presidents' roundtable handbook - scio · educational institute in oxford. it strives to serve...

Presidents' Roundtable Handbook28–30 July 2016 With a summary of the 2015–16 Summer seminars

Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities 2016 © SCIO 1

CONTENTS

Supporting Institutions ......................................................................................................... 2Bridging the Two Cultures Personnel .............................................................................. 4CCCU Personnel present at Roundtable ........................................................................ 5Templeton Religion Trust Personnel present at Roundtable ..................................... 5Additional SCIO staff on site .............................................................................................. 5Senior College Executives and Project Participants ..................................................... 6Roundtable Schedule ............................................................................................................ 8Roundtable Speakers, Lectures, and Abstracts ............................................................10Additional Roundtable Information ................................................................................12

Summary of 2015–16 Summer Seminars Project Elements ..................................................................................................................14Weekly Schedule 2015.......................................................................................................18Weekly Schedule 2016.......................................................................................................26Speakers and Programme Staff 2015–16 .......................................................................34Lecture Abstracts 2015: Humanities ..............................................................................49Lecture Abstracts 2016: Sciences ...................................................................................55Participants ............................................................................................................................62

Map of St Hugh’s College ..................................................................................................78Map of Lady Margaret Hall ................................................................................................79Map of Oxford .....................................................................................................................80

2 Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities 2016 © SCIO

SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS

SCIO: Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford

SCIO, the UK subsidiary of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, is a research and educational institute in Oxford. It strives to serve CCCU institutions in North America and elsewhere and the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty members of those institutions by producing and supporting scholarship of the highest standards. It offers two rigorous study abroad programmes, the Scholars’ Semester in Oxford and Oxford Summer Program, which enable undergraduates and a few graduates to develop academically and experience scholarly life at a major research university. It runs an increasing number of faculty focused research projects, with a particular focus on the relationship between science and religion and on ancient texts.

The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) is a higher education association of 181 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. The 121 member campuses in North America are all fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 60 affiliate campuses from 19 countries are part of the CCCU. The CCCU is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in the historic Capitol Hill district of Washington, D.C

Templeton Religion Trust

Templeton Religion Trust is a relatively new, offshore sibling of the better-known John Templeton Foundation (JTF). Its core funding areas are the same as JTF’s, but the Trust’s governance and decision processes are independent and somewhat different from those of its Philadelphia-based sibling. Unlike JTF, the Trust does not invite open submissions via a website. All of its grant development activity results from outreach by Trust staff, from its base of operations in Nassau, in The Bahamas.

SCIO offices, 8 Norham Gardens, Oxford

All Souls College


BRIDGING THE TWO CULTURES PERSONNEL

Academic Director Alister McGrath Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion and Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford Phone: 01865 281473 Email: [email protected]

Project Director Stanley P. Rosenberg Executive Director of SCIO, Academic Staff Wycliffe Hall, and Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford Phone: 01865 355621 Email: [email protected]

Project Coordinator Michael Burdett Director of Studies in Religion, Science, and Technology, SCIO; Research Fellow in Religion, Science, and Technology, Wycliffe Hall, and Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford Phone: 01865 355627 Email: [email protected]

Senior Consultant John Roche Senior Lecturer in History of Science, SCIO, and Member of Linacre College and the Faculty of History, University of Oxford Phone: 01865 355622 Email: [email protected]

Program Consultant Nita Stemmler Phone: 07399 321824 Email: [email protected]

Project Administrator

Operations Administrator

Alice Stainer Phone: 01865 355631 Email: [email protected]

Joyce François Phone: 01865 355628 Mobile: 07862 245707 Email: [email protected]

Advisory Board

UK John Hedley Brooke Andreas Idreos Professor Emeritus of Science and Religion,

University of Oxford Ard Louis Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford Andrew Pinsent Research Director, Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford Ignacio Silva Research Fellow, Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford Graham Ward Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford


Johannes Zachhuber Professor and Faculty Board Chairman, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford

USA Justin Barrett Thrive Professor of Developmental Science, Fuller Theological

Seminary Claudia Beversluis Professor of Psychology and Former Provost, Calvin College Rick Ostrander Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professional Programs,

Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Dorothy Chappell Dean of Natural and Social Sciences and Professor of Biology,

Wheaton College Mark Sargent Provost and Dean of Faculty, Westmont College

CCCU PERSONNEL PRESENT AT ROUNDTABLE

Leadership

Shirley Hoogstra President Shapri D. LoMaglio Vice President for Government and External Relations Rick Ostrander Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professional Programs Christina Zigler Executive Assistant to the President

Board members

Robin Baker President, George Fox University Barry H. Corey President, Biola University (Vice Chair) Derek Halvorson President, Covenant College L. Randolph Lowry III President, Lipscomb University Shirley Mullen President, Houghton College Charles W. Pollard President, John Brown University (Chair) Philip Ryken President, Wheaton College

TEMPLETON RELIGION TRUST PERSONNEL PRESENT ATROUNDTABLE

Chris Stewart Vice President of Grant Programs

ADDITIONAL SCIO STAFF ON SITE

Elizabeth Baigent Senior Tutor and Academic Director Simon Lancaster Associate Director Claire Shuttleworth Academic Co-ordinator Geoff Dargan Junior Dean (North Wing, Wycliffe Hall) Thiago and Natalie Alves Pinto Junior Deans (The Vines) Miguel Farias Director of Studies and Lecturer in psychology Richard Lawes Director of Studies and Lecturer in English Matthew Kirkpatrick Director of Studies and Lecturer in philosophy and theology Jonathan Kirkpatrick Director of Studies and Lecturer in Classics, and History of Art

and Academic Co-ordinator of Logos in Oxford


SENIOR COLLEGE EXECUTIVES AND PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

College Senior College Executive Project Participant

Azusa Pacific University

Mark Stanton, MDiv, PhD (Fuller Theological Seminary) Provost

Mark Eaton, MA, PhD (Boston University)

California Baptist University

Ronald Ellis, MA, PhD (Texas A&M University) President

Erin Smith, MA, PhD (University of California, Riverside)

Calvin College Michael Le Roy, PhD (Vanderbilt University) President

Jonathan Hill, MA, PhD (University of Notre Dame)

Covenant College Derek Halvorson, MA, PhD (Loyola University Chicago) President

Hans Madueme, MD, MA, MDiv, PhD (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)

Crown College Joel Wiggins, MDiv, ThM, DMin, PhD (University of Texas, Austin), President

Aeisha Thomas, MA, PhD (Harvard University)

Daystar University Timothy Wachira, PhD (University of Nairobi) Vice Chancellor

Bernard Boyo, MDiv, MTh, PhD (Fuller Theological Seminary)

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Fr. Sean Sheridan, JD (University of Pittsburgh) JCDPresident

Daniel Kuebler, MS, PhD (University of California, Berkeley)

George Fox University

Robin Baker, MA, PhD (Texas A&M University) President

Jeongah Kim, MPA, PhD (Ohio State University)

The King’s University

Melanie Humphreys, MA, PhD (Azusa Pacific University), President

Randolph Haluza-DeLay, MA, PhD (University of Western Ontario)

Northwestern College

Greg Christy, MA (Western Illinois University), President

Laird Edman, MA, PhD (University of Minnesota)

Northwest Nazarene University

Joel Pearsall, JD (Willamette University), President

Joseph Bankard, MA, PhD (Claremont Graduate University)

Oklahoma Christian University

John deSteiguer, JD (Pepperdine University) President

Amanda Nichols, PhD (Oklahoma State University)

Point Loma Nazarene University

Bob Brower, MA, PhD (University of Kansas) President

April Maskiewicz, MA, PhD (University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University)

Samford University Andrew Westmoreland, MA, PhD (University of Arkansas), President

Steven Donaldson, MS, PhD (University of Alabama)

Seattle Pacific University

Jeff Van Duzer, JD (Yale Law School), Provost

Cara Wall-Scheffler, MPhil, PhD (University of Cambridge)


College Senior College Executive Project Participant

Trinity Western University

Bob Kuhn, JD (University of British Columbia), President

Myron Penner, MCS, PhD (Purdue University)

Dennis Venema, PhD (University of British Columbia)

University of Kabianga

Wilson Kipngeno, MSc, PhD (University of California, Riverside) Vice-Chancellor

Adam arap Chepkwony, Dip Ed, Higher Dip, PhD (Moi University)

Universidad Mariano Galvez de Guatemala

Ricardo San Jose Alvarez, MA, MD (Universidad de San Carlos) CEO

Federico Arturo Melendez, MDiv, DMin (Nazarene Seminary)

University of Northwestern-St Paul

Alan Cureton, PhD (Iowa State University) President

Bradley Sickler, MA, PhD (Purdue University)

University of Missouri

Unavailable due to extenuating circumstances

Johnstone Brick, MS, PhD (University of Georgia)

Universidad del Rosario

José Manuel Restrepo, MA, PhD (University of Bath) Rector

Carlos Migel Gómez, MA, PhD (Goethe Universität, Frankfurt)

Westmont College Gayle Beebe, MDiv, MA, MBA, PhD (Claremont Graduate University) President

Stephen Contakes, PhD (University of Illinois)

Wheaton College Philip Ryken, MDiv, PhD (University of Oxford) President

William Struthers, MA, PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Whitworth University

Beck Taylor, MS, PhD (Purdue University) President

Patricia Bruininks, MS, PhD (University of Oregon)

Oxford reflections


ROUNDTABLE SCHEDULE

See map, p. 80, for location details. LMH Lady Margaret Hall SAC St Anne’s College SHC St Hugh’s College, China Centre

Day/date Start Finish Place Event Particulars Thur 28 July

Before 15:00

Arrive Hotel check in

15:30 16:00 Walk to LMH Meet at 15:30 in hotel lobby 16:00 17:15 LMH Garden

(or Monson Room if rain)

Welcoming reception / garden party

Welcome from Shirley Hoogstra and Stan Rosenberg Spouses welcome to this event

17:15 18:00 Simpkins-Lee Theatre, LMH

Introductions Introduction of team and review of 2015–16 programme Spouses welcome to this event

18:00 19:30 Monson Room, LMH

Dinner

20:00 21:30 SAC Keynote lecture, Ian Ramsey Centre Conference, A Postsecular Age? New Narratives of Religion, Science, and Society

Prof. Alister McGrath: The new atheism and the dialogue between science and faith: reflections to mark the tenth anniversary of The God delusion Spouses welcome to this event.

Fri 29 July

7:00 8:00 Hotels Breakfast 8:00 8:30 Walk to Wycliffe Hall Meet at 8:00 in hotel lobby 8:30 9:00 Wycliffe Hall

Chapel Chapel Revd Dr Michael Lloyd, Principal,

Wycliffe Hall 9:30 10:45 Lecture

Theatre, SHC Lecture with Q&A Prof. David Livingstone:

Telling the story of science and Christianity...then and now

10:45 11:15 Tea and coffee 11:15 12:15 SHC Panel discussion Vision for supporting science and

humanities: why it matters and how presidents seek to foster engagement: panel of representative presidents

12:15 13:15 Wordsworth Room, SHC

Lunch

13:15 14:15 SHC Faculty presentations: research projects

Reports by representative faculty

14:15 15:15 Faculty presentations: student clubs and research assistants

15:15 15:45 Tea and coffee 15:45 17:00 SHC Lecture with Q&A Prof. Alister McGrath:

Why we can’t stop talking about science, faith and God…and why this matters in a Christian college


Day/date Start Finish Place Event Particulars Fri 29 July cont.

18:00 18:30 Walk to SAC Meet at 18:00 at hotel lobby 18:30 19:30 SAC Dinner with Ian Ramsey

Centre Conference 19:30 21:00 Play, jointly hosted with

Ian Ramsey Centre Conference

Mr Darwin’s Tree followed by panel discussion of the play Spouses welcome to this event

Sat 30 July

7:00 8:30 In hotels Breakfast 9:00 10:30 SHC Lecture with Q&A Prof. David Livingstone:

Debating Darwin: place, politics and polemics

10:30 11:00 Tea and coffee 11:00 12:00 SHC Panel discussion What faculty wish presidents

knew and engaged with about faculty work in S&R: panel of representative faculty

12:00 14:00 Local cafes Lunch for presidents and faculty in paired groups

Discuss own campuses’ context and concerns and learn about each other and concerns

14:00 15:15 SHC Brief reports on lunch-time discussions

Presidents / faculty pairings report lunch discussions and plans (key ideas or insights)

15:15 16:15 Panel discussion What presidents wish faculty knew and engaged with about presidential concerns on science and religion: panel of representative presidents

16:15 16:45 Tea and scones 16:45 17:30 Presidents’ closure

conversation What we learned; what we hope for the future; presidents only

19:30 21:00 Dinner Farewell

Golden faun, St Mary's Passage


ROUNDTABLE SPEAKERS, LECTURES, AND ABSTRACTS

Professor David Livingstone Professor of Geography and Intellectual History, Queen’s University Belfast

David N. Livingstone is Professor of Geography and Intellectual History at Queen’s University Belfast, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He is the author of books including Darwin’s forgotten defenders (1984), The geographical tradition (1992), Putting science in its place (2003), and Adam’s ancestors: race, religion and the politics of human origins (2008). Dealing with Darwin: place, politics and rhetoric in religious encounters with evolution was published in 2014. He was appointed OBE in 2002 and has received the Gold Medal of the Royal Irish Academy, the Founder’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and an Honorary DLitt degree from the University of Aberdeen. He delivered the Gifford Lectures in 2014 and the Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University in 2015, and has just come to the end of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship.

Telling the story of science and Christianity ... then and now The image of inherent conflict has long provided the defining narrative of the relationship between science and Christianity. In this lecture I want to challenge its viability as an appropriate historical model and outline a range of alternative ways of thinking about the subject. Yet for all the historical work that has gone into revising our understanding of science and faith, the warfare metaphor continues to be mobilised as a critical tool in the arsenal of new atheism and I intend to reflect on the persistent impulse to find conflict where it isn't. While challenging this narrative, I nonetheless contend that there do remain potential points of tension which require attention by faith communities. Debating Darwin: place, politics and polemics This lecture examines the role of place, politics and polemics in the way religious communities engaged with Darwin’s theory of evolution in different venues – Edinburgh, Belfast, Columbia and Princeton - during the decades around 1900. By examining the particular circumstances surrounding Darwinian deliberations in these localities it becomes clear that what looks like a science-religion altercation often turns out to be about other matters: anxieties over the control of higher education, views about the politics of race relations, challenges to traditional cultural identity, or attitudes to biblical criticism. Attending to such particularities is intended to subvert the perennial inclination of many to speak of the relationship between science and religion and to draw attention to the cultural dimensions of science-religion dialogues. By focusing on this particular episode I hope to illustrate something of how science, religion, politics, culture and rhetoric are intimately interwoven.


Professor Alister McGrath Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and Gresham Professor of Divinity in the City of London

Professor McGrath studied chemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Oxford before earning first-class honours in theology from Oxford University. He has worked at the University of Oxford, Regent College, and has been the Director of the Oxford Centre for Evangelicalism and Apologetics. Prior to this he was the Curate at St Leonard’s parish church in Nottingham. He was also the Principal of Wycliffe Hall between 1995 and 2004. His published works include the international bestseller The Dawkins delusion (2007), the award-winning biography C.S. Lewis: a life (2013), and the market-leading textbook Christian theology: an introduction (1993). The interaction between the natural sciences and theology has been a major theme in his work. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce as well as being a founder and member of the International Society for the Study of Science and Religion. He and his wife, Joanna Collicutt McGrath, have two grown-up children.

The new atheism and the dialogue between science and faith: reflections to mark the tenth anniversary of The God delusion

The big questions: why they matter and how we can help campus communities talk about them. This lecture explores the importance of ‘Big Questions’ - such as issues of meaning, purpose, and value - and especially how we encourage students and faculty to talk about them. The lecture will begin by looking at the nature of these questions, and consider what recent research has shown about their importance to personal resilience and wellbeing, and how these fit into a Christian way of thinking. In particular, I will consider how students can be helped to discover and appreciate these aspects of faith, which are very often overlooked. Discussion then shifts to how these can be discussed in a campus context, looking at the importance of narratives, personal example, and relational skills in helping reflection.


