaining 1% fall in the category of nonphysical reality. When humans have close encounters with the 1%, the consequences are always deleterious: recurring terrifying nightmares, injury, mental illness, and even death. In many of the close encounters there is a communicated message, usually through a trance or automatic writing.
The messages typically contain scientific and theological errors. The theological errors focus on denying the deity of Jesus Christ. Humans who experience close encounters are those with open doors to the occult. This talk shows that from a biblical perspective, it is clear that the 1% residual is explained by the activity of fallen angels (demons).
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One of the most exciting areas of emerging technology is the field of biomimetics and bioinspiration.
Scientists and the engineers working in this area routinely develop and solve engineering problems by studying and copying biological designs.
In this presentation, Fuz describes recent examples involving insect inspired designs and describe how work in biomimetics and bioinspiration can be used to construct a formal argument for a Creator’s role in life’s history.
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It stands as one of the most pressing questions in contemporary culture: Who are we? This question has gained renewed urgency amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the possibility that such systems may exhibit forms of self-awareness. At the same time, expanding research into animal cognition and emotional complexity has led many to argue that differences between humans and animals are differences of degree rather than kind. Coupled with the widespread acceptance of evolutionary frameworks for human origins—placing modern humans close to hominins such as Neanderthals—these perspectives collectively challenge traditional accounts of human distinctiveness.
Such developments raise significant concerns for the biblical view of humanity, particularly the claim that human beings possess inherent dignity and worth. However, emerging findings from disciplines such as primatology, physical anthropology, and archaeology increasingly point to forms of human uniqueness and exceptionalism that are not easily reduced to standard evolutionary explanations. This presentation explores how these scientific insights can be integrated with the biblical doctrine of the imago Dei, offering a framework that affirms both the empirical evidence for human distinctiveness and the intellectual credibility of a theological account of human identity.
As an international, interdenominational ministry, our purpose is to show that science and the Christian faith are allies, not enemies.