Library launches additional online video service: FMG On Demand
by Jon Ritterbush, Assistant Librarian

Regent University Library is excited to announce the addition of FMG On Demand – an online streaming video service that provides continuous access to high-quality documentary and educational videos produced by the Films for the Humanities and Science group.

Fifty videos in cinema and theater, journalism, psychology, and the sciences are now available online to Regent students and employees. Sample titles include the following:

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Nancy Pearcey and the Berenstain Bears
by Ian Hackmann, Administrative Assistant

On March 28, Nancy Pearcey gave a presentation in the Library Auditorium, where approximately 75 students, staff, and faculty listened to her lecture, “Darwin Meets the Berenstain Bears.” The title, which references the popular series of children’s books, was chosen to convey how Darwinism casts a shadow over nearly all modern culture. Pearcey began her lecture with an illustration to show the behavioral implications of choosing an evolutionary rather than Biblical worldview. As an example, she quoted a famous movie actress who justified sexual promiscuity with arguments from evolution.

Nancy Pearcey addresses Regent faculty, staff and students

Offering the scientific theory of Intelligent Design as an alternative to Darwinism, Pearcey gave a brief definition and history of Intelligent Design theory focusing on the many misconceptions prevalent in the media. Pearcey stressed that all phenomena must be categorized in the realms of chance, law, or design. Pearcey demonstrated several sciences that rely entirely on identifying design, cryptology and arson investigation to name just two examples. Pearcey called the evolutionist folly of refusing to look for design in nature to be akin to arson investigators refusing to look for design at a fire scene. Pearcey further emphasized that the key to the entire evolution vs. intelligent design debate is information. Chance and law do not produce information (or at best redundant information). Only design by an intelligence can explain the “specified complexity” in nature that is analogous to computer software.

Pearcey assailed scientists who arbitrarily rule out design as a possibility. The result is that “science is no longer a search for the best answer.” Pearcey posited that by limiting observations to only chance and law, we have entered an age of “Universal Darwinism.” Only so-called “natural” answers are allowed, even when those answers fly in the face of reality. As an example of how far this concept has permeated our culture, Pearcey cites a popular children’s book, The Bears’ Nature Guide, from the Berenstain Bears series. This book states, in large letters, on a two-page spread, “Nature…is all that IS, or WAS, or EVER WILL BE!...Nature is you! Nature is me!” (capitals in original). The text, written for small children, is in fact an unwitting parody of Revelation 1:8: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Nature, chance and law, have replaced God.

Pearcey then gave numerous examples of how Darwinism has permeated virtually every field of study and practice, focusing primarily on the fields of law, sociology, and education. One example she cited was the philosophical concept of pragmatism. Stemming directly from evolutionary theory (specifically the concept of survival of the fittest), pragmatism asserts that whatever works in a given time and place must be true. The obvious flaw of this premise is that two diametrically opposite positions can not both be true at the same time and place. This, however, is not a problem for Darwinists, for whom “the only 'truth' is that Darwinism is true.” Allowing her listeners to determine the logical fallacy of this position, Pearcey attacked the intellectual underpinnings of the theory itself, saying that any theory that can be used to explain everything and then its exact opposite is not a very good theory.

Following her presentation, Pearcey entertained questions from the audience for about 20 minutes before a reception held in her honor. Pearcey stayed for nearly an hour answering questions from her listeners before her schedule took her away. A complete streaming video of her presentation is available online:

http://media.regent.edu/lib/spr07/Pearcey_032707_h.wmv  (High-Speed 256 kbps)

http://media.regent.edu/lib/spr07/Pearcey_032707_l.wmv   (Low-Speed 32 kbps)

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Inside the Library
by Elizabeth Keen, Circulation Supervisor

The Information Kiosk

Do you think you know where everything is located in the Library? Have you ever really noticed all of the beautiful artwork that is housed within our building? What is the name of your school’s librarian? The answer to all of these questions and more can be found in the small but all-encompassing Information Kiosk. You can find this Kiosk right when you enter the Library. I recommend you put on the headphones hanging on the right side and start with the Virtual Tours. From here, you will be taken to all parts of the Library, including a trip through our various art collections and sculptures. You are sure to learn something new!

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Undergraduate Research
by Harold Henkel, Assistant Librarian

The Free Web: Finding the Good Stuff

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Collection Spotlight--Eugene Onegin and Other Poems and The Collected Stories by Alexander Pushkin.
Reviewed by Alissa Ogai, Assistant Circulation Supervisor

In the 19th century, Russian novelists produced some of the greatest triumphs of world literature. The years between 1862 and 1880 saw the appearance of Fathers and Sons, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov. Perhaps as a result, it sometimes comes as a surprise that for Russians, one writer, in esteem, popularity, and influence, looms above even Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky.

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is universally acclaimed as Russia’s greatest poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Born into an aristocratic family, Pushkin’s first language, in the style of the Russian nobility at that time, was French. He learned Russian from his nanny and other peasants on his grandmother’s estate.

Pushkin was fourteen years old when he published his first poem. From this point, his poetic gift flowered and quickly reached incredible heights of accomplishment. Pushkin’s genius is often compared with Mozart’s. The comparison is apt. In both composer and poet we experience an extraordinary mingling of lightness and depth. On the surface there is the the sparkle of music and language, while at a deeper level we perceive a unique and profound spirit. It is the inimitable greatness of Pushkin that inspired Dostoevsky to write, “Emphatically I say, there never has been a poet like Pushkin, with his universal sympathy, his extraordinary profundity... because the gift has never been repeated in any other poet in the world. This universality is only in Pushkin; therefore, I repeat, he is a phenomenon, a prophetic phenomenon…”

In addition to their richness, Pushkin’s works are distinguished by the poet’s love of life and sense of humor. Each of his creations is a diamond set in the rich Russian language. His works illuminate the character, culture, and soul of Russia. In his first major work, Ruslan and Ludmilla (1820), Pushkin combined the folktales he learned from his nanny with astonishing poetic craft to create a uniquely Russian synthesis of content and form.

Pushkin’s characterization of women was unique and extraordinary. His heroines are portraits of women he loved during his life. They are romantic, pure in spirit, and vital, fully-drawn characters. Although they come from noble families, they are not spoiled, arrogant and egocentric like most of the aristocracy of the time.

As with Mozart, Pushkin’s works appeal to all ages. A child can enjoy the magic and mystery of the fairy tales; a young adult will find pleasure in the romantic poems, while an older adult will appreciate the wisdom, sense of humor, and extremely refined poetic language in all Pushkin’s works.

For the reader new to Pushkin, I would recommend Eugene Onegin (1833). This work, which Pushkin termed “a novel in verse” beautifully illustrates the Russian spirit. It is a story of Russian society in the 1820s. The title character, Eugene Onegin, is a wealthy, arrogant young man. Eugene has everything that a young man could desire—good looks, fortune, affection of women, friendships, and a place in society. Despite all these blessings, he is bored, selfish, and egotistical. Nevertheless, a young girl falls in love with him. Tatiana is the polar opposite of Eugene. She is sincere, generous, and faithful. Tatiana decides to reveal her feelings in a letter to Eugene, hoping that her love may be reciprocated. At this point, the story continues in a very interesting direction, which you should find out for yourself….

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Desert Wildflowers image from http://photos.signonsandiego.com/

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