ADDITIONAL ROUNDTABLE INFORMATION

Accommodation

Roundtable participants will be housed in Linton Lodge and Cotswold Lodge Hotels, Kellogg College and Lady Margaret Hall.

Lady Margaret Hall

Lady Margaret Hall Norham Gardens Oxford OX2 6QA

Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the 38 constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. A relative newcomer, when it was founded in 1878 it was the first of the women’s colleges, established specifically to allow women to study at Oxford after centuries of exclusivity. Women were at last permitted to earn degrees from the University of Oxford in 1920. A century after its foundation LMH admitted men in 1978. The other women’s colleges followed suit, and all Oxford colleges now admit both men and women. LMH is 1.2 miles from the city centre and is located near the picturesque Oxford University Parks and the River Cherwell.

Kellogg College

Kellogg College 60-62 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 6PN

Kellogg College is located on Banbury Road near Wycliffe Hall. Founded 1990, it is the University of Oxford’s largest and most international graduate college. They have over 800 part-time and full-time graduate students following 110 different programmes of study from across the University’s four academic divisions and the Department for Continuing Education. Their students come from around 90 countries, making it a truly global academic community.

Kellogg College is 1.1 miles from the city centre and is located near the Oxford University Parks and the SCIO offices at 8 Norham Gardens.

St Hugh’s College

St Hugh’s College St Margaret’s Road Oxford OX2 6LE

St Hugh’s College, one of 38 constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. A relative newcomer, when it was founded in 1886 it was among the new women’s colleges established specifically to allow women to study at Oxford after centuries of exclusivity. Women were at last permitted to earn degrees from the University of Oxford in 1920, and after a century of life St Hugh’s welcomed male students in 1987; all Oxford colleges now admit both men and women.

Meeting venues We will be meeting and dining at various locations in North Oxford. Refer to the schedule for precise details. The venues within colleges should be signposted and there are maps at the end of this handbook.


Internet Wireless internet is available at the meeting venues via the Cloud.

Medical facilities You must have adequate health insurance to cover any medical expenses you might have (e.g. lab tests, medicine, hospitalization) while in Oxford. The UK benefits from high quality health services and Oxford is particularly well served with hospitals and good medical practices. Although you will have access to a local doctor’s office for any minor illnesses, visitors to the UK for periods shorter than six months are not entitled to free non-emergency treatment under the NHS (National Health Service). If you need to visit a doctor, nurse, or hospital you will be responsible for all out-of-pocket expenses at the time service is provided. An appointment with a doctor costs about £75 and a nurse £45. If your insurance covers treatment, then you can submit the bills to your insurance company when you return home. To make an appointment to see a doctor you can usually arrange an appointment on the day provided you ring as soon as the practice opens in the morning. It is not unusual for these slots to be fully booked within 15 minutes of the start of the day, so it is essential to contact them as early as possible. Once these appointments are filled, you might not be able to make an appointment until first thing the next day. Look up opening times online. Our doctors’ surgery is:

28 Beaumont Street Surgery Oxford OX1 2NA General enquiries: 01865 311811 Out of hours: 0845 345 8995 Medical emergency: 999

SCIO offices: 8 Norham Gardens

8 Norham Gardens is the main SCIO office. It has a seminar room, a tutorial room, a common room, and a kitchen, as well as the administrative and staff offices. It is equipped with a wireless network and has a computer and a printer for use. Participants are welcome to make use of the facilities at 8 Norham Gardens during office hours, when access can be gained by ringing the doorbell.

Wycliffe Hall

Wycliffe Hall has always enjoyed a close relationship with the University of Oxford and in 1996 it became one of six Permanent Private Halls of the University in reflection of the broadening of its curriculum beyond the training of ordinands. As a result of this status, Wycliffe students may read for degrees of the University of Oxford. The founders of Wycliffe Hall wanted to serve Jesus Christ and to exercise a transforming influence on both the church and the wider culture from within the heart of Oxford. The same vision remains at the heart of Wycliffe Hall’s ministry today (go to www.wycliffe.ox.ac.uk for more details).


SUMMARY OF 2015–16 ACTIVITIES

PROJECT ELEMENTS

Campus-based project elements

Research projects: During the academic year—and with particular support while in Oxford—each participant focuses on one S&R topic in their area of expertise. This research is original and contributes to rigorous research in S&R, through scholarly publication of several articles or a book. A substantial volume of literature thereby originates from these institutions on topics that are particularly relevant to faith-based institutions (although topics will not be limited to this) and help advance world-class S&R research. Each institution grants the participants a course release to aid their research.

Support from and training of a student research assistant (RA): Participants are given substantial funds to employ one or more student RAs from their institution. This allows faculty to mentor emerging scholars, offering them research experience within a larger project. This endeavour contributes to campuses’ undergraduate research opportunities. This is an investment in a future generation of scholars, some of whom may teach and research in the types of institutions represented in this grant. RAs also helped lead campus S&R clubs.

Science and religion clubs: S&R clubs were created or enhanced at each campus to support the long term and campus-wide impact of the programme. The substantial funding provided by the project enables clubs to invite special lecturers for university–wide events, to start book clubs, and to sponsor S&R conferences. We encourage the clubs to join other campus clubs (such as a chemistry or history club) and other local institutions to enlarge influence of the club.

Library funding for global south institutions: Recognizing that library resources in the global south are often inadequate, each participant is given a fund to buy S&R books for research, teaching, and club activity. Purchases are made in Oxford and shipped to the campus.

Mr Darwin’s Tree: 15 North American campuses are hosting the play in 2016 with funding provided for all but onsite costs of theatre and room and board. Written by the noted playwright and director Murray Watts, and starring the leading British film, TV, and theatre actor Andrew Harrison, the play sets the life and work of Charles Darwin in their historical context. It presents a story of scientific exploration in the context of the relationship between Darwin and his wife Emma and in the context of her profound belief in a creator and a loving God. Mr Darwin’s Tree is not a polemical play, and does not explore the relative merits of evolution, whether theistic or atheistic, creationism, or intelligent design. Rather, it looks intently at the emotional, psychological and spiritual questions raised in this period in cultural and scientific history, and which are still relevant today. It appeals to scientists, theologians, philosophers, artists, and university students. The play is followed by a panel discussion with the playwright, a Bridging Two Cultures staff member, and a theologian and biologist from the host campus; this allows the audience to explore further some of the challenging questions it raises.

The play broadens S&R dialogue beyond normal scholarly confines. Deep impact is possible when a broader community discusses issues together; hence, the project does not focus solely on scholarly research. Discussion of creation and evolution in abstract terms often leads to polarized and emotional debates, which are just what Bridging Two Cultures seeks to avoid. Seeing these issues in their historical context and connected to real people, by contrast, helps us to understand the complexity of the issues and to discuss them in more nuanced and less confrontational ways.


Oxford programme elements

Lectures World-class lecturers in S&R explore key historical perspectives, methodologies, and philosophical and theological issues to establish the context for the intellectual debate. Each lecture is followed by question and answer (Q&A) sessions to enable participants to interrogate ideas and perspectives, and respond with their own expertise. Mentor sessions Each lecturer hosts individual mentoring sessions with selected participants. (Each participant has mentoring sessions with one or more presenter.) The lecturers advise participants on their research project and give them personal connections to senior scholars in their network. Those who sign up get 45 minutes of one-on-one time with the lecturer and are direct participants to sessions important for the success and publication of the research projects and publication channels suitable for the research projects. Tutorials Each participant has three Oxford tutorials to help them which will be important tools to develop interdisciplinary skills. An Oxford tutorial is an hour-long conversation between a tutor who is engaged in research and a scholar who has spent time reading and writing an essay in answer to an assigned, searching question; in the second summer, a substantial piece of publishable writing arising from the participant’s research project. These tutorials will be with top academics in S&R (either based at the University of Oxford or one of the lecturers) and expose participants to other disciplines relevant to their areas in S&R. Workshops Workshops address rhetorical, pedagogical, curricular, cultural, translational, and CCCU-specific issues related to S&R and help them shape a positive campus culture. A specialist advisor (someone from the participant cohort, a lecturer from the programme, or a leader at a CCCU institution) leads a 90-minute discussion after have given a brief presentation on the topic. There are two specialist workshops per week and the group may be split to facilitate better discussion (e.g. if the topic is on denominational issues in S&R the group is split by denomination, or if it is related to academic disciplines, the cohort could be split by academic discipline). The workshops allow the participants to reflect on how S&R issues are broached at their own institutions from the perspective of denomination, size, region, academic discipline, etc. They discuss with others in the cohort how to reach the constituents that they serve while implementing best practice in their teaching and researching of these topics. The workshops strengthen the network and communication amongst participants and will provide support after the programme is completed.

Peer review groups Participants are divided into small groups by discipline, and during the second summer will deliver brief presentations on their research topics. The group members offer a peer critique of the work presented. The peer review groups foster a supportive scholarly community and perhaps identify areas of future collaboration.

Book review groups Each participant is allocated to a book group which meets weekly during the conference (four meetings in all) to discuss seminal texts in S&R. The books will engage interdisciplinary skills in S&R and lay the groundwork for topical engagement in the second summer conference. Each meeting lasts approximately 90 minutes, and groups will be mixed by discipline.


Academic excursions Excursions are to locations significant to S&R. A trip to London includes tours of Westminster Abbey and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, while in Cambridge participants will visit notable libraries and King’s College Chapel.

In the second summer, the participants compare and contrast approaches to natural history through visits to the homes of two eminent naturalists: Darwin’s home and garden at Down House in Kent and the Gilbert White Museum at Selborne, as well as a tour of Oxford’s Museum of the History of Science.

Capstone project element

Presidents’ roundtable in Oxford Bridging Two Cultures final summer culminates with a roundtable for presidents and faculty from participating institutions. The roundtable addresses how participants might best approach S&R issues in their institutions and be advocates for a supportive atmosphere. The conference overlaps with the second summer of programming so that faculty can join both events and converse with senior campus leaders about the situation and initiatives on their campuses. The roundtable offers lectures by leading scholars, presentations by faculty participants on research, clubs, and research assistants, and panel discussions with presidents and faculty to address key issues of mutual concern.

"And that sweet City with her dreaming spires, She needs not June for beauty’s heightening"

Matthew Arnold, 'Thyrsis', 1866


WEEKLY SCHEDULE 2015

Key LMH Lady Margaret Hall DH Dining Hall, LMH OL Old Library LMH SCIO Offices of Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford, 8 Norham Gardens HMC Harris Manchester College SL Simpkins-Lee Lecture Theatre, LMH

Arrival Day / date

Start Finish Place Event Particulars

Sun 16:00 LMH Welcome tea LMH gardens (OL if wet) 5 July 19:00 20:30 DH Dinner

Week 1 (6–10 July): Historical perspectives informing the present

Day / date


Mon 6 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 9:30 OL Welcome

and Dr Stan Rosenberg

9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. John Hedley Brooke: What’s new in science and religion?

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. John Hedley Brooke 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. John Hedley Brooke:

Science and secularization: where the myths lie 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. John Hedley Brooke 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Laird Edman:

Science and religion from a Christian faith-based perspective. is doing science and religion at a CCCU institution distinct from other contexts in the academy?

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Tues 7 July

7:30 8:30 DH Breakfast 8:30 9:00 Chapel 9:30 12:00 HMC Mentor sessions Prof. John Hedley Brooke 14:00 15:30 Tour

of Leaving from SCIO

Programme staff

15:30 16:30 Bodleian

Library induction Bodleian Admissions Officers

16:30 18:00 SCIO Tea With SCIO staff 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner


Day / date


Wed 8 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. John Hedley Brooke:

The interrelationship of ‘science’ and ‘religion’ from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. John Hedley Brooke 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Dr Stan Rosenberg:

Augustine’s beginning: the problem of evil and creating the idea of a natural world

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Dr Stan Rosenberg 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH Book review

groups Ronald L. Numbers, ed., Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Thurs 9 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 9:30 WH Library induction Alice Stainer 9:30 15:30 SCIO &

HMC Mentor sessions Prof. John Hedley Brooke

Prof. Alister McGrath Dr Stan Rosenberg

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Fri 10 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Alister McGrath:

Aggressive atheism past and present: its sources 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Alister McGrath 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. John Hedley Brooke:

The interrelationship of ‘science’ and ‘religion' from the scientific revolution to today

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. John Hedley Brooke

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Claudia Beversluis:

Tools and strategies for enriching science and religion dialogue across campus

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Old School Quadrangle


Week 2 (13–17 July): Methodology of science and religion

Day / date


Mon 13 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. David Livingstone:

Debating Darwin: place, politics, and polemics 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. David Livingstone 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. David Livingstone:

Science, Scripture, and the search for Adam and Eve

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. David Livingstone 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Claudia Beversluis and Shirley Hoogstra:

How to approach science and religion issues with institutional leaders; working with faculty from your discipline and other disciplines

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Tues 14 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 9:20 Chapel 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor sessions Prof. David Livingstone 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Wed 15 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Keith Ward:

Science and religion among the world faiths 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Keith Ward 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH &

SCIO Book review groups

Alister McGrath, Science and religion: a new introduction (2nd edition)

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Thurs 16 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor sessions Prof. Keith Ward

Dr Lydia Jaeger 18:00 19:00 DH Dinner 19:00 21:00 SL Play and panel Mr Darwin’s Tree

Panel discussion: Prof. John Hedley Brooke, Murray Watts, Prof. Alister McGrath, Dr Stan Rosenberg

21:00 22:00 Monson Room

Reception


Day / date


Fri 17 July


On a theology of nature 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Keith Ward 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Dr Lydia Jaeger:

Facts, theories, and knowledge in science and theology

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Dr Lydia Jaeger 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Murray Watts, Prof. Mark Eaton, Prof. Claudia

Beversluis, Tom Willett, Shirley Hoogstra JD, Dr Rick Ostrander “The play’s the thing”: using cultural tools to enhance dialogue

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Sat 18 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 8:45 19:00 Outside

LMH London excursion

Excursion includes a tour of Westminster Abbey from 10:30 to 12:30, and the afternoon at the Royal Observatory, Greenwick. The coach leaves Greenwich at 5:15 to return to LMH, Oxford.

Magdalen College, Oxford


Week 3 (20–24 July): Philosophical issues in science and religion

Day / date


Mon 20 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Philip Clayton:

Realism and explanation in the sciences and theology

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Philip Clayton 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. Philip Clayton:

Scientific laws, causation, and God’s action in the world

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Philip Clayton 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Prof. Adam Chepkwony, Dr Steve Donaldson, Dr

Daniel Kuebler: Panel discussion: setting up your science and religion club to be effective in your unique campus culture

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Tues 21 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 9:20 Chapel 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor sessions Prof. Philip Clayton

Prof. Alister McGrath 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Wed 22 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Rene van Woudenberg:

Naturalism and the limits of science 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Rene van Woudenberg 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. Rene van Woudenberg:

Theories in science and theology 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Rene van Woudenberg 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH &


Alex Rosenberg, Philosophy of science: a contemporary introduction (3rd edition)

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Thurs 23 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor sessions Prof. Rene van Woudenberg

Prof. Keith Ward 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner


Day / date


Fri 24 July


Do science and religion progress? 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Keith Ward 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 15:00 OL Workshop Dr Dennis Venema, Dr Cara Wall-Scheffler:

Teaching and researching volatile and/or sensitive science and religion topics in the CCCU

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Duke Humfrey's Library, Oxford


Week 4 (27–31 July): Theological issues in science and religion

Day / date


Mon 27 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Markus Bockmuehl:

Why do Jews and Christians believe in creation ‘out of nothing’?

