Challenges to Faithful Learning and Teaching: The Case of Statistics

Abstract

Statistics, and more generally mathematics, have been neglected in Christian scholarship on faithful learning and teaching. This subject has been generally classified in the “some areas are harder than others when it comes to making connections with faith” category. If statistics is more than just a technical tool and is in fact a way of thinking, such connections need to be made. The approaches that have been typically suggested to this end have taken two forms: (a) extremely philosophical and (b) the “add a Bible verse” superficial version of faithful learning. These two directions don't seem promising to me. I propose an approach that deals with specific statistical concepts rather than broad generalizations. This approach would be more useful to a statistics instructor attempting to integrate the course content with faith. This paper suggests some ways in which this can be done in the actual teaching of statistics.