Ron Larson, University of Michigan, “Christianity and Modern Science”
Sundays, November 21 -December 13, 2009
Location: StadiumVillageChurch, Minneapolis
For details visit http://stadiumvillagechurch.org/index.php
Theology and Science: From Creation to New Creation
Saturday, 14 November 2009, from 10:00 am until 4:30 pm.
Featured speaker: Dr. Robert J. Russell, Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science in Residence at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences 
These lectures explore a variety of topics on the frontiers of the creative mutual interaction between Christian theology and the natural sciences, from a theology of creation as it interacts with both scientific cosmology and evolutionary biology to a theology of the new creation based on the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the challenge to it raised by scientific cosmology. Three lectures, with questions from the audience, as follows:
10:00 am. Cosmology, philosophy and theology: A complex interaction. This talk describes the subtle, but crucial, roles played by philosophy and theology in the construction of scientific cosmology from the Newtonian universe to Einstein's Big Bang and its competitor in the 1950s & 1960s, Hoyle's steady state cosmology. It will also assess a variety of theological interpretations of the significance of Big Bang cosmology for Christian faith.
1:00 pm. Theistic evolution and the challenge of natural evil. Theistic evolution is presented as a robust response to evolutionary biology, particularly when it is augmented by an appeal to non-interventionist objective divine action. The challenge to theistic evolution raised by the fact of suffering and death in nature ("natural evil") has several responses, the most promising of which is Christ's own suffering with nature.
3:00 pm. Resurrection, eschatology and cosmology: guidelines for their creative mutual interaction. A Christian eschatology, based on the bodily resurrection of Jesus, is offered. The challenge raised to eschatology by the predictions for the far future of the universe, based on Big Bang cosmology, is confronted. The response provides a series of guidelines by which to move the conversation forward to a new creative interaction with science that could offer interesting research questions for scientists.
Students receive chapel credit for these talks.
Location: Hostetter Chapel Sanctuary, Messiah College, Grantham, PA. Directions and a campus map are here http://www.messiah.edu/visitors/direction.html.
Cost: Free for students & employees of Messiah College and members of the Forum, but tickets are required. All others pay $25 before November 1 or $35 at the door. Tickets go on sale in early September; contact the ticket office at 717-691-6036.
Robert John Russell is the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science in Residence at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and the Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He holds a Ph. D. in physics and advanced degrees in theology. Author of Cosmology from Alpha to Omega: The Creative Mutual Interaction of Theology and Science (Fortress, 2008) and Cosmology, Evolution and Resurrection Hope (Pandora Press, 2006), he also edits the journal, Theology and Science, and is ordained in the United Church of Christ.
The Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science is based at Messiah College. For details about all Forum events, please visit http://www.messiah.edu/godandscience/ or contact Dr. Ted Davis (tdavis@messiah.edu), 717-766-2511, ext 6840.
Opportunity to read exams in the AP Chemistry program
I am now the Chief Reader for Advanced Placement Chemistry, and that I would like to encourage any ASA members who are Chemistry teachers to consider volunteering to read exams in the AP program. The reading takes place in June over a seven day period. This year it will be held at an ocean-front resort in Daytona Beach, FL. Approximately 270 teachers, 50% college and 50% high school, will grade the 'free response' section of about 110,000 exams that have been completed by high school students in "college equivalent" courses. The attraction to engaging in an activity of this sort, of course, is not the reading itself. I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys grading exams. Rather it is the opportunity to interact with like-minded colleagues in an effort that is beneficial to the profession and to the many students who expended the time and effort to write the exams. If anyone is interested they can find application forms at the AP Central website, or failing that, contact me.
Larry Funck
Chemistry Department
WheatonCollege
Wheaton, IL60187
630-752-5064
The Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships in Science & Religion is now inviting eligible journalists to apply for its 2010 fellowships.
The fellowship enables ten print, broadcast, or online journalists annually to pursue an intensive course of study in issues of science and religion. The two-month program includes three weeks of seminars at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. featuring eminent authorities in the field. Fellows will be paid a $15,000 stipend in addition to a book allowance and travel expenses.
The fellowship seeks to promote a deeper understanding and a more informed public discussion of the creative interface of science and religion. During the term of the fellowship, June through July, journalists will have time for independent, private study as well as access to eminent thinkers in an extraordinary intellectual and cultural setting.
Applicants must demonstrate an interest in the field, originality of thought displayed in previous writings, and a superior record of journalistic achievement. The awards are open to journalists, writers, and editors, including freelancers, with a minimum of three years’ experience; priority will be given to mid-career and senior journalists.
The application deadline is Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Please apply online at http://www.templeton-cambridge.org
The fellowship seeks to promote a deeper understanding and a more informed public discussion of the creative interface of science and religion. During the term of the fellowship, June through July, journalists will have time for independent, private study as well as access to eminent thinkers in an extraordinary intellectual and cultural setting.
Applicants must demonstrate an interest in the field, originality of thought displayed in previous writings, and a superior record of journalistic achievement. The awards are open to journalists, writers, and editors, including freelancers, with a minimum of three years’ experience; priority will be given to mid-career and senior journalists.
The application deadline is Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Please apply online at http://www.templeton-cambridge.org
CALL FOR PAPERS: Special Theme Issue: JOURNAL /European Legacy/RELIGION AND BIOTECHNOLOGY: THE CHALLENGE
CALL FOR PAPERS The continuous and constantly accelerated introduction of advanced new technologies allowing an unprecedented variety of radically novel applications is inundating our social and private life. One important species of these technological breakthroughs is biotechnology and concerns a vital aspect of our scientific knowledge of the biological world and its inner laws. As such, it inevitably poses itself as a challenge to religion which may be seen as either a more pronounced version of the old antagonism between science and religious belief or rather as a radically new conflict. The most controversial area of applied biotechnology concerns human germline modification and enhancement beyond mere therapy, sometimes referred to as the "new eugenics", as well as human cloning. Biotechnology is quite different from purely scientific speculation for the sake of knowledge only as well as from mere invention of tools. It embodies a new type of merging science and technology that we may call "techno-science", being a search for new theories that, simultaneously, carry within them the demand for their own application via advanced instruments. At the same time, we are witnessing certain accommodating moves or outright rejections of certain aspects of biotechnology on the side of religion. Papers are welcome for a special theme issue of the /European Legacy/ that will seek to delineate, analyze and discuss the current stage of the relationship between religion and biotechnology and the impact of all sorts of human genetic engineering on traditional theological attitudes to life and the notion of the human person. The special issue is expected to present as many religious positions as possible and offer a representative array of themes and methodological approaches, encompassing discussions in epistemological, ethical, historical or socio-political terms. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 31, 2010 To submit an article for this Special issue please contact: Dr. Byron Kaldis Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion The Hellenic Open University bkald@eap.gr <mailto:bkald@eap.gr>