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Markus Bockmuehl 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. Markus Bockmuehl:

What is the point of miracles? 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Markus Bockmuehl 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Joseph Bankard:

Reviewing institutional curriculum to enhance interdisciplinarity

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Tues 28 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 9:20 Chapel 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor sessions Dr Denis Alexander

Prof. Markus Bockmuehl 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Wed 29 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr Denis Alexander:

Theodicy: science, evil, and God 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Dr Denis Alexander 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Prof. Alister McGrath:

Science and the nature of God: Trinity, relationality, and ontology

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Alister McGrath 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH &


J. Wentzel Van Huyssteen, The shaping of rationality: toward interdisciplinarity in theology and science

19:00 20:00 DH Dinner Thurs 30 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:00 21:00 Outside

LMH Cambridge excursion

The day includes a visit to the Pepys Library. The coach leaves to return home at 19:00.


Day / date


Fri 31 July


The fall and rise of natural theology 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A session Prof. Alister McGrath 12:00 13:00 DH Lunch 13:00 15:00 OL Workshop Dr Michael Burdett, Dr Myron Penner, Dr Amanda

Nichols: How to train and form interdisciplinary skills in young scholars

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 19:00 20:00 DH Dinner

Departure Day / date

Start Finish Event Particulars

Sat 1 Aug

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast - 10:00 LMH Check-out


WEEKLY SCHEDULE 2016

For location details see map, p. 80. HMC Harris Manchester College LMH Lady Margaret Hall

DH Dining Hall, LMH OL Old Library, LMH SL Simpkins-Lee Lecture Theatre, LMH JR Jerwood Room, LMH MR Monsoon Room, LMH TH Talbot Hall, LMH

SAC St Anne’s College SCIO Offices of Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford, 8 Norham Gardens SHC St Hugh’s College WH Wycliffe Hall

Arrival Day / Date


Sun 3 July

16:00 18:00 LMH gardens

Welcome tea OL if wet

19:00 20:30 DH Dinner

Week 1 (4‒8 July): Physical Sciences

Day / Date


Mon 4 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 10:30 12:00 OL Orientation

and debrief on the year

Dr Stan Rosenberg and team

12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:30 16:30 HMC Mentor

sessions Prof. Alister McGrath

19:00 20:00 JR Dinner

Tues 5 July


The future of science and religion 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Prof. Alister McGrath 12:00 13:00 MR Lunch 13:00 15:00 OL Lecture Dr Andrew Pinsent:

‘I count, therefore I am?’ Humane uses and inhumane abuses of physics-inspired thinking

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Erin Smith, Dr Jeongah Kim, Dr Steve

Contakes, and Prof. Adam Chepkwony Lessons learned from a year with the Science and Religion Club

19:00 20:00 MR Dinner


Day / Date


Wed 6 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 15:30 SCIO Mentor

sessions Prof. Alister McGrath Dr Andrew Pinsent

15:00 16:00 Broad St

Group I: tour of Museum of the History of Science

Dr John Roche

16:00 17:00 Broad St

Group II: Tour of Museum of the History of Science

Dr John Roche

Thur 7 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr Stan Rosenberg:

2 cultures or 2n cultures? Identifying and navigating uneasy alliances

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Stan Rosenberg 12:00 13:00 MR Lunch 13:00 14:30 LMH/SC

IO Peer review groups

15:00 16:00 OL Lecture Prof.Tom McLeish: An approach to a theology of science via old testament wisdom — and how the humanities narrate science

16:00 16:30 OL Tea 16:30 17:30 OL Q&A Prof.Tom McLeish 19:00 20:00 MR Dinner

Fri 8 July

7:30 8:15 DH Breakfast 8:30 9:00 WH Chapel Prof. Alister McGrath 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr David Lahti:

Can Christian values survive evolutionary analysis?

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr David Lahti 12:00 13:00 TH Lunch 13:00 17:00 SCIO Mentor

sessions Dr David Lahti Prof. Tom McLeish


Week 2 (11‒15 July): Life Sciences

Day / Date


Mon 11 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr Elaine Ecklund:

Scientists and faith around the world: a social scientific perspective

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Elaine Ecklund 12:00 13:00 MR Lunch 13:00 14:30 LMH/

SCIO Peer review groups

Tues 12 July


sessions Dr Elaine Ecklund

Wed 13 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Jeffrey Schloss:

Evolution, providence, and the problem of natural evil

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Prof. Jeffrey Schloss 12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:00 15:00 OL Lecture and

Q&A Prof. Jeffrey Schloss: Evolutionary theories of moral cognition, human exceptionalism and the question of moral realism

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Ruth Bancewicz:

Translating life sciences and religion for the general public

19:00 20:00 JR Dinner

Thur 14 July


sessions Prof. Jeffrey Schloss Dr Ruth Bancewicz Prof. John Lennox

Fri 15 July

7:30 8:15 DH Breakfast 8:30 9:00 WH Chapel Prof. John Lennox 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. John Lennox:

Engaging the Academy on the Books of God 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Prof. John Lennox 12:00 13:00 TH Lunch 13:00 14:30 OL Peer review

groups 18:00 19:30 Parks Family dinner in university parks: to be confirmed


Day / Date


Sat 16 July

7:30 8:00 DH Breakfast 8:00 c10:00 Outside

LMH Departure for Down House, Kent

10:00 c13:00 Visit Down House and Gardens c13:00

c14:30 Down House

Gilbert White Museum, Selborne, Hants.

14:30 17:00 Visit Gilbert White Museum and Gardens, including Introductory Talk

17:00 c18:30 Selborne Return to Oxford

Radcliffe Square, Oxford


Week 3 (18‒22 July): Human Sciences

Day / Date


Mon 18 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr Helen De Cruz:

Paleoanthropology, Animals, and Human Uniqueness

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Helen De Cruz 12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Dr Helen De Cruz:

The cognitive science of religion 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A Dr Helen De Cruz 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH/SC

IO Peer review groups

19:00 20:00 JR Dinner

Tues 19 July


sessions Dr Helen De Cruz

Wed 20 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Prof. Michael Northcott:

Creation care in the anthropocene 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Prof. Michael Northcott 12:00 13:00 MR Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Rev. Prof. Alasdair Coles:

Neuroscience, free will, and the Christian faith 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A Rev. Prof. Alasdair Coles 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 LMH &

SCIO Peer review groups

19:00 20:00 MR Dinner

Thur 21 July


sessions Prof. Michael Northcott Rev. Prof. Alasdair Coles


Day / Date


Fri 22 July

7:30 8:15 DH Breakfast 8:30 9:00 WH Chapel Rev. Dr Shaun Henson 9:30 10:30 OL Lecture Dr Michael Burdett:

Theology and the future of human becoming 10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Michael Burdett 12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:00 15:00 OL Workshop Dr Steve Donaldson

Institutionalizing science and religion in classes, matriculated degrees or academic centres

15:00 15:30 OL Tea 18:00 19:30 Parks Dinner Family Dinner in University Parks: to be Confirmed

Week 4 (25‒29 July): The Future of Science and Religion in Christian Higher Education and Across the Globe

Day / Date


Mon 25 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Workshop Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent:

Faith and science on campus, 1: Your calling, your campus

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent 12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Dr Ignacio Silva:

Science and religion in the latin american context 14:00 15:00 OL Q&A Dr Ignacio Silva 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent:

Faith and science on campus, 2: Your partners, your programmes

19:00 20:00 JR Dinner

Tues 26 July


sessions Dr Claudia Beversluis Dr Mark Sargent Dr Ignacio Silva

Bodleian Library, Oxford


Day / Date


Wed 27 July

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast 9:30 10:30 OL Workshop Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent:

Faith and science on campus, 3: Our students, their future

10:30 11:00 OL Coffee 11:00 12:00 OL Q&A Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent

12:00 13:00 JR Lunch 13:00 14:00 OL Lecture Dr Benno van den Toren: An intercultural

conversation on science and religion with Christians from French-speaking Africa

14:00 15:00 OL Q&A Dr Benno van den Toren 15:00 15:30 OL Tea 15:30 17:00 OL Workshop Dr Ignacio Silva and Dr Benno van den Toren,

with Dr Bernard Boyo and Dr Carlos Gomez: Participating in science and religion discussions in an international context

19:00 20:00 JR Dinner

Thur 28 July


sessions Dr Claudia Beversluis Dr Mark Sargent Dr Benno van den Toren

Start Of Presidents’ Roundtable Including Participants

Thur 28 July – Sat 30 July: see p. 8 for schedule

Sun 31 July

9:30 10:30 SHC Chapel All events optional for presidents 11:00 12:30 SHC Brunch 14:30 16:30 LMH Facilitated

discussion Debrief for faculty participants on roundtable, summer, seminars, campus activities, etc.

17:00 LMH Closing reception and banquet

Departure Day / Date


Mon 1 Aug

7:30 9:00 DH Breakfast

10:00 Check out


Wycliffe Hall College Chapel, Oxford


SPEAKERS AND PROGRAMME STAFF 2015–16Dr Denis Alexander

Emeritus Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and Fellow of St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge

Denis Alexander was previously an open scholar at Oxford University where he read biochemistry before carrying out research for a PhD in neurochemistry at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London. Following this he spent 15 years in academic positions in the Middle East, latterly (1981-86) as Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Upon his return to the UK he worked at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK) and since 1989 at The Babraham Institute where he was Chair of the Molecular Immunology Programme and Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development, before leaving in 2008. Dr Alexander was Editor of the journal Science & Christian Belief [1992-2013] and contributes papers as part of the Cambridge Papers writing group. His most recent books are Creation or Evolution – Do We Have to Choose? (Oxford: Monarch, 2008; 2nd edition 2014), Biology and Ideology – From Descartes to Dawkins (co-edited with Ronald Numbers, Chicago University Press, 2010) and The Language of Genetics – an Introduction [Templeton Foundation Press, 2011]. He delivered the Gifford Lectures at St. Andrews University in December 2012 on the theme ‘Genes, Determinism and God’ and his book based on these lectures will be published in 2016 by Cambridge University Press.

Dr Ruth Bancewicz

Senior Research Associate, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Ruth is a Senior Research Associate at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, working on the positive interaction between science and faith. After studying genetics at Aberdeen University, she completed a PhD at Edinburgh University, based at the MRC Human Genetics Unit. During this time she also worked at the Edinburgh Science Festival, developing and delivering hands-on science activities. She spent two years as a part-time postdoctoral researcher at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Edinburgh University, while also working as the Development Officer for Christians in Science — a post she held for three years, before moving full-time to the Faraday Institute to develop the Test of FAITH resources, the first of which were launched in 2009. Ruth is a trustee of Christians in Science and on the advisory council of BioLogos.


Dr Claudia Beversluis Professor of Psychology, Calvin College

Claudia DeVries Beversluis is Professor of Psychology at Calvin College. She is currently teaching courses in psychology and religion, after completing 15 years in administration as Dean and then Provost. Beversluis trained as a clinical and neuropsychologist; her previous clinical work and teaching was in these areas. Research and writing has been about practices in higher education, pastoral care, and faith and science, especially in international contexts.

Professor Markus Bockmuehl Dean Ireland’s Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford Fellow of Keble College

Markus Bockmuehl teaches biblical and early Christian studies at Oxford, having also served for two years as Associate Head of the University’s Humanities Division (with responsibility for graduate studies). Before arriving here in 2007 he was a professor at the Universities of St Andrews and Cambridge, and previously taught at Regent College and the University of British Columbia, Canada. Among his books are This Jesus (1994), The Epistle to the Philippians (1997), Seeing the Word: Refocusing New Testament Study (2006), and Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory (2012); a book on Ancient Apocryphal Gospels is due to be published in 2016. His teaching covers a wide range of New Testament as well as ancient Jewish and Christian studies, while his current research focuses on early Christian eschatology.


Professor John Hedley Brooke

Andreas Idreos Professor Emeritus of Science & Religion, University of Oxford

John Hedley Brooke taught the history of science at Lancaster University from 1969-1999. In 1995, with Geoffrey Cantor, he gave the Gifford Lectures at Glasgow University. From 1999 to 2006, he was the first Andreas Idreos Professor of Science & Religion at Oxford University, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre and Fellow of Harris Manchester College. Following retirement, he was designated “Distinguished Fellow” at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Durham (2007). He has been President of the British Society for the History of Science, President of the Historical Section of the British Science Association, of the International Society for Science and Religion and of the UK Forum for Science & Religion. Among his books are Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (1991, 2014), Thinking About Matter (1995); and (with Geoffrey Cantor) Reconstructing Nature: The Engagement of Science & Religion (1998). His most recent book, co-edited with Ronald Numbers, is Science & Religion around the World (2011).

Dr Michael Burdett

Director of Studies in Religion, Science and Technology, SCIO, Research Fellow in Religion, Science, and Technology, Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, and Visiting Fellow at the University of St Andrews

Before becoming an academic, Michael worked in the aerospace and robotics industries for several years working with a firm that had contracts with NASA and JPL. He holds degrees in engineering, physics, and theology and has been given academic and professional awards in each field. His academic interests lie at the intersection of science and technology, theology and philosophy. He has published and presented internationally on continental philosophy, transhumanism, the technological society and Christian theology. He is a Commissioning and Review Editor for The Marginalia Review in the area of Science, Technology, and Religion and is author of the books Beyond genetic engineering: technology and the religion of transhumanism (Grove Books, 2014) and Eschatology and the technological future (Routledge, 2015). He was recently awarded a grant by The John Templeton Foundation entitled ‘Co-creating Ourselves?: Deification and Creaturehood in an Age of Biotechnological Enhancement’ that will fund a closed symposium in summer 2017, a research monograph, and a special issue of a theological journal.

http://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/


Professor Philip Clayton Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology, California and faculty, Claremont Graduate University

Philip Clayton has taught at Haverford College, Williams College, and the California State University; he has held visiting posts at Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the University of Munich. His research focuses on biological emergence, evolutionary theory, relations between science and religion, systematic theology, and comparative theologies.Clayton is the recipient of multiple research grants and international lectureships. He has authored or edited some 22 books, including The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, Faith (2011); Religion and Science: The Basics (2011); Adventures in the Spirit (2009), Transforming Christian Theology (2009); In Quest of Freedom (2009), Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective (2006), and The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006). Earlier books include Quantum Mechanics; Explanation from Physics to Theology; Science and the Spiritual Quest; God and Contemporary Science; and The Problem of God in Modern Thought.

Rev. Professor Alasdair Coles Professor of Neuroimmunology, University of Cambridge

Alasdair Coles is a neurologist in Cambridge. His main research is on inflammatory conditions of the brain, and how best to treat them. For instance, he helped develop alemtuzumab as a treatment for multiple sclerosis through all the stages of drug development until licensing in Europe, the United States, and 50 other countries and approval by NICE. He is a Christian and ordained in the Church of England. He aspires to understand more about faith from people with brain diseases and led the first study of how Parkinson’s disease affects faith in the UK. He now leads an investigation of people with epilepsy who experience mystical seizures.


Dr Helen De Cruz Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University

Helen De Cruz is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Oxford Brookes University. She has previously worked at VU University in Amsterdam, University of Oxford, and the University of Leuven. Her research examines to what extent we can explain products of human culture, such as religion, science, and the arts, in cognitive terms. She has co-written (with Johan De Smedt) A natural history of natural theology (MIT Press, 2015), and co-edited (with Ryan Nichols) Advances in religion, cognitive science, and experimental philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Dr Elaine Ecklund

Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology at Rice University, Founding Director Religion and Public Life Program

Elaine Howard Ecklund is the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology at Rice University, as well as founding director of the Religion and Public Life Program. Her current research addresses how individuals use race, gender, and religious identities to bring changes to religious and scientific institutions. She is the author of more than fifty peer-reviewed articles, two books with Oxford University Press, a forthcoming book with NYU Press, and a forthcoming book with Oxford University Press. Her latest book, Science vs. religion: what scientists really think, was chosen by Times Higher Education as an international book of the week and named a book of the year on religion by The Huffington Post. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Her research has been cited over 1,200 times by local, national, and international media. In 2013, she received Rice University's Charles O. Duncan Award for Most Outstanding Academic Achievement and Teaching.


