My name is Finney Premkumar. I was born to missionary parents in the rich religious context of India. Even in my early years, I was deeply moved by the religious sensitivities that seemed basic to humanity. Along with this fascination, I also became exceedingly interested in philosophy and science due to the time spent reading the writings of C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and Stephen Hawking, among others, during my teenage years. I was very intrigued by the structure of the cosmos, the foundations of thought, intellectual history, and the “why?” questions. I was a voracious reader, convinced that somewhere in printed form, I would discover a way to unravel the mysteries of life. Little did I realize that the answer would not be merely propositional but primarily personal. I came to Christ just like the Samaritan woman, after having drawn water from countless wells that satisfied but for the moment. I did not realize His abiding presence in my life all along, much like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and found myself crying out “was not my heart burning within me?” when my eyes were finally opened. I can now unconditionally declare that Jesus alone fulfilled the demands of my mind and the hungers of my heart. After working in the financial and IT industry for a few years, I committed myself to full-time ministry in 2014. The Lord clearly instilled in my mind that the ministry should be named ‘Truth Matters International’ with the twin focus of engaging the academy and equipping the church.

A significant moment in my intellectual journey happened about a decade ago at a joint conference between MIT and Oxford University, organized by Alister McGrath and Andrew Pinsent (one of the former Directors at CERN), in which I was invited to deliver a major lecture. The conference was focused on “Divine Intervention in a World described by the Natural Sciences.” My talk on the descriptive nature of science and the possibility of a transcendent cause (like God) suspending the uniformity of natural laws in order to intervene (to bring about miracles, His plans to pass, etc.) was very well received. By God’s grace, various doors at universities like Harvard, Yale, UPenn, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, and a host of others, were opened. I was also privileged to speak at the Academy of Sciences in Poland as well as the Czech Republic and presented academic papers at a number of professional organizations like the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), the American Philosophical Association (APA), and the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS). I was also deeply honored by the opportunity to deliver lectures at Oxford University for eight consecutive years. I am currently in the process of completing my doctoral program in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Birmingham (UK).

My focus has been on the relationship between ‘Faith and Science’ all along. The customary apologetic approach is to find ways to integrate both disciplines by linking the theories of the latter with doctrines central to the former. I am a bit more focused on the built-in limitations of the scientific method and practice. I believe that the very framework and structure of scientific revolutions and theoretical developments of the past show that science actually needs theology. Furthermore, I believe that faith is absolutely imperative and indispensable for scientific and mathematical reasoning. The axioms of thought seem to require a sure basis and foundation in the God revealed within the pages of scripture. Without Him, the center just does not hold together. In a pluralistic world that points to many ways, He is the WAY. In a skeptical world that is post-truth, He is the TRUTH. In a chaotic world that is headed towards destruction, He is the LIFE. The greatest and most thrilling fact is that the God of the universe, the one who brought into being the complexities of this cosmos from the macro world of gravity to the micro world of the quantum, is my Shepherd.