A Distinctly Christian Understanding of the Technical Details in Engineering

Paul Griffioen

Keywords: common grace, antithesis, pseudoknowledge

Abstract: Within engineering disciplines, much attention has been given to developing pedagogical techniques and practical applications that are distinctly Christian. However, not as much attention has been given to understanding technical engineering content from a distinctly Christian perspective. The main reason is that the technical details of engineering seem to be the same for both Christians and non-Christians. After all, does being a Christian have any impact on the content of specific technical details like integration and finite element analysis? Since the vast majority of time in engineering jobs, research, and teaching is spent on specific technical details, this is a very important question to answer. In this paper, I present a framework for applying Scripture to the specific technical content of various engineering disciplines, going beyond standard approaches where Christianity is applied to one’s motivation, one’s pedagogical techniques, or one’s design practice. I place this framework in context by introducing the notions of doctrine, piety, and practice in engineering. I then leverage the concepts of common grace and the antithesis to develop this framework, using the notion of pseudo-knowledge in 1 Timothy to understand how this framework can be applied in various engineering disciplines. I demonstrate how the technical details of engineering are in and of themselves Christian in character, and I illustrate this framework across various engineering fields with several examples.

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Submission Number: 14