Andrew Harrison Actor

Andrew Harrison is the actor in Mr Darwin’s Tree, and has worked in film, TV, theatre, and radio for over 30 years. His theatre credits include Glyn and It with Dame Penelope Keith on national tour, the premiere tour of Peter Nichol’s Blue Murder, and the London West End production with the late Sir Michael Hordern of Trelawny of the Wells. He made his repertory debut in Exeter playing the leads in Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money and Alan Ayckbourn’s A Chorus of Disapproval. Andrew is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s drama department. His film credits include An Ideal Husband, The Sea Change, A Little Loving, and Dorian Gray; for TV he has appeared in Florence Nightingale, The Life of Pepys, Miss Marple, 2000 Acres of Sky, The Bill, Birds of a Feather, You Rang M’Lord?, Beyond Narnia, and Summer in Transylvania.

Shirley Hoogstra, JD President, CCCU

Shirley V. Hoogstra, JD, became the seventh president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in September 2014 after serving at her alma mater, Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI), first as a member of the Board of Trustees and then for 15 years as the vice president for student life. While at Calvin Hoogstra also served as a cabinet member and was co-host of Inner Compass, a nationally televised show on PBS. Prior to her tenure at Calvin Hoogstra spent more than a decade practicing law as a partner at a firm in New Haven, Connecticut. She earned her Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law and has been admitted to practice law in the states of Michigan and Connecticut, as well as the US District Courts of Michigan, the US District Court for the District of Connecticut and the US Tax Court.


Dr Lydia Jaeger

Lecturer and Director of Studies, Institut Biblique de Nogent-sur-Marne

After completing postgraduate studies in physics and mathematics — including research in theoretical solid state physics — at the University of Cologne (Germany) and in theology at the Seminary for Evangelical Theology in Vaux-sur-Seine (France), Lydia Jaeger obtained her Ph.D. in philosophy at the Sorbonne on the possible links between the concept of law of nature and religious presuppositions, under the supervision of Michel Bitbol (CNRS, France). She holds a permanent lectureship and is academic dean at the Institut Biblique de Nogent-sur-Marne, an interdenominational Evangelical Bible college near Paris which trains pastors and other Church workers at an undergraduate level, and lay people in extension programs. Since 2000, Lydia Jaeger has had several short study leaves in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge (Great Britain), where she is also an associate member of St. Edmund’s College and of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion."

Dr David Lahti

Associate Professor of Biology and the Undergraduate Research Coordinator at Queens College, City University of New York

David C. Lahti is an Associate Professor of Biology and the Undergraduate Research Coordinator at Queens College, City University of New York, where he runs a behaviour and evolution laboratory focusing mainly on learned behaviour in birds and humans. Prof Lahti received a BS in biology and history from Gordon College. He received a PhD in moral philosophy and the philosophy of biology at the Whitefield Institute, Oxford, for a study of the contributions science can and cannot make to an understanding of the foundations of morality. He then received a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan for a study of rapid evolution in an introduced bird. He has been a Darwin Fellow at the University of Massachusetts and a Kirschstein NRSA Research Fellow with the US National Institutes of Health, where he studied the development and evolution of bird song. His current research projects involve co-evolution between avian brood parasites and their hosts in Africa, cultural evolution of house finch song, the diversification of moral beliefs among African peoples, and the evolution of our capacity for morality and religion.


Professor John Lennox Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford, Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science, Green Templeton College, Oxford, Associate Fellow of the Said Business School, Oxford, and Adjunct Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics

John Lennox studied at Cambridge University, from which he took his MA, MMath, and PhD, and he worked for many years in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Wales in Cardiff, which awarded him a DSc for his research. He also holds an MA and DPhil from the University of Oxford and an MA in Bioethics from the University of Surrey. In addition to over seventy published mathematical papers, he is the co-author of two research level texts in algebra in the Oxford Mathematical Monographs series. ,He has also written a number of books on the interface between science, philosophy, and theology, including God’s undertaker: has science buried God?, God and Stephen Hawking, Gunning for God, and Seven days that divide the world. His latest book, Against the flow, looks at the lessons for today’s society that one can draw from the life of the biblical figure Daniel. He has lectured extensively in North America, Eastern and Western Europe, and Australasia on mathematics, the philosophy of science, and the intellectual defence of Christianity. He has also debated a number of prominent atheists, including Richard Dawkins, Peter Singer, and the late Christopher Hitchens.

Professor David Livingstone Professor of Geography and Intellectual History, Queen’s University Belfast

David N. Livingstone is Professor of Geography and Intellectual History at Queen’s University Belfast, a Fellow of the British Academy, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He is the author of books including Darwin’s forgotten defenders (1984), The geographical tradition (1992), Putting science in its place (2003), and Adam’s ancestors: race, religion and the politics of human origins (2008). Dealing with Darwin: place, politics and rhetoric in religious encounters with evolution was published in 2014. He was appointed OBE in 2002 and has received the Gold Medal of the Royal Irish Academy, the Founder’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and an Honorary DLitt degree from the University of Aberdeen. He delivered the Gifford Lectures in 2014 and the Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University in 2015, and has just come to the end of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship.


Professor Alister McGrath Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and Gresham Professor of Divinity in the City of London

Professor McGrath studied chemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Oxford before earning first-class honours in theology from Oxford University. He has worked at the University of Oxford, Regent College, and has been the Director of the Oxford Centre for Evangelicalism and Apologetics. Prior to this he was the Curate at St Leonard’s parish church in Nottingham. He was also the Principal of Wycliffe Hall between 1995 and 2004. His published works include the international bestseller The Dawkins delusion (2007), the award-winning biography C.S. Lewis: a life (2013), and the market-leading textbook Christian theology: an introduction (1993). The interaction between the natural sciences and theology has been a major theme in his work. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce as well as being a founder and member of the International Society for the Study of Science and Religion. He and his wife, Joanna Collicutt McGrath, have two grown-up children.

Professor Tom McLeish Professor of Physics, Durham University

Tom McLeish FRS is Professor of Physics at Durham University. His scientific research over the last 25 years has contributed to the formation of the new field of ‘soft matter physics’ — interdisciplinary work with chemists, chemical engineers, and biologists has sought to

connect molecular structure and behaviour with emergent material or biological properties. He has also worked intensively with industrial researchers developing molecular design tools for new polymeric (plastic) materials, leading large national and international programmes, with his personal contributions mostly theoretical. He has won several awards both in Europe (Weissenberg Medal) and the USA (Bingham Medal) for his work on molecular rheology of polymers, and ran a large collaborative and multidisciplinary research programme in this field from 1999 to 2009 co-funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and industry. Throughout he has also maintained an interest in public engagement with science, science policy, and public values including the underlying, but often hidden, public narratives of science. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He served as Vice-President of Science and Innovation in the Institute of Physics in 2012‒15, and is currently chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee. He has been especially interested in the potential for theological narratives to inform debates in science and technology, both explicitly and implicitly, and explores historical, sociological, and theological approaches to contribute to a long cultural narrative for science in the recent book Faith and wisdom in science (Oxford University Press, 2014). He has been a reader (lay preacher) in the Anglican Church since 1993, in the dioceses of Ripon and York.


Professor Michael Northcott Professor of Ethics, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh

Michael Northcott is Professor of Ethics in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and an Episcopal priest. He is author of The environment and Christian ethics (Cambridge University Press, 1996), A moral climate: the ethics of global warming (Darton, Longman, and Todd, 2007), A political theology of climate change (SPCK, 2014), and Place, ecology and the sacred (Bloomsbury, 2015). He is also editor with Peter Scott of Systematic theology and climate change (Routledge, 2014), with R.J. Berry of Theology after Darwin (Authentic Media, 2010), and with Kyle Vanhoutan of Diversity and dominion: dialogues in ecology, ethics and theology (Cascade, 2010). He has been visiting professor at Claremont School of Theology, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Flinders University, and the University of Malaya. He has a long-standing interest in religion and ecology which goes back to his experiences in the rainforests of South-East Asia, where he served as a mission priest in the diocese of West Malaysia and as lecturer in the Seminari Theologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur from 1984 to 1989.

Dr Rick Ostrander Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professional Programs, CCCU

Formerly Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Rick Ostrander has been VPAA for the CCCU since August 2015. He holds a doctorate in American History from the University of Notre Dame. As a scholar of American religion and an academic administrator, Dr. Ostrander maintains an active interest in Christian higher education. In 1997 Rick became an assistant professor of history at John Brown University. In September 2002 he became the dean of undergraduate studies at John Brown University. In 200, he was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to teach in Germany and in 2009 he began his tenure as provost at Cornerstone University. His publications include The Life of Prayer in a World of Science (Oxford, 2001), Head, Heart, Hand: John Brown University and Evangelical Higher Education (University of Arkansas, 2003), and ‘Spirituality and the Discipline of History’, in Searching for Spirituality in Higher Education (Peter Lang, 2007). Dr. Ostrander’s book,Why College Matters to God: Academic Faithfulness and Christian Higher Education was published in 2009 by Abilene Christian University Press and a sequel, Reconsidering College: Christian Higher Education for Working Adults was published January 2014.


Revd Dr Andrew Pinsent Research Director, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford

Andrew Pinsent is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford and a priest of the diocese of Arundel and Brighton. He was formerly a high energy physicist on the DELPHI experiment at CERN, and has pontifical degrees in philosophy and theology and a second doctorate in philosophy. He is the author of The second-person perspective in Aquinas’s Ethics: virtues and gifts (Routledge, 2012) and publications on virtue ethics, neurotheology, Science and Religion, the philosophy of the person, divine action, and the nature of evil. He has given public lectures in many countries, has contributed to a wide variety of catechetical materials, and has appeared on the BBC, EWTN, Channel 4, and a wide range of other media on science and faith issues.

Dr John Roche Senior Lecturer in History of Science, SCIO, and Member of Linacre College and the Faculty of History, University of Oxford

Dr John Roche took degrees in physics in University College, Galway, and a doctorate in the history of physics at the University of Oxford. He first taught physics in Kenya, and then taught the history of science at Linacre College, Oxford, and applied physics at Oxford Brookes University. His main research interest lies in using the history of physics to clarify difficult concepts in today’s classical physics. In the past 15 years he has studied the growing scholarly literature of Science and Religion. With Alister McGrath he helped to set up the John Templeton Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity based in Wycliffe Hall, which are now in their third cohort. His publications include The mathematics of measurement: a critical history (1998), ‘What is mass?’ (2005), and ‘The scientific theology project of Alister E. McGrath’ (2003). He is Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at SCIO and Senior Consultant to the Bridging the Two Cultures project.


Dr Stanley P. Rosenberg Executive Director of SCIO: Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford, member of the Theology and Religion Faculty, University of Oxford, and Project Director of Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities Stan Rosenberg founded and directs Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO), the UK subsidiary of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He is a member of Wycliffe Hall and the University of Oxford’s Theology and Religion Faculty, teaching early

Christian history and doctrine. He graduated BA in history from Colorado State University and MA and PhD in early Christian studies and late antique history from the Catholic University of America. His research and teaching interests focus on Augustine’s works (his Genesis commentaries and sermons in particular), early Christian cosmology and its relationship to Greco-Roman science, culture and philosophy, and the interplay between intellectual and popular thought during this period; he is also involved in contemporary discussions on the relationship between science and religion. Recent research has led to a series of articles in two subject areas: early Christianity and Greco-Roman science; and the intersection of preaching, popular religion, and the development of doctrine in the largely oral culture of late antiquity. Rosenberg directs two Science and Religion projects in Oxford, funded by Templeton Religion Trust and the BioLogos Foundation. He is on the advisory council of the Museum of the Bible, advising particularly on science and the Bible, and patristics. Recent work, relevant to Bridging Two Cultures, focuses on the misappropriation of Augustine’s view of evil in recent science and religion debates: ‘Can Nature be “Red in Tooth and Claw” in the thought of Augustine? A Case study of the misappropriation of a major theologian’, which will be published in a work for which he is also the general editor, Evolution and Theology: Implications for the Christian Doctrines of Original Sin, the Image of God, and the Problem of Evil, Baker Academic, Forthcoming, 2017.

Dr Mark Sargent Provost and Dean of Faculty, Westmont College

Mark L. Sargent is currently the Provost of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He assumed the role in 2012, after serving previously as the Provost of Gordon College in Massachusetts for 16 years. Prior to his time in Massachusetts, Mark was the Academic Vice-President of Spring Arbor College in Michigan and the Associate Dean at Biola University in California. He also taught as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. Mark holds a PhD in English from the Claremont Graduate University, and specializes in American literature. He has written widely on American culture, international studies, film, and higher education, and was the recipient of the Whitehill Prize in Early American History. Mark has served on numerous national boards for Christian, international, and private higher education, and was named the National Chief Academic Officer of the Year by the Council of Independent Colleges in 2008.


Professor Jeffrey Schloss

Senior Scholar, BioLogos Foundation, and Distinguished Professor of Biology, Westmont College

Jeffrey Schloss is Senior Scholar at the BioLogos Foundation and Distinguished Professor of Biology at Westmont College. He has taught at the University of Michigan, Wheaton College, and has been a Crosson Fellow at Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion, a Plumer Fellow at St Anne’s College Oxford, and a Witherspoon Fellow in Theology and Science at the Center of Theological Inquiry. His research interests include evolutionary accounts of cooperation, morality, and religious cognition. His recent work has appeared in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Religion, Brain, and Behavior, and Theology and Science; and collaborative interdisciplinary volumes include Altruism and altruistic love (with Stephen Post), The believing primate (with Michael Murray), and Darwinian perspectives on the moral sentiments (with Hilary Putnam).

Dr Ignacio Silva

Research Fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, and member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford

Dr Ignacio Silva is Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, and a member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion. His main research interests lie in Science and Religion, the historical developments of the understanding of God’s activity in the world in relation to the study of nature, and science and religion in Latin America. Dr Silva, together with Dr Andrew Pinsent, is the director of the Ian Ramsey Centre’s project ‘Science, philosophy, and theology — Latin American Perspectives’, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Dr Silva has published extensively on these issues, and is the editor of Latin American perspectives on Science and Religion (Pickering and Chatto, 2014) and the author of numerous articles.


Professor Benno van den Toren

Chair of Intercultural Theology, Protestant Theological University, The Netherlands

Revd Prof. Benno van den Toren is Chair of Intercultural Theology, Protestant Theological University, Groningen, and Extraordinary Professor in the Theology of Charismatic Renewal at the Free University of Amsterdam. Until January 2014 he was Academic Dean and Tutor in Doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, and professor of Theology at the Free University of Amsterdam. He studied theology in Utrecht, Oxford, and Kampen in the last of which he did his doctoral research on apologetics, Karl Barth, and postmodernism. After working as a pastoral assistant and with the Dutch evangelical student movement, he moved with his family to French-speaking Africa, where he taught systematic theology for eight years at the Bangui Evangelical School of Theology. During those years he published in Dutch, English, and French, mainly on the nature of Christian doctrine and ethics in a multicultural world. His many research interests include the possibility of cross-cultural and inter-religious apologetic dialogue, the theology of religions, and the theological understanding of multiculturalism.

Canon Professor Keith Ward, DD

Regius Professer Emeritus of Divinity, University of Oxford, and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London

Keith Ward has taught philosophy at Glasgow, St. Andrews, and King's College London. He was Dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, then F.D.Maurice Professor of Moral Theology at King’s College London followed by Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion. He then became a theologian on becoming Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. He was ordained in 1972 and has since served as an NSM, and as a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has taught and held visiting Professorships in many Universities in the USA, as well as writing an embarrassing number of books. His website is keithward.org.uk. He is married with middle-aged children.


Murray Watts

Playwright and Director

Mr Darwin’s Tree playwright and director, Murray Watts, is one of the best-known Christian playwrights and screenwriters in the UK. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including The Miracle Maker, and the screenwriter for the film of the same name, featuring Ralph Fiennes and Julie Christie. An animated film on the life of Jesus, The Miracle Maker was the top-rated TV movie for ABC Network in 2000 and has been viewed by millions around the world. Watts is also the author of the best-selling The Bible for Children, which has been translated into more than 20 languages, and the screenwriter for KJB: The Book that Changed the World, directed by Norman Stone (Shadowlands) and featuring John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings). Watts also wrote and directed the one-man play The Dream, based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, which went on to spawn the film of the same name staring Jeremy Irons and the TV mini-series Tales from the Madhouse. Watts has often worked with the actor Andrew Harrison to create solo performances. Mr Darwin’s Tree is their latest collaboration.

