Creation

Bringing his fascinating presentation to the Saint Cloud area at Countryside Seventh-day Adventist Center, Dr. Stephen J. Schiller, astronomer and research scientist, will be addressing questions raised in the controversy over creation.   The weekend will begin at 7:00 PM (Central Time) on Friday with a presentation entitled, "Our Place in God's Universe."

Dr. Schiller will describe the magnificent universe revealed by the tools of modern astronomy and the implications about how big God must be as Creator. The Saturday morning program, which will begin at 11:00 AM (Central Time), will be "The Fine Tuning of God's Universe" revealing an entire universe designed for the benefit of mankind.

This event will be streamed live on HeavenlySanctuary.com and can be watched by clicking here.

The afternoon topic at 2:00 p.m. will be “Understanding God's Universe Through The Book Of Nature.”  Dr. Schiller believes that many of the issues between Christians and the scientific community arise not from the methods and the discoveries of science but the influence of the philosophy of Naturalism. Naturalism is the belief that the material universe is all that there is and has been defined by mainstream science as the only way to interpret the results of measurement and observation. Thus, by definition science must leave God out of the discussion. However, if Christians learn to recognize the influence of Naturalism in the scientific arena, much needless controversy can be avoided allowing people of faith to discuss science with creation skeptics in an intelligent way.

Throughout his career, Dr. Schiller has been especially interested in a model of creation from the perspective of astrophysics.  Believing that research in astronomy and cosmology has much to contribute to people of faith, he brings a wealth of information and a unique scientific perspective to his presentations.Dr. Schiller completed his doctorate in astrophysics at University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta in 1986.  His primary area of study while pursuing his doctorate was to use observational data of “Eclipsing Binary Stars in Open Clusters” to test current theories regarding the life cycle of stars.

As a research scientist, Dr. Schiller specializes in remote sensing and is recognized in the scientific world as a leading authority on how light interacts with Earth’s atmosphere.  As a professor teaching at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD for 14 years, Schiller conducted research sponsored by the National Science Foundation, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Geological Survey, and other government and scientific organizations. In addition to contributing to many scholarly publications, Dr. Schiller has been published in Astronomy, a magazine of particular interest to amateur astronomers.  Currently he is conducting research for Raytheon, an aerospace contractor, on new ways to improve imaging through the atmosphere for remote sensing applications.

Dr. Stephen J. Schiller has been fascinated with astronomy since childhood.  As a teenager, he constructed his first observatory at his childhood home in the Walla Walla area of Washington State.  His undergraduate studies were completed at Walla Walla University in College Place, WA, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics.  He continued his studies with a Master of Science in Astronomy from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.