Eleven years ago, atheist activists targeted my Ball State University course, “The Boundaries of Science,” claiming that the course was teaching religion under the guise of science. Although this Honors College course that I had taught for the past six years had been fully vetted by the Dean of the College and had been approved by the university as a general-education science course, the university initiated a full-scale investigation of my teaching of The Boundaries of Science. During these months, national media attention grew as reporters seized the opportunity to sensationalize the conflict, giving voice to numerous critics who knew next to nothing about what I actually taught.

After the initial spate of obnoxious emails hit my inbox, I was enormously encouraged by those who expressed support and offers to help. Casey Luskin, now Associate Director of the Center for Science and Culture, spent many hours in phone conversations with me, helping me to safely navigate through the potential snares of media traps and legal issues surrounding my case. Among other supportive people who got in touch during that time in 2013, more than one contact has led to ongoing expanded opportunities to present scientific evidence for intelligent design.

My Position Maintained

I’m grateful that although Ball State decided to cancel my class, my position as a tenure-track faculty was maintained. Within my department of Physics and Astronomy at Ball State, colleagues continued to be friendly and supportive, and after a couple of years, the university awarded me tenure and promotion. 

Another phone call that I received during the swirl of media attention around my class came from Dr. Rice Broocks, the author of God’s Not Dead, the book that inspired the movie series by the same name. Dr. Broocks had seen a Twitter thread about my situation at Ball State and immediately decided to call me. I happened to be in my office at the time and was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from someone other than a reporter angling for an interview. 

We met shortly after this, and one of the significant outcomes from our connection was Broocks’s encouraging me to write a book about my story. I was dubious about my ability to find time to write a book along with my other responsibilities of teaching and research. But he said, “I’m the busiest person I know, and yet I was able to write God’s Not Dead in six months.” So, I settled into the project and managed to finish the initial draft six months later. 

My earlier connections with Discovery Institute resulted in DI Press agreeing to take on the project of editing and preparing my manuscript for publication. With the publication of Canceled Science in 2021, the scientific evidence from science in cosmology, astronomy, molecular biology, and information theory began to reach a much larger audience than I ever would have reached at Ball State, had my course never been canceled. The privilege of writing for Evolution News provides a sustained platform for presenting evidence and arguments supporting intelligent design.

Back to Ball State

I retired early from Ball State in 2018 to serve as professor of physics at Biola University, an opportunity that arose from connections established in part because of the events surrounding my canceled course. About the same time, I was invited to join the scholarly community at Reasons to Believe, which has provided numerous opportunities for me to speak on topics of scientific evidence for design.

Two and a half years ago I was invited to step into a unique opportunity that has given me direct access to college campuses and a platform to share scientific evidence with thousands of students each semester. Rice Broocks asked me to participate with him in doing God’s Not Dead outreach events at universities around the country. Last fall, we were able to bring this event to Ball State University, where we spoke to almost 600 people.

As we shared evidence for theism from science, philosophy, and history, I reflected on how in one event, the number of people who heard this evidence was more than twice as many as the total number of students who participated in my Boundaries of Science course throughout six years of teaching. I am humbled to be have been given these opportunities. It seems to me that God really does work all things together for good.