Professor Rene van Woudenberg

Professor of Philosophy, VU University, Amsterdam and Director of the Abraham Kuyper Center for Science and Religion

Rene van Woudenberg teaches epistemology and metaphysics VU University, Amsterdam. He is the director of the Kuyper Center for Science and Religion and director of the ‘Science Beyond Scientism’ project which is sponsored by the Templeton World Charity Organization. With Terence Cuneo he is the editor of the Cambridge Companion to Thomas Reid. Recent publications include ‘Both Random and Guided’ (Ratio 2015) and ‘Scientism and the Ethics of Belief’ (Journal for the General Philosophy of Science 2015). Oxford University Press will publish a volume on Scientism that he co-edited with Jeroen de Ridder and Rik Peels.


LECTURE ABSTRACTS 2015: HUMANITIES

Dr Denis Alexander

Theodicy: science, evil, and God The term ‘theodicy’ derives from the famous book of that name written by the great philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) and published in 1710. It refers to all the attempts to explain how a good and all-powerful God could create a world with suffering and evil in it, so attempting to ‘justify the ways of God to men’. Evils are generally divided into two categories: those arising from bad moral choices made by humans — ‘moral evils’ — and ‘natural evils’, referring to those aspects of the created order that appear to run counter to what we might expect in a universe brought into being and sustained by a God of love: tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, the death and suffering entailed in evolutionary history, genetic diseases, cancer, and so on. This lecture will focus on ‘natural evils’ in general, a terminology that will be discussed, and on the process of evolution in particular. It will be proposed that approaches to ‘natural evils’ are highly influenced by whichever theological framework is in place, and the extent to which God’s omnipotence is or is not a central feature of that framework. A range of theologies will be presented to illustrate this point, and the biological sciences will be used to illustrate the notion of the created order as a ‘package deal’.

Professor Markus Bockmuehl

Why do Jews and Christians believe in creation ‘out of nothing’? Modern critical scholarship has tended to agree that Scripture does not teach creation ex nihilo, but that this doctrine originated in a second-century Christian reaction against Gnosticism’s convictions about matter as evil and creation as the work of an inferior Demiurge. Judaism's affirmation of it was said to be late and philosophically derivative from Christian ideas. In this lecture we will see that the typically cited proof-texts from biblical or deutero-canonical books indeed do not yield what they have sometimes been said to confirm. The book of Genesis was understood even in antiquity to be somewhat ambiguous on this point, and affirmations that creation gave shape to formlessness need not entail any creation ‘out of nothing’. Nevertheless, we will see that while the formal philosophical terminology of ‘nothingness’ comes late to Christians and even later to Jews, the concern for sovereign divine creation without recourse to any pre-existing substance is repeatedly affirmed in pre-Christian Jewish texts. At the root of the doctrine lies a Scriptural conviction about creation's comprehensive contingency on the Creator’s sovereignty and freedom. What is the point of miracles? Miracles in the Gospels and elsewhere in Scripture were in the past often negotiated in line with early modern assumptions about laws of nature and their limits as well as about distinctions between ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’. Miracles served apologists as scientifically inexplicable divine 'interventions' in the world — or even as divine actions to ‘suspend’ inalienable laws of nature. More recently, in order to compensate for the resulting God of ever-decreasing gaps, appeals to quantum physics have sometimes been pressed into apologetic service. But is any of this what the early Christian tradition means by miracles? In this lecture we will revisit the nature and rationale of the Gospel miracles to ask what message and function they may have for us today if we seek to understand them from the faith-perspective of those who first witnessed and received them. What emerges is not a discourse of rival explanations competing with reason or science, but a concern to see and narrate the world by faith as the object of God’s love and care above all in Jesus Christ.


Professor John Hedley Brooke

What’s new in Science and Religion? Ever since Ian Barbour published his Issues in science and religion in 1966 there has been a recognisable field of study exploring the many ways in which developments in science have impinged on religious thought. Religious values in turn have affected the evaluation of scientific initiatives. The aim of this introductory lecture is to give a bird’s-eye view of some of the more significant scholarship that has shaped prominent approaches to the subject over the last 50 years. The deep-seated common view that science and religion have always been in conflict deserves special attention because there is now a wealth of serious historical scholarship devoted to correcting the myths and anecdotes that, since the end of the 19th century, have pervaded popular literature. Suggested preliminary reading: Ronald L. Numbers, ed., Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion (2009). Science and secularization: where the myths lie It is commonly assumed that one of the primary agents of secularization has been scientific progress. There are plausible arguments to support this view, not least the fact that the natural sciences have promoted and expanded the scope of naturalistic explanation, ostensibly shrinking the domain of the supernatural. But it is not that simple. Not only has naturalistic explanation long been countenanced in Christian theology, but the sources of secular policies and attitudes have been multifarious. There is also persuasive evidence that while an appeal to the sciences may be used to justify a secular mentality, this is not the same as saying that an acquaintance with science has been the main trigger for loss of faith. In this lecture different concepts of secularization will be distinguished and a variety of reasons given for attacks on religious authority. Suggested preliminary reading: Peter Harrison (ed.), The Cambridge companion to science and religion (2010), chapters 5 and 11. The interrelationship of ‘science’ and ‘religion’ from the Middle Ages to the 17th century The scare quotes in the title of this lecture are to indicate that the meanings of the two words did not yet convey the concepts they have come to represent in the modern world. In his Gifford Lectures, published as The territories of science and religion (2015), Peter Harrison warns that it is anachronistic even to speak of ‘relations between science and religion’ in earlier periods. Not until the 17th century was the concept of ‘religion’ objectified as a generic term to accommodate a plurality of belief systems. Not until the 19th century did the word ‘science’ supersede ‘natural philosophy” and ‘natural history’ as a unifying term ostensibly with its single, privileged ‘scientific method’. From the time of Thomas Aquinas to that of Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton, knowledge of the natural world was, however, integrated with theological positions in extremely influential ways. It is often said that the displacement of the Christianized Aristotelian cosmos by the mechanistic universe of Galileo, Descartes, and Newton led to the breakdown of an organic worldview and with it an emancipation of ‘science’ from ‘religion’. I shall, however, argue that the contrary was the case with new models constructed for divine providence and design in God’s creation. Suggested preliminary reading: John Hedley Brooke, Science and religion: some historical perspectives (1991), chapters 2 and 4. The interrelationship of ‘science’ and ‘religion’ from the scientific revolution to today A significant part of this lecture will be devoted to the various sources of the ‘conflict thesis’ which came into prominence during the late 19th century. From the 17th century a crucial paradigm change had come with the advent of the historical sciences, culminating in the sciences of geology and evolutionary biology, epitomized by scientists of the calibre of Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin. These created new problems both for the interpretation of Scripture and for the survival of natural theology, which for much of the 18th and early 19th centuries, had bound both natural philosophy and natural history to theological discourse. The diversity of religious responses to Darwin will be emphasized, the influence of local circumstances often playing a key role. Some recent attempts to resuscitate natural theology on the basis of 20th-century scientific innovations


will also be considered. Suggested preliminary reading: John Hedley Brooke, Science and religion: some historical perspectives (1991), chapters 6–8.

Professor Philip Clayton

Realism and explanation in the sciences and theology Both scientists and religious believers make truth-claims, and both seek to explain key features of their experience. But do the similarities end there? ‘Separationists’ claim that the subject matter of science and that of religion are so different that virtually no common ground exists between them on these topics. ‘ Conflict theories’ admit common ground, but they then argue that one side wins. For example, some scientists claim that only scientific theories can be interpreted realistically and that only science offers adequate explanations.

In this lecture we will test separationist and conflict theories by trying to establish the other conclusion, the ‘integrationist’ approach. We will try to establish a single theory of realism and of explanation that applies to both science and theology, with the hope of overcoming conflict and incommensurability. Although this is a valuable project, we will be forced in the end to acknowledge some irreducible differences that limit the scope of the integrationist project. Scientific laws, causation, and God’s action in the world Perhaps no claim in more central to Christianity than the assertion that God at least sometimes acts providentially on our behalf. Thus it is a matter of great concern when many philosophers of science maintain that the methods and/or the results of science rule out any action of God in the world, or at least any action subsequent to the moment of creation. Many believe that the dialogue between science and religion reaches a complete stalemate when it comes to this topic — or they believe that their views are completely right and that the other side is absurdly irrational not to acknowledge this fact.

In this lecture we explore three strategies that have some prospect for overcoming this impasse: (1) rethinking the nature of scientific laws; (2) presenting a more complex, and hence more adequate, theory of causation; and (3) developing alternative accounts of the nature of God’s action in the world. I will argue that significant progress can be and has been made beyond the impasse. As we survey the strongest theories of divine action that have been advanced over the last several decades, we will discover what appears to be an inherent limit on bridging attempts of this sort. We conclude by asking whether this limit follows directly from the respective natures of science and Christianity or whether it may be overcome at some time in the future.

Dr Lydia Jaeger

Facts, theories, and knowledge in science and theology The lecture examines the status of scientific facts and theories from a Christian perspective. The biblical worldview affirms scientific knowledge, while highlighting its limited, situated, and personal character. Some developments in 20th-century science and epistemology confirm such an understanding of scientific knowledge. Of particular relevance here are the failure of logical empiricism and Kuhnian, Polanyian, and presuppositional epistemologies.

The lecture first applies these general considerations to debates about methodological naturalism and origins, where a better understanding of scientific methodology offers some orientation. It then elaborates a non reductionnist, multidimensional model of scientific methodologies (taking up intimations from Herman Dooyeweerd and Michael Polanyi). This model provides the background for a brief comparison of the way in which knowledge is achieved in natural science and in (Christian) theology. The multidimensional model of scientific methodologies receives support from philosophical and scientific arguments for the impossibility of reducing the understanding of humans to natural scientific explanations.


Professor David Livingstone

Debating Darwin: place, politics, and polemics This lecture examines the role of place, politics, and polemics in the way religious communities engaged with Darwin’s theory of evolution in different venues — Edinburgh, Belfast, Columbia, and Princeton — during the decades around 1900. By examining the particular circumstances surrounding Darwinian deliberations in these localities it becomes clear that what looks like a science–religion altercation often turns out to be about other matters: anxieties over the control of higher education, views about the politics of race relations, challenges to traditional cultural identity, or attitudes to biblical criticism. Attending to such particularities is intended to subvert the perennial inclination of many to speak of the relationship between science and religion and to draw attention to the cultural dimensions of science–religion dialogues. By focusing on this particular episode I hope to illustrate something of how science, religion, politics, culture, and rhetoric are intimately interwoven.

Science, Scripture and the search for Adam and Eve In one way or another, Adam and Eve continue to play a crucial role in thinking about human origins. Palaeoanthropologists use the latest techniques from genetics to identify the earliest humans — often referred to as Mitochondrial Eve or Y-chromose Adam. At the same time, theologians continue to debate the meaning of the creation narrative in scripture, and its significance for understanding the nature of the human. In this lecture I examine something of the history of the idea of Adam as the progenitor of the human race, and the ways in which the traditional monogenetic belief has been perennially challenged, not least within the Christian tradition itself. In this narrative I hope to reveal the complex ways in which these proposals were intertwined with matters of cultural history, biblical hermeneutics, racial politics, civic governance, the shifting boundaries of the heretical, and strategies to harmonize scripture and science.

Professor Alister McGrath

Aggressive atheism past and present: its sources This lecture considers the background to the rise of the ‘New Atheism’, with particular reference to Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. It locates them on a broader map of cultural anxieties and concerns, and explores how their specific criticisms of religion and their proposed alternatives fit into a wider pattern. Although attention will be paid to specific issues linked with the New Atheism, the focus of this lecture will be to position the movement, especially in relation to the ‘warfare’ narrative of science and religion.

Science and the nature of God: Trinity, relationality, and ontology This lecture opens up a wide discussion about the explanatory capacity of theism in general, and Christianity in particular, focusing on how its intellectual framework accounts for the successes and limits of the natural sciences. Particular attention will be paid to distinguishing between deism, theism, and Trinitarianism, and to exploring how these different frameworks interact with the dialogue between science and religion.

The fall and rise of natural theology This lecture explores what is meant by natural theology, identifying and assessing five approaches to the topic. We then consider the rise of natural theology in the 17th and 18th centuries, looking especially at the cultural factors that led to its emergence, and its apologetic credentials. We shall consider a number of leading representatives of natural theology — such as William Paley — before moving on to consider what place natural theology might have in present discussions about the rationality of religious belief, and especially its interactions with the natural sciences.


Dr Stanley P. Rosenberg

Augustine’s beginning: the creating and desacralizing of nature and the problem of evil In his largest commentary on Genesis, de Genesi ad litteram, Augustine decisively set aside the neoplatonic vision of the Cosmos and the enchanted world of late antiquity. A profound revolution in his thought evolved which had major implications for the development of the West and its attitudes towards nature and the natural world (notably shaping early modern sciences and the tradition of thought leading up to the 16th- and 17th-century developments). The commentary signals a sea change that might be described as a Christianization of the cosmos, as it more thoroughly implemented the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo; it desacralized and demystified nature, making it into an contingent, objective, rational structure subject to coherent and intelligible reason. It also has implications for thinking through the problem of evil, as he profoundly revised his understanding of problem of evil on the basis of his cosmological thinking, offering a metaphysical response described as a privation approach. This move is critical for more recent understandings of evolution as it raises a major concern: can his privation account of evil engage with an understanding of nature which understands the latter to be 'red in tooth and claw' from the outset?

Professor Keith Ward

Science and religion among the world faiths A new feature of religious life is that each faith can now be seen in a global context, but each faith needs to respond to new knowledge made possible by the natural sciences. A four-fold typology (admittedly rather over-generalized) of world faiths is suggested: dualist (Indian), monist (East Asian), idealist (Indian), and theistic (Abrahamic). The ways in which each stream of religious thought relates to modern science are explored. There are many anti-scientific movements within each stream, but also possibilities of reformulation and integration. Examples will show how religious thought is, at least in parts, becoming more globally and scientifically aware.

On a theology of nature A ‘theology of nature’ will be distinguished from ‘natural theology’. Contemporary movements of eco-theology and deep ecology will be analysed, with special reference to the work of Arne Naess, and the challenge of ecological paganism to Christian tradition will be examined. It will be argued that reverence for nature is not appropriate, given an evolutionary perspective of nature ‘red in tooth and claw’, but that reverence for the Author of nature is of great moral importance. This will involve consideration of the Christian moral tradition of Natural Law, which needs — so it will be argued — to be developed in a more personalist and creative, and less purely biological and conservative, direction.

Do science and religion progress? Progress is understood as the expansion or deepening of knowledge and understanding. Science certainly progresses at an ever-increasing rate. Whether the ‘scientific worldview’ is progress or not is disputed. A distinction between science (natural knowledge) and the humanities (personal knowledge) will be drawn, and a related distinction between nomological and axiological explanation. The notion of progress in knowledge of human values is disputed (compare the philosopher John Gray — Straw Dogs’— and John Stuart Mill). Recent work by the Stanford historian Ian Morris on the evolution of human values will be assessed. It will be argued that values are incommensurable, and it only makes sense to speak of progress within one accepted set of values. In that sense, progress in religion is possible, but always fragile and never inevitable. This reflects the ancient ambiguity in Christianity between millenarianism and hope for a ‘growing Kingdom’ in the world. It is because religion is essentially concerned with values that there is a basic disanalogy between science and religion on this topic.


Professor Rene van Woudenberg

Naturalism and the limits of science Naturalism entails a firm commitment to science. However, science is, in a number of respects, limited. There are certain questions that it cannot answer, we seem to know things in ways that are uninformed by science, and in order to do science, non-scientific knowledge is required. And there are further limitations. I will argue that where science finds its limits, theistic belief may well progress, without thereby becoming irrational or irresponsible.

