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Kanzi, Pan-Homo Culture, and Theological Primatology
Presented By: Nancy R. Howell, PhD Professor of Theology and Philosophy of Religion Saint Paul School of Theology in Greater Kansas City Kanzi, a bonobo with extraordinary capacity for symbolic communication, acquired language not by rote teaching, but by immersion in a complex Pan-Homo language culture. Kanzi and his bonobo-human family point toward a larger concept of the eco-family and our evolutionary/ecological kinship with Great Apes. Theological primatology is Christian reflection on the meaning of being human and primate in our creative…
Find out more »Working at the Subtle Edge: The Intersection of Science & Religion
Presented By: Michelle Francl, PhD Professor of Chemistry, Bryn Mawr College To do theology, William James said, is to work at the subtle edge of things, at the place where words and thoughts expire. Science, too, walks a subtle edge between what we know and what we can describe. It pushes language and mathematics in its attempt to express what we understand about the universe. We create new terminology—as well as entire fields of mathematics—to describe the natural world,…
Find out more »The Free Will Problem: Insights from Physics
PLEASE NOTE: Due to Snow Dr. Tammaro's lecture has been rescheduled to Monday, February 16, 2015 at 7pm. Presented By: Elliot Tammaro, PhD Assistant Professor of Physics, Chestnut Hill College We, as humans, feel that we have complete freedom in our choice of action. So strongly do we believe that we have freedom of choice that we deem ourselves morally responsible for our decisions. However, classical physics, the physics of Newton and Einstein, purports that all physical systems evolve deterministically. That…
Find out more »Transhumanist Dreams and Christian Hopes
Presented By: Ronald Cole-Turner, PhD H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology & Ethics Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Technology has always played a key role in human evolution. Today, however, we face an entirely new situation. Not only is technology growing in power and sophistication, but we are turning it on ourselves rather than just on our environment. New technologies promise to enhance physical strength or appearance, to improve mental focus, to lengthen the human lifespan, or to bring about spiritual experience.…
Find out more »At Play in Creation: Merton’s Awakening to the Feminine Divine, with Christopher Pramuk
Join author, theologian and musician, Chris Pramuk, for a unique celebration of the centennial of Thomas Merton's birth, exploring the beloved poet, peacemaker and mystic’s transforming contemplation of Sophia, “mysterious Unity and Integrity…Wisdom…Mother of all…the Gift of my Creator’s Thought and Art within me…” Pramuk's book, Sophia, the Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton, has been described by Merton's former secretary, Bro. Patrick Hart, as the best book ever written about Thomas Merton and was awarded the International Thomas Merton's Society's…
Find out more »“The Sciences of Emergent Complexity: Evolutionary Emergence of Body, Mind, and Spirituality”
The Vivian J Lamb Lecture Series on Augustinian Thought and the Sciences http://philipclayton.net/curriculum-vitae/ Philip Clayton, Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology "The Sciences of Emergent Complexity: Evolutionary Emergence of Body, Mind, and Spirituality" Science is more than physics and we are more than a “pack of neurons.” This Vivian J. Lamb Lecture explores the new sciences of emergent complexity. A quick trip from the beginnings of the cosmos to birth of consciousness and beyond shows that no single law rules…
Find out more »Emergent Mind: What Brains & Cognition Tell Us About Faith
Presented By: Philip Clayton, PhD Ingaham Professor, Claremont School of Theology The reduction of consciousness to the brain, which has not been achieved by science despite some claims to the contrary, would represent a kind of crowning glory for science but would have devastating implications for the humanities, the arts, and religious belief. Separating consciousness from brain (dualism) protects mind and faith from scientific encroachment, but only at the cost of an arbitrary halt to scientific research. A more…
Find out more »New Steps in the Cosmic Dance of Dialogue
An evening in conversation with Sr. Joan Chittister, Paul Knitter, Leonard Swidler and others Sr. Joan offers wisdom for a life of purpose, passion, and joy. Paul claims he is a better Christian for knowing about Buddhism. Leonard reminds us that no one knows everything about anything. All three have long been at the forefront of interreligious dialogue, and they will share their experiences on the road and hopes for the future. Bring your questions and join other interfaith activists in the conversation. The…
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