The Formation of Scientists and Christian Formation

This article extends science and faith integration to the process of becoming a scientist and Christian formation or discipleship. A scientist who is a Christian belongs to two communities--faith and science--both grounded in tradition, training, communal understanding, and discovery. To explore the parallels between these two processes, we draw on Étienne Wenger's theory of learning as expressed in his Communities of Practice. Embedded in an Aristotelian perspective, Wenger's theory aligns with the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and emphasizes practice, community, and tradition, over against propositions. Intentionally mentored undergraduate research, for example, in a Christian context, is a practice that intentionally brings students into both the tradition of science and the Christian tradition. Such programs can become more effective through drawing on the recent work on Christian formation which, in turn, builds on Wenger's theory of learning.