Theories in science and theology In both science and theology theories are offered. But what roles are theories supposed to play? One important task for theories is that they explain phenomena. However, explanations come in a wide variety of sorts. Some explanations identify the causes of certain phenomena, whereas others identify the function of certain phenomena. I will present five scientific explanations of phenomena and five theological explanations, in order to see how they compare. Finally I will propose a principle of total explanation in which both scienctific and theistic considerations come together

Duke Humfrey's Library, Oxford


LECTURE ABSTRACTS 2016: SCIENCES

Dr Ruth Bancewicz Translating life sciences and religion for the general public We are all familiar with the challenges of speaking about biology and religion—particularly Christian faith - outside of the academic arena. It’s challenging enough teaching a class of students, many of whom may have been taught to be suspicious of evolutionary biology, but what about bringing the same content to the church or the media? Dr Bancewicz has wrestled with this challenge for over ten years. In this workshop she will explain the approach that she has developed, which is to focus on the positive relationship between science and faith, and the new and exciting questions that emerge when biology meets Christianity. How can we worship God with science? What can we learn about God from biology? In particular, she will describe her experience in running the ‘Test of FAITH’, ‘God in the Lab’, and ‘Wonders of the Living World’ projects, asking how can we start new and helpful discussions on science and faith in our churches and beyond.

Dr Claudia Beversluis and Dr Mark Sargent

Faith and science on campus These three workshops, located within the concluding week of this project, are designed to help you consolidate your thoughts from the summer sessions and to prepare to lead new efforts to bridge faith and science on your campus. We want you to draw on your disciplinary experience and the innovative edges of your current research. We will draw as well upon your broader vision for how Christians should engage scientific questions and challenges with more courage, knowledge, and discernment. This project, we hope, has enriched that vision, and we will no doubt clarify our own hopes and sharpen our goals as we hear from one another about your own sense of calling to this area of work. At the same time, we desire to think strategically and practically about how innovations can take seed on your campus. We will be considering how the cultures of higher education and specific ethos of your campus — the theological tradition, interdisciplinary history, and protocols of governance and planning — need to be addressed so that you can pursue your goals for faith and science at your institution. Our hope is that the workshops will equip you to fulfil some of your goals in your specific context while they collectively embolden all of us to expand our sights for the blend of faith and science in the church and academy. Session 1: Your calling, your campus The goal of this session will be to harness our thinking about faith and science work and to identify your specific goals. Some of the questions we will consider are: • What are the foremost issues and challenges that the church and academy need to address in

the faith and science collaboration? • What is your vision for faith and science on your campus? Why should your institution be

engaged in this work? What are your talking points for why your institution should be engaged in this work?

• How would you describe the current conversations about faith and science in your context? • What is your vision for where these conversations will be five years from now? Session 2: Your partners, your programmes This workshop will be a continuation of the conversation from the morning, with an additional focus on institutional partners and stakeholders. Together we will identify current and future critical and controversial issues. We will review best practices in approaching conflict (e.g. conducting crucial conversations) and creating synergy. We will rely on the research that some of


you have done on the factors (emotional, intellectual, spiritual) that motivate resistance to change. Some of the outcomes of this session will be to:

• Identify potential partners on your campus in faith and science work. Discuss how tobring them into collaboration with you.

• Identify potential programmes on your campus (e.g., chapels, lectures, student lifeactivities, etc.) where faith and science might be better integrated. What already availablevenues and programmes can be leveraged to help you support this work on your campus?What new venues should be developed? Discuss how to engage the gatekeepers of theseprogrammes.

• Identify ways of working with grant officers and other faculty to seek further resources tosustain the work.

• Develop several talking points for your conversation with the president later in the week.

Session 3: Our students, their future What are the ways we should be preparing students to engage faith and science questions in a secular or pluralistic environment? How might we predict the primary challenges for these students? How do we relate the knowledge and skills from this seminar to the teaching challenges ahead of us? This final workshop will build on participants’ expertise and experience, but is likely to include discussion of how to

• Use the classroom and the faith and science club to prepare students to become catalystsin their churches, organizations, and academies.

• Understand the research on cognitive and emotional styles related to faith and science.• Strengthen students’ skills of worldview analysis, ethical decision making, and managing

disagreement.• Help students develop the vocation of ‘bridging’ the gaps in their own places and time.

Dr Michael Burdett

Theology and the future of human becoming It is no secret that our world has become irrevocably transformed by technology. Technology seems to be transforming not only our surrounding world but ourselves along with it and is leading to great speculation about the future of human becoming. With such far-ranging advances in medical technology, information technology, and biotechnology come an equally difficult set of ethical and theological issues. This presentation will outline some of these ethical issues such as the distinction between therapy and enhancement and the various arguments used for and against the use of technology for enhancement purposes. Furthermore, the presentation will address the theological issues surrounding the eruption of sophisticated ideologies such as transhumanism that spring from the enhancement debates.

Rev. Professor Alasdair Coles

Neuroscience, free will, and the Christian faith Many neuroscientists will claim there is empirical evidence, such as the Libet experiment, that free will is an illusion. ‘We feel we choose, but we don’t,’ says Patrick Haggard, at University College London. ‘You may have thought you decided whether to have tea or coffee this morning, for example, but the decision may have been made long before you were aware of it.’ This is part of a wider movement that says, quoting Sam Harris, that ‘all of our behaviour can be traced to biological events about which we have no conscious knowledge’. We will examine the science behind these claims and then turn to the picture of humanity in the Christian tradition. A striking concordance emerges, as we see humans in the predicament of significant biological and cultural determinism, partially liberated by the capacity to ruminate and imagine. And all is explained by cricket.


Dr Helen De Cruz

Paleoanthropology, animals, and human uniqueness In this lecture, I will examine the question of human uniqueness using scientific findings from paleoanthropology and the study of animal minds and behaviours. For a long time, humans assumed they were unique and distinct from the rest of creation. Their privileged position was exemplified by the theological concept of the image of God (imago Dei). Scientific findings on animal behaviour, including social cognition and helping behaviour, and paleoanthropological findings that show a gradual emergence of human-specific capacities, and a presence of such capacities in non-human animals, have challenged this view. In this presentation, we will examine how theological anthropological views can accommodate these findings. The cognitive science of religion This lecture provides an overview of the cognitive science of religion. Since the 17th century, philosophers have provided natural histories of religion which aimed to explain religious beliefs using naturalistic means. The cognitive science of religion emerged in the 1980s as a contemporary version of this endeavour. Cognitive scientists of religion attempt to explain religious beliefs using tools of cognitive science. We will also examine whether theological beliefs can be explained in terms of the cognitive science of religion.

Dr Elaine Ecklund

Scientists and faith around the world: a social scientific perspective More than 5.8 billion of the world’s 7 billion people claim some religious affiliation, and most developed or developing economies are trying to grow their scientific infrastructure. Yet media pundits and scholars alike often see science as being in conflict with religion and the primary cause of secularization. Scholars argue that religion hinders the progress and acceptance of science in the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia. Until now, however, no research has addressed how scientists around the world view religion and how religion influences scientists in different national contexts. With the support of a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Elaine Howard Ecklund has completed (in 2011‒15) the most comprehensive cross-national study of scientists’ attitudes towards religion and spirituality ever undertaken. Ecklund and her team surveyed 22,525 scientists (with 9,422 responding) and interviewed 609 of the respondents in France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Ecklund will present both quantitative and qualitative data from this research, providing a new understanding of how scientists approach religion.

Dr David Lahti

Can Christian values survive evolutionary analysis? Human behavioural ecology and evolutionary anthropology present an increasingly nuanced but pervasive view of the evolution of the human mind and behaviour. Modern biology requires us to take seriously the idea that our brains are as much a product of evolution as the rest of our bodies and indeed the rest of life. This perspective, of course, casts into sharp relief the question of how to think about the ‘twin pillars’ of human uniqueness and civil society: religion and morality. For instance, what does a thorough evolutionary understanding do to a traditional Christian conception of goodness and other moral values? Serious treatments of such questions become all the more pressing as we are surrounded by superficial knee-jerk treatments of them, including prominent evolutionary biologists ridiculing religious belief, prominent Christians rejecting and misunderstanding evolution, and media outlets using sloppy deterministic language regarding evolution and genetics. Two understandable responses to this situation involve either promoting scepticism about the evolutionary understanding of humanity, or exploring a revisionist theology that loosens up the foundations of morality as traditionally conceived. The first option is precarious, the second is drastic, and moreover both of them assume that the relationship between


the strongest evolutionary account of morality and the traditional Christian one is mainly antagonistic. Ironically, although some weaker or prima facie friendlier evolutionary accounts of morality can easily be perceived as somewhat compromising or threatening to Christian morality, the strongest one, the one most deeply rooted in behavioural ecology and Darwinian evolutionary theory, is arguably compatible with the fundamental Christian conception of morality. For someone embracing both faith and evolution, laying these two halves of the overall account next to each other can be mutually enlightening and inspiring.

Professor John Lennox

Engaging the academy on the books of God This lecture will reflect on personal experience of various forms of engaging the academy in the Science‒Religion‒New Atheism debate in terms both of content and methodology. In terms ofcontent we shall look at the possibility of profitable cross-fertilization between the book of God’s works and the book of God’s word and ask whether the flow can be two-way, one-way, or not at all, particularly in terms of future research programmes. In terms of methodology we shall consider debate, moderated discussion, lecture, and question-and-answer sessions.

Professor Alister McGrath

The future of science and religion This lecture sets out a personal overview of the field of Science and Religion, exploring the major themes of the dialogue between the natural sciences and the Christian faith. The lecture identifies and examines some of the major debates and discussions in the field, including those in the disciplines of intellectual history and philosophy, reflecting on their broader significance. It also engages the question of whether the field of ‘Science and Religion’ really designates a coherent research field. Finally, the lecture considers how Christians working in the sciences can further their own reflections on the relationship of science and faith, by developing intellectual frameworks that can inform our understanding of the relation of science and faith.

Professor Tom McLeish

An approach to a theology of science via Old Testament wisdom—and how the humanities narrate science Changing the leading question from one of reconciling scientific and theological world views to a more teleological approach, asking what science is for theologically, opens up a rich tradition of Biblical material to the task. The Wisdom corpus suggests one of the courses of ancient natural philosophy, highlighted by, for example, the detailed nature metaphors in the book of Job. A Wisdom approach to a theology of science also speaks to the duality of humanities and sciences today in fresh ways.

Professor Michael Northcott

Creation care in the anthropocene The atmospheric physicist Paul Crutzen was the first to argue in 2000 that human influence on the planet is now so extensive that we have become a geological force whose earth-shaping interventions will be discernible in sedimentary rock strata from the industrial era to future humans. Scientists have established an international stratigraphic commission to investigate whether the earth has now moved into a new epoch — the Anthropocene — as a result of the range of human interventions whose effects are discernible in rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in radioactive isotopes in soils from 20th-century nuclear tests, in plastics in the ocean, and in melting glaciers in the Himalayas and Greenland. The commission is due to report in July 2016. So great are human interventions in the Earth System that human decisions and practices determine which


species will endure, and which be extinguished, what climate the earth’s inhabitants will experience in the future. Crutzen argued in his original proposal that given the extent of human influence and its discernible signs throughout the planet, scientists and technicians need to be given more powers and resources in order to direct their fellow humans in their interactions with the atmosphere, the oceans, forests, rocks, soils, and other kind towards an intentional earth future. Crutzen’s proposal represents an enhancement of a Baconian world-view in which humans now consciously take charge of the Earth System as a ‘vast machine’. In this lecture Michael Northcott argues that a theological reading of the rise of human influence on the Earth System takes a markedly different direction. In Genesis, and in the cosmological Christology of the Apostle Paul, human beings have since their origins had the power to shape the destiny of all life on earth, but it is a power that they have mostly misused to the detriment of their relations with one another and with other kind. For Teilhard de Chardin and for Thomas Berry the Incarnation of Christ inaugurated in history a new form of dominion on earth, which was that of a servant messiah and not an all-powerful emperor. This contrast between Messianic and imperial rule offers a distinctive spiritual contribution to the mode of governance and responsibility for other life that humans are divinely commissioned, in Christ, to adopt. Against the advocacy of the Anthropocene as a time of renewed technical and scientific dominion, this theological conception of the new time of human-earth system influence suggests the need for a gentler, less invasive and more ecologically and spiritually sensitive relation with the other creatures and the habitats humans share with them.

Dr Andrew Pinsent

‘I count, therefore I am?’ Humane uses and inhumane abuses of physics-inspired thinking Precision measurement is a specialty of the contemporary world, with measuring in general accorded a privileged status as the gold standard for ascertaining truth. Indeed, the habit of measurement dominates science and overshadows the humanities to the point that what is measured, namely quantity, has practically displaced consideration of what things are. As W.V. Quine expressed this perspective, ‘To be is to be the value of a variable.’ How did this transformation come about, is it justified, and what are the implications for understanding the world, ourselves, and our relations to other persons, human or divine? In this lecture, Dr Andrew Pinsent, formerly a particle physicist at the CERN laboratory and now a priest, philosopher and theologian, traces the role played by physics. He argues that the undoubted success of physics should not obscure what it cannot do, or cause us to forget Aristotle’s insight that there are many ways in which a thing is said to be.

Dr Stanley P. Rosenberg

2 cultures or 2n cultures? Identifying and navigating uneasy alliances When C.P. Snow offered his famous lecture in 1959, there were all sorts of fragmentation lines to be found. He focused on a few. More existed, and many more arguably exist now. While it is rhetorically easier to present a conflict between two opponents (in his case, the sciences and humanities), history is not always so neat. Sometimes these sorts of reductions are helpful devises to focus the mind. Snow’s was. Other reductions are less useful or are outright harmful (e.g. Draper and White’s utterly misleading 19th-century portrayal of a bi-polar conflict of science and religion). We often hear that ideas have consequences but they also, and maybe even more profoundly, have a context and so culture is all important to the generations of knowledge. The cultures that shape the relationship between the sciences and the humanities and more particularly the sciences and religion are shaped by a multiplicity of particular histories and cultures: local scientific traditions; particular sciences and their own histories; the scale of investment and sources of funding in research and higher education; differing theological traditions; and differing rationales for the founding of institutions (private colleges, land-grant universities, normal or teacher colleges, mission schools, Bible schools, divinity schools, etc.). Many of these have found ways to accommodate each other on the same campus but such accommodations are not


necessarily simple or routine. This lecture will present a study of key cultures shaping higher education in the United States more generally which have impacted contemporary science and religion debates more specifically. This leads into a conversation of how we can effectively enhance science and religion discussions in the polychromatic nature of our contemporary educational culture—whether in the US, Canada, Latin America, Africa, or even the UK!

Professor Jeffrey Schloss

Evolution, providence, and the problem of natural evil Evolutionary theory appears to complicate that ancient theological problem of natural evil in several ways. On the one hand, it seems to exacerbate the problem not just by illuminating the extensiveness but more importantly by emphasizing the crucial role of suffering and death in the origin of life’s diversity. Moreover natural selection appears to restrict if not eliminate the possibility of altruism or natural beneficence. Huxleyan nature does not just contain but is essentially characterized by evil. On the other hand, some claim that evolution reduces the challenge of natural evil and provides resources for theodicy by alleviating God of direct responsibility or by providing compensatory benefits. This lecture will assess the scientific basis of the first claim and the philosophical basis of the second claim, arguing that—like the world itself—the implications of evolution for the problem of evil are more ambiguous than polarized assertions allow.

Evolutionary theories of moral cognition, human exceptionalism and the question of moral realism This talk will review contemporary theoretical and empirical work on the evolution of morality—including important recent studies of the role of religion in moral behaviour. We will assess three historically and presently polarized debates: (1) Does natural selection provide an adequate explanation for the origin of moral cognition or central tendencies in moral beliefs? (2) Do comparative empirical observations substantiate a rejection of human moral exceptionalism? (3) Does an evolutionary account of morality challenge either the existence of universal and objective moral facts or warrant for believing in such facts? I will suggest that although moral cognition bears the stamp of an evolutionary process, it is not (or not yet) fully accounted for by natural selection. Moreover, there are widely accepted empirical grounds for affirming human uniqueness, while also rejecting the idealist construal of moral goodness as wholly disembodied. Finally, while there are strictly biological reasons for questioning evolutionary arguments for moral relativism, ‘evolutionary debunking’ arguments of moral knowledge constitute serious challenges given evolutionary naturalism.

Dr Ignacio Silva

Science and religion in the Latin American context In their introduction to the volume Science and religion around the world, John Hedley Brooke and Ronald Numbers show how their goal in producing such a collection was to highlight that the wide range of possible relations arising from different cultures in different locations, which makes it ‘particularly desirable to look at Science and Religion not parochially but around the world’. They affirm that all these possibilities will only be revealed ‘through the examination of diverse locations and traditions’. By the end of their introductory remarks to the volume, they state their hopes that it will help the development of a ‘heightened sense of the value of plural perspectives and of the importance of location for the construction and perception of science/religion relations’. Latin America is not a region that this volume considers, probably due to the assumption that the region falls under the broad label of Christianity. Even though this is far from being an erroneous assumption, it is also true that Latin America is a particular ground where Christianity met indigenous cultures, interchanging values and practices with them. Moreover, academic traditions in Latin America are also different from that of Europe or even that in the US, having grown as a European offspring but having bred lately with North American scholarly traditions, producing a


unique landscape of higher education institutions. This lecture will aim at highlighting these differences and the proper character of Latin America on issues regarding Science and Religion.

Professor Benno van den Toren An intercultural conversation on science and religion with Christians from French-speaking Africa Debates on the relationship between science and Christian faith have been dominated by Western post-Enlightenment perspectives. In this lecture I explore how the debate plays out in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, where Christian students and academics working out their Christian calling within the university find themselves caught between secular scientific traditions imported by colonial powers, and the continuing influence of a primal worldview in which natural processes are continually influenced by personal supernatural powers. The question is not only how these case studies can help us understand a radically different context from the ones that are most commonly addressed in Christian discourse on science and faith, but also to explore whether such African perspectives can enrich Western debates on science and religion.

Old Bodleian Library


PARTICIPANTS

Dr Joseph Bankard

Associate Professor of Philosophy, Northwest Nazarene University, Idaho, USA

BA (Point Loma Nazarene University), MA (San Diego State University), PhD (Claremont Graduate University)

Dr Joseph Bankard’s research is focused primarily on the interdisciplinary dialogue taking place between science, religion, and morality. He is the author of Universal morality reconsidered: the concept of God (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013) as well as several journal articles including ‘Moral instincts and the problem with reductionism: a critical look at the work of Marc Hauser’, Theology and Science, 9/4 (November 2011); ‘Is Christian hope a form of long term economy? An argument from the writings of Albert Camus?’, in Gift and economy: ethics, hospitality, and the market, ed. Eric R. Severson (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012); and ‘Training emotion helps cultivate morality: how loving-kindness meditation hones compassion and increases prosocial behavior’, Journal of Religion and Health (2015). Dr Bankard also serves as philosophy department chair at Northwest Nazarene University.

Project: The science of Christian virtue There is a strong connection between neurological states, affect-laden intuitions, and moral judgements. In order to increase moral behaviour and cultivate Christian virtue, one must effectively train intuitions and moral emotions through habituation. The current project will focus on cultivating the virtues of humility and forgiveness.

Professor Bernard Boyo

Dean and Professor of Bible and Theology, Daystar University, Kenya

BTh (Ontario Bible College/Scott Theological College), MDiv (Nairobi International School of Theology), MTh (Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology), PhD (Fuller Theological Seminary)

Dr Bernard Boyo teaches in the areas of Bible and theology as well as hermeneutics and contextualization at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. He has been a facilitator and speaker at seminars and conferences on theological, social, and political issues and has with spoken at churches throughout Africa and the USA. He has carried out international collaborative research and participated in social, theological, and Christian forums and academic workshops. His research interests include public theology, culture, economic and socio-political impacts on suffering communities, and religion’s role and response.


Project: The integration of science and religion in traditional healing (ethno-medicine) and faith-based healing This research project seeks to do a hermeneutical analysis of scripture on healing and how the Bible can be integrated with science to ascertain the use of ethno-medicine as a valid healing method. It will explore the question ‘Considering that modern medicine, through scientific processes, is mainly drawn from natural materials such as plants, can science help ascertain the viability of ethno-medicine for the African context?’ The aim of the project is to look for ways in which science and religion can dialogue in the African context to provide for holistic healing.

Dr Patricia Bruininks Associate Professor of Psychology, Whitworth University, Washington, USA BA (Hope College), MS (University of Oregon), PhD (University of Oregon)

Dr Patricia Bruininks is a social psychologist who studies the emotion of hope. She was an assistant professor at Hendrix College from 2002 to 2007 before becoming an associate professor at Whitworth University in 2007 and department chair in 2012. Her research addresses definitional and measurement issues regarding the emotion of hope, and she has examined psychological differences between optimism, hopefulness, and hoping, and how these distinct states are affected by negative and positive information about an anticipated outcome. She is currently studying the psychological effects of living in a consumer culture and how they affect the experience of optimism and hope; she is also interested in how self-compassion and self-esteem relate to materialistic values and desires, optimism, and hope. Project: Views of the self, materialism, and the experience of hope This project examines how views of the self engendered by our consumeristic culture affect hope and optimism. By providing goods to cure and prevent our ills, and by directing us to solve our own problems, our individualistic consumeristic culture diminishes opportunities to dwell in suffering and thus ‘learn’ how to hope. This project focuses on further understanding how our culture discourages receiving God’s grace of hope by the way it encourages us to see ourselves as self-reliant.


Professor Adam arap Chepkwony Professor of Religion, University of Kabianga, Kenya BA (Houghton College), MA (Asbury Theological Seminary), Dip Ed (University of Nairobi), Higher Dip (Psychological Counselling) (Kenya Institute of Professional Counseling), PhD (Moi University)

Dr Adam arap Chepkwony is Vice President of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians and a member of other professional bodies. He has written five books and over 30 journal articles, chapters in books, and entries in encyclopaedias. He has received the International Society for Science and Religion’s Library Project Award (2011), the Metanexus Institute’s The Local Societies Initiative Award (2004) and Local Societies Initiative Supplementary Award (2005), and the Science and Religion Course Competition Award from the Center of Theology and Natural Sciences, Berkeley, California (2002). Project: Healing in African Christianity: the interface between religion and science Healing is of paramount importance in any African community. This research project will investigate the place of healing as understood in African Christianity especially by selected churches. It will also assess the attitude of African Christians towards the relationship between religion and science.

Dr Stephen M. Contakes Associate Professor of Chemistry, Westmont College, California, USA BS (Lehigh University), BS (Lehigh University), PhD (University of Illinois)

Dr Stephen Contakes joined the Westmont chemistry faculty after completing BS degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering at Lehigh University, a PhD in inorganic chemistry at the University of Illinois, and postdoctoral studies in biophysical bioinorganic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. He teaches courses on topics including chemistry, culture, and society, and a seminar on chemistry and Christianity. His scientific research interests include the synthesis and characterization of inorganic and organometallic compounds with interesting redox properties and the preparation of photoactive nanoparticles for the remediation of persistent inorganic pollutants. He is also interested in the current and past relationship between Christianity, chemistry, and society, which he has explored in articles in the philosophy of chemistry and Science and Religion literature. Project: Atoms, alchemy, and the chemical arts in Christian thought and practice: preliminary enquiries relevant to the development of a framework for thinking about chemistry and the Christian faith The project aims to examine how several Christian thinkers in the medieval West engaged alchemical matter theory and to ask whether those encounters might help to illuminate the


relationship between contemporary chemistry and Christian thought. The specific issues to be considered include the use of alchemy as a resource for theology by the 13th-century medieval thinkers Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure, Aquinas, and Roger Bacon; the 14th-century critical evaluation and appropriation of alchemy by Pope John XXII, the Franciscan John of Rupescissa, and the putative 14th-century physician Peter Bonus; and the development and interpretation of alchemical Christologies by early modern scientists such as Jan Baptist Van Helmont, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton.

Dr Steven F. Donaldson Professor of Computer Science, Samford University, Alabama, USA BS (Samford University), BS (University of Alabama), MS (University of Alabama, PhD (University of Alabama)

Dr Steve Donaldson is director of the computer science programme and co-director of the computational biology programme at Samford University. He also teaches in the university’s fellows programme and Science and Religion programme and is a co-founder of the Samford University Center for Science and Religion. His interests in cognition, models of intelligence, autonomous systems, self-organization and emergence, and the interface of science and religion have led him to pursue a number of interdisciplinary teaching and research opportunities. His current research focuses on simulating the evolution of neural architectures as a gateway to plausible insights into the relationship between randomness and divine providence. Some of his latest research has been focused on simulating the evolution of neural architectures as a gateway to plausible insights into the relationship between randomness and divine providence. His recent book Dimensions of faith (Cascade, 2015) examines the concept of faith through the lens of Science and Religion. A little book for new scientists (co-authored with the theologian Josh Reeves) is due out in October 2016 (InterVarsity Press). Project: Simulated brains, artificial minds, and the image of God Attempts within a theistic context to understand the products of biological evolution at any stage in history, coupled with the prospects of technological enhancements that affect the evolutionary process, raise significant questions about the specific attributes of creatures that God might consider acceptable with respect to a divine human relationship. At first the challenge may seem formidable for traditional Christian theology, but the biblical injunction to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) suggests that God’s plan was always a moving target. In this project I am exploring how a growing understanding of the nature of evolutionary processes (including predictive capabilities and the emergence of complex entities), coupled with advances in artificial intelligence and progress towards machine consciousness, provide important new material for framing thoughts about providential action, the divine–human relation, and what it means to be made in the image of God.


Dr Mark A. Eaton Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University, California, USA BA (Whitworth College), MA (Boston University), PhD (Boston University)

Dr Mark Eaton is Professor of English at Azusa Pacific University, where he teaches American literature and film studies. He is co-editor of The gift of story: narrating hope in a postmodern world (Baylor University Press, 2006) and a contributor to A companion to the modern American novel, 1900–1950 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), A companion to film comedy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), and Screenwriting (Rutgers University Press, 2014). His book Suspending disbelief: religion and American fiction since 1950 is forthcoming, and he is currently working on a book to be titled What price Hollywood? Project: American literary supernaturalism 1875–1925 This project will examine a period, between 1875 and 1925, when philosophical naturalism did not yet completely dominate the sciences, and science and religion were not necessarily seen as incompatible. On the contrary, many intellectuals at the time sought to use science to explore the supernatural. Indeed, this project will demonstrate that at the turn of the century, many intellectuals also gave credence to telepathy, divination, and other examples of what they called ‘mysticism’ — evidence, they said, of the supernatural world beyond the senses.

Dr Laird R. O. Edman Professor of Psychology, Northwestern College, Iowa, USA BA (Luther College), MA (University of Notre Dame), PhD (University of Minnesota)

Dr Laird Edman holds the Northwestern College endowed chair. He specializes in the cognitive science of religion, the integration of faith and learning, psychology and critical thinking, and personal epistemological development. His PhD in educational psychology focused on cognition and learning, and he holds graduate degrees in counselling psychology and English literature. He has published research in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and has presented over 80 papers, workshops, and seminars at the annual conferences of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Conference of Psychological Science, and at universities throughout the USA. Dr Edman has taught at Iowa State University, Waldorf College, and Luther College. He holds Teacher of the Year awards from Waldorf College and Iowa State University and was the 2008 recipient of Northwestern University’s Teaching Excellence Award.


Project: An exploration of how the cognitive science of religion can inform Christian practice and spiritual formation This project is primarily a ‘translation project’. I hope to translate the current state of research and theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion for use in Christian practice. That is, my assumption is that examining how intuitive cognitive architecture leads to particular kinds of religious beliefs and practices cross-culturally can inform our understanding of how to plan and engage in spiritual formation and worship. We should be able to take advantage of as well as be careful about the ways in which human minds work in Christian practices.

Dr Carlos Migel Gómez Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (CETRE), Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia BA (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá), BA (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá), MA (University of Lancaster), PhD (Goethe Universität, Frankfurt)

Dr Carlos Miguel Gómez’s main areas of research include the epistemology of religion (particularly the rationality of religious belief), as well as the normative conditions for interreligious and intercultural dialogue and the transformations of religion in contemporary societies. Among his publications are the books La religión en la sociedad postsecular (Universidad del Rosario, 2014), Interculturality, rationality and dialogue: in search for intercultural argumentative criteria for Latin America (Echter, 2012), and Diálogo interreligioso: el problema de su base común (Universidad del Rosario, 2008). Project: Religious and metaphysical presuppositions of current social sciences theories: the case of the socio-constructivist paradigm My project aims to explore a possible dialogue scenario between contemporary social sciences and religion, by means of a critical discussion of three principles that are taken for granted and that direct theory building in the so-called socio-constructivist paradigm: (1) contingency, (2) non-rational agency, and (3) the power of human self-creation.


Dr Randolph Haluza-DeLay Associate Professor of Sociology, The King’s University, Alberta, Canada BSc (University of Montana), BSc (University of Montana), MA (University of Alberta), PhD (University of Western Ontario)

Dr Randolph Haluza-DeLay has published over 40 academic journal articles and book chapters, and has co-edited Speaking for ourselves: environmental justice in Canada (University of British Columbia Press, 2009) and How the world’s religions are responding to climate change: social science investigations (Routledge, 2014). His PhD is in education, and he also holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a master’s in recreation. His research focuses on social movements, religion and the environment, environmental education, and the cultural politics of sustainability. He is also active in peace and anti-racism initiatives and interfaith dialogue. Baptized a Roman Catholic as an adult, he participates in an Anabaptist (Mennonite) congregation in Edmonton. Project: When the sacred canopy burns: climate change science and religious engagement Although for physical scientists, the changing climate is well established, it has been quite contested socio-polically. That includes contestation among religious people, although more for some than for others. My research will examine how science is presented and what role it plays in a diversity of religious considerations of climate change, particularly in interfaith climate activism.

Dr Jonathan P. Hill Associate Professor of Sociology, Calvin College, Michigan, USA BA (Grove City College), MA (University of Notre Dame), PhD (University of Notre Dame)

Dr Jonathan P. Hill is Associate Professor of Sociology at Calvin College. He directs the National Study of Religion and Human Origins and is author of Emerging adulthood and faith (Calvin College Press, 2015) and co-author of Young Catholic America: emerging adults in, out of, and gone from the church (Oxford University Press, 2014). His scholarship is concerned with the relationship of religious pluralism to higher education institutions, the religious faith and practice of emerging adults, and the influence of social and religious contexts on beliefs about human origins. He is the recipient of grants from the John Templeton Foundation, Issachar Fund, BioLogos Foundation, Louisville Institute, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Project: Assessing the influence of religion on beliefs about human origins in the US public I am currently working on a book manuscript which focuses on the social sources of beliefs about human origins in the USA. This project uses an original, nationally representative survey of US adults along with data from other existing surveys and semi-structured interviews to examine the impact of family, friends, education, and congregations. I plan to work on chapters that set the historical and theological context for the social scientific findings during my time at Oxford.


Dr Brick Johnstone Professor of Health Psychology, University of Missouri, Missouri, USA BS (Duke University), MS (University of Georgia), PhD (University of Georgia)

Dr Brick Johnstone is a professor and clinical neuropsychologist. He participated in the enquiry into religious experiences and moral identity at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2013–14, which was supported by the John Templeton Foundation. His research interests are primarily in the neuropsychology of spirituality. His collaborative studies with scholars from the humanities have suggested that selflessness, associated with decreased right parietal lobe functioning, is a neuropsychological foundation of transcendence and forgiveness. His other studies suggest that increased left-hemisphere processes form the neuropsychological foundations of other-oriented abilities (e.g. empathy, altruism). He is currently investigating such relationships among persons with traumatic brain injury in the USA (Christian) and India (Hindu, Muslim), the spiritual beliefs of sceptics and agnostics, and hyper-religiosity in persons with intractable epilepsy. Project: Neuropsychology of spiritual transcendence and epilepsy In recent years interest has grown in determining the neurological foundations of spiritual experiences. In essence, individuals are interested in understanding what is happening in the brain when individuals experience spiritual transcendence. Research I have conducted to date suggests that a decreased focus on the self, related to decreased functioning of the right parietal lobe (RPL), serves as the neuropsychological foundation of spiritual. With this in mind, we propose to follow 150 persons with traumatic brain injury over a one-year period to determine the causal mechanisms between RPL-selflessness and transcendence.


Dr Jeongah Kim Associate Professor of Social Work, George Fox University, Oregon, USA BSW (Seoul Theological University), MPA (Eastern Washington University), PhD (Ohio State University)

Dr Jeongah Kim’s research focuses on factors associated with religion, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS, and also addresses challenges related to social welfare policies that are unique to developing nations. She has more than 20 publications in national and international journals and was one of 14 emerging scholars selected for training in a programme sponsored by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which aims to develop a new generation of leaders in the field of addiction. In 2014 she was appointed to the US Department of Health and Human Services Region IV Health Equity Council, which addresses regional health disparities. She is dedicated to social justice and attention to religion in social work and related philosophical, practical, and policy concerns. Project: The meaning of the principle of self-determination in the field of social work The three major purposes of the research are to (1) develop an instrument that measures social work professionals’ understanding of self-determination; (2) examine social work professionals’ understanding of self-determination using a newly developed scale; and (3) explore whether socio-cultural-spiritual characteristics are associated with social work professionals’ perspectives regarding self-determination.

Dr Daniel Kuebler Professor of Biology, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, USA BA (Catholic University of America), MS (Catholic University of America), PhD (University of California, Berkeley)

Dr Daniel Kuebler has served on the faculty at Franciscan University of Steubenville since 2001 and currently teaches courses in evolutionary biology, cell biology, and human physiology. His biological research involves two major projects: understanding the relationship between metabolism and seizure disorders, and examining the effects that various biologics have on human adipose-derived stem cells. He is the co-author of The evolution controversy: a survey of competing theories (Baker Academic, 2007), which critically examines the various theories of evolutionary thought. He has also published popular articles on science, politics, culture, and religion. Project: Convergence in protein evolution and God’s creative providence My project will focus on the biochemical evidence suggesting that evolution is well suited to converge on the protein forms necessary for life. I will argue that in fact, rather than evolution having to blindly search for a needle in a haystack, the robust protein forms upon which life


depends are, in a sense, written into the chemical fabric of the universe. Such a reading of evolution supports a distinct notion of Creation: one in which God instils certain robust possibilities into Creation and then allows Creation the freedom to actualize those possibilities in due time.

Dr Hans Madueme Assistant Professor of Theological Studies, Covenant College, Georgia, USA BS (McGill University), MD (Howard University), MA (Trinity International University), MDiv (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), PhD (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)

Dr Hans Madueme was born in Sweden and grew up in Nigeria and Austria. After studying anatomy and medicine, he completed his residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic. Prior to lecturing in Christian doctrine at Covenant College, he was the Managing Director of the Henry Center for Theological Understanding and the Associate Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His research interests are in systematic theology and the interface between science and theology; his dissertation critically examined proposals to revise hamartiology in light of modern biological perspectives. He recently co-edited the book Adam, the Fall, and original sin (Baker Academic, 2014). Project: The evolution of sin? Sin, theistic evolution, and the biological question — a theological account My project examines the Christian doctrine of sin and its encounter with natural science. I am interested in how modern biology is overturning traditional ways of understanding human sinfulness (especially evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and behavioural genetics). My argument is that a constructive, but not uncritical, retrieval of the Augustinian doctrine of sin, sensitive to theological questions raised by modern biology, still offers the most theologically compelling account of sin for a post-Darwinian age.


Dr April C. Maskiewicz Professor of Biology, Point Loma Nazarene University, California, USA BS (University of California, San Diego), MA (University of California, San Diego), PhD (University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University)

Dr April Maskiewicz focuses on developing more effective approaches for teaching ecology and evolution enabling students to develop not only factual knowledge, but biological ways of thinking and reasoning about the living world. As a Christian biologist trained in science education research, she is able to identify evidence-based approaches to help science students to engage with the science–religion divide. For example, she is studying how to cultivate the virtues of charity and humility among Christians who confront challenging or controversial topics such as evolution or global climate change. Her findings contribute to the scholarly discourse in education on learning in biology and to the development of theory for reconceptualizing biology instruction at Christian universities. She is also active in several professional development projects with schoolteachers as well as university biology staff. Project: Documenting the development of college students’ perceptions about faith and science How can academic staff and mentors within Christian institutions enable science students and students-at-large to engage in the science–religion conversation in a way that deepens their faith and equips them to participate graciously in congregations? When designing curricular and extra-curricular approaches and activities, one of the first steps is to identify students’ existing ideas. This project therefore sets out to answer the following: what are students’ perceptions of the relationship between scientific issues that evoke controversy (i.e. origins, evolution, human origins) and Christian faith, and how do these perceptions change through their college careers?

Dr Federico A. Melendez Dean and Director of the School of Theology, Universidad Mariano Galvez, Guatemala Master of Divinity (Fuller Theological Seminary), Doctor of Ministry (Nazarene Seminary)

Dr Federico Melendez was born and educated in Guatemala as a Roman Catholic but later converted to evangelical Christianity. During his undergraduate studies in California he was inspired by John Wesley’s social ethics to become a socially oriented pastor in order to engage with the issues of poverty and to speak for marginalized people in society, and he was ordained in 1984. He returned to Guatemala and in 2002 was appointed Dean at Universidad Mariano Galvez, where his encounters with university students changed his outlook on the new dialogue between science and faith. Project: The intersection betweeen ideas about human evolution and contemporary theogical elaborations of the nature of evil


Mankind shares with animals and other living creatures genes and chromosomes as part of the evolutionary process of life. Yetwe differ from animals in the size of our brains and the mystery of our mind. Our mind is the highest expression of our evolutionary process, by which God completed his image in us and the knowledge of good and evil became part of our nature.

Dr Amanda J. Nichols Professor of Chemistry, Oklahoma Christian University, Oklahoma, USA BS (Oklahoma Christian University), PhD (Oklahoma State University)

Dr Amanda Nichols has taught chemistry at Oklahoma Christian University since 2008, and also teaches an honours class on science and Christianity. Her doctoral research concerned nanocrystalline materials in inorganic chemistry. Her recent research interests have focused on science education and mentoring female undergraduates studying STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. She looks forward to a forthcoming project which will combine current teaching assignments with work related to her PhD studies. She is a member of the American Chemistry Society and has served as a section chair in recent years. Project: Molecular symmetry and group theory and their functional role in aesthetics Molecules can be classified aesthetically on the basis of their symmetrical properties, and group theory allows scientists to apply the symmetry properties to explain molecular functions using algebraic mathematics. The aesthetics of molecular symmetry are closely tied to the function of the molecules creating an intricate system that suggests a built-in order at work. In this project, the three areas of philosophy, history, and chemistry pertaining to molecular symmetry and group theory and their functional role in aesthetics will build an argument for order and design within the realm of molecules.


Dr Myron A. Penner

Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Professor of Philosophy, Trinity Western University, British Columbia, Canada

BA (Columbia Bible College), MCS (Regent College), PhD (Purdue University)

Dr Myron A. Penner’s main research and teaching interests are in philosophy of religion, epistemology, and the philosophical implications of scientific data for religious belief. He held a pre-doctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame Centre for Philosophy of Religion. In 2013–14 Dr Penner was a John Templeton Foundation Research Fellow at Ryerson University as part of the ‘Axiology of Theism’ project led by Dr Klaas Kraay. He was recently appointed Director of the newly formed Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning at Trinity Western University.

Project: Understanding and overcoming religion-based science fear Religious conservatives, many of whom look for and expect divine intervention on a daily basis, find the largely naturalistic methods of science both foreign and fearsome. My project will provide some tools to overcome this fear of science by helping the fearful see science from the perspective of scientists who also hold religious beliefs; these tools include establishing some common ground between believing scientists and their religious opponents by showing that scientists with a religious faith tend to care about things that conservative religious people care about too: things like truth and the proper interpretation of sacred texts. Then, using examples from biology, I show that scientists tend to have recognizably good reasons supporting their views, and that some religious objections to science are recognizably bad.

Dr Bradley L. Sickler

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Northwestern–St Paul, Minnesota, USA

BS (University of Minnesota), MA (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), PhD (Purdue University)

Dr Bradley L. Sickler is the programme director for the MA in theological studies at the University of Northwestern–St Paul. An ordained minister, Dr Sickler has spent five years as a pastor and also served in other ministry positions. His philosophical interests focus on causation and laws of nature, other issues in the philosophy of physics, and philosophy of religion.

Project: Natural laws and divine compositionalism The notion of laws has held a central position in science, philosophy, and theology, especially as it concerns the role of God in what happens in the natural world. In this project I defend the claim that a law of nature does not result from some intrinsic properties or characteristics within the natural objects themselves. Instead, a law of nature reports a regularity in the way God acts in the world according to his plans.


Dr Erin I. Smith Assistant Professor of Psychology, California Baptist University, USA BA (Point Loma Nazarene University), MA (University of California, Riverside), PhD (University of California, Riverside) Dr Erin Smith teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in cognitive psychology, human development, and research methods. Following

her BA in general psychology, she studied cognitive development at the University of California, Riverside. Her research interests focus on the cultural and cognitive influences on the development of religious cognition and scientific reasoning. One question that guides much of her research concerns the psychological and cultural reasons for why some people reject religious belief in favour of science, why others reject scientific research in favour of religious belief, and why (and how) others manage to integrate the two as complementary and mutually enriching. Project: Promoting and preventing the dialogue: psychological influences on discussions in Science and Religion This project aims to examine the process by which undergraduate students engage with Science and Religion material, and how this engagement influences their beliefs about Science and Religion. I am interested in how personal characteristics and group dynamics influence psychological processes of engagement (e.g. anxiety) throughout a semester of Science and Religion discussion. I believe this project will provide a better understanding of the process of belief maintenance and change, including who maintains or changes their beliefs and under what circumstances.

Dr William M. Struthers Professor of Psychology, Wheaton College, Illinois, USA BA (Illinois Wesleyan University), MA (University of Illinois at Chicago), PhD (University of Illinois at Chicago) Dr William M. Struthers investigates the neural mechanisms that underlie behavioural arousal and the processing of novel environments in the cingulate cortex and basal ganglia. Dr Struthers’s theoretical

research interests are in the areas of neuroethics, the biological bases of spirituality and personhood, and science–faith dialogue issues. He has been involved in the Wheaton College Animal Care and Use Committee and its Institutional Review Board overseeing the ethical treatment of animals and human subjects. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Neuroethics Society. Recently Dr Struthers was named Visiting Research Fellow of Biola University’s Center for Christian Thought. Project: Neuroscience, religion and the media: fostering dialogue in the public square My research project is designed to examine how brain science is used in the media, and how it influences religious belief. In an age where brain science is rapidly moving into areas of morality and theology, neuroscientists have moved into a role previously occupied by clergy. I am interested in examining what part the news and entertainment media play in this, as well as how religious institutions interpret these findings so that more productive public dialogue can be cultivated.


Dr Aeisha Thomas Associate Professor of Biology and Life Science, Crown College, Minnesota, USA BA/MA (Harvard University), PhD (Harvard University)

Dr Aeisha Thomas is interested in undergraduate biology education, and her current research project is on student choice, exposure to primary literature, and science literacy. Crown is her first Christian college, and while she welcomes the challenge of faith integration in content-heavy biology courses, she desires strategies that are more pedagogically sound. Her Templeton project will facilitate the development of a model for learning Christian bioethics in the context of the relevant biology. Before working at Crown College she held two one-year visiting assistant professorships and carried out postdoctoral research on sickle cell disease. Project: Developing a Christian bioethics curriculum for an introductory biology course The goal of this project is to develop a Christian bioethics curriculum for introductory biology courses. In it I seek to address proper content and pedagogy for a confessional context and further to assess the effectiveness of strategies developed. This curriculum will not just equip students with the necessary content of bioethics but also engage them with living out their faith as scientists.

Dr Dennis R. Venema Professor of Biology, Trinity Western University, British Columbia, Canada BSc (University of British Columbia), PhD (University of British Columbia)

Dr Dennis R. Venema received his PhD in cell biology and genetics in 2003. His research interests include the genetics of pattern formation in Drosophila, genetics pedagogy, and the interface between the biological sciences and evangelical Christianity. He is also Fellow of Biology for the BioLogos Foundation, and frequently writes on the evidence for evolution in that role. A forthcoming book by Dr Venema and the New Testament scholar Scot McKnight will address the evidence for human evolution, our ancestral population dynamics, and the role of Adam in New Testament theology. Project: Teaching of evolution in CCCU schools I intend to write a short book about teaching evolution targeted at academic staff of CCCU institutions. The book will cover the evidence for evolution, how philosophy and history can assist us in the evolution–creation controversy, common theological objections to evolution, and thoughts on pastoring students through a possible paradigm shift. The aim of the book is to provide a brief, yet comprehensive, guide to the discussion for academic staff who are not engaged in science–faith issues in their teaching and scholarship.


Dr Cara M. Wall-Scheffler Associate Professor of Biology, Seattle Pacific University, Washington, USA BA (Seattle Pacific University), MPhil (University of Cambridge), PhD (University of Cambridge)

Dr Cara Wall-Scheffler’s research centres on evolutionary trade-offs, and particularly on how human body shape is influenced by surrounding ecosystems and subsistence strategies. She focuses specifically on the trade-offs inherent in the mobility strategies of extinct and extant populations, and how populations balance access to resources, thermo-regulation, and reproduction. Within a population, she aims to decipher the role of sexual dimorphism and sex differences in physiology as they relate to differences in male and female locomotion. In order to understand better the meaning behind morphological and physiological variation, she combines research in biomechanics, locomotor energetics, telemetry physiology, palaeontology, archaeozoology, and behavioural ecology. Her work on human locomotion is widely cited, and she is a leading scholar in the study of women’s gait. Project: Evolution within God’s good creation and as continuing mechanism for the New Creation This project consists of three key components. First, I propose to lay out a worldview framework using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. This allows us to integrate four keys types of evidence from both theology and biology — namely key texts, history, reason, and experiences — in order to make an argument for evolution's role in the creation of life on earth. I will then use these four types of evidences to illustrate how evolutionary mechanisms have been an integral part of creation from ‘the beginning’ and that God evidently sees this as ‘good’. Finally, I will suggest that given the collaborative and dynamic relationship between God and creatures, I predict that evolutionary mechanisms will continue past this creation and into the New Creation.


MAP OF ST HUGH’S COLLEGE


MAP OF LADY MARGARET HALL


MAP OF OXFORD

Photo credits: all images excluding headshots © Jonathan Kirkpatrick

Zeuxis Photography 2016 except inside cover and p. 3 © Stan Rosenberg; p. 25

© Meagan Stearn

Cover photo: Entrance to Oxford University Natural History Museum

Above: Detail of entrance, with angel holding the Book of Life and a dividing cell

SCIO is the UK centre of the Council of Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU)

and runs several courses including the Oxford Summer Programme and the Scholars’ Semester in

Oxford

SCIO’s aim

To foster scholarly engagement, intellectual excellence, and authentic Christian spirituality and the connections between them within an international academic community at Oxford.

SCIO’s objectives

To help students drawn largely from CCCU colleges realize their academic and personal potential at Oxford, at graduate or professional school, and throughout life.

To foster high quality research on the part of its staff and faculty from CCCU colleges as individuals and as members of research programmes based at SCIO.

To cultivate a community of alumni who support each other and SCIO's mission.

To enable its staff to develop professionally and flourish personally.

Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and Humanities 2015‒16 is organized by SCIO with a grant from Templeton Religion Trust

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