“The Great Waters of the Kingdom of Matter”: Faith, Religion, Science, and Reality
Registration: https://forms.gle/BToEkKJ6o9ta7jBF8
Deadlines: Registration for in-person attendance: March 18th.
Registration for virtual attendance: March 23rd.
Conference: Saturday, March 26, 2022
Sponsored by
Lumen et Vita
The Graduate Journal of Theology
School of Theology & Ministry
Boston College
www.bc.edu/lumenetvita
www.facebook.com/lumenetvita
Remote and virtual attendance and presenting are possible.
The three best papers (as determined by a panel of judges) will each be awarded $400.
Prizes are generously funded by the Science for Seminaries initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. Boston College’s School of Theology & Ministry received this grant under the leadership of Professor Jessica Black and Professor Dominic Doyle.
More information can be found here: https://www.scienceforseminaries.org/school/boston-college-school-of-theology-and-ministry/
This conference has also been generously supported by a grant from the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium, of which Boston College School of Theology & Ministry is a member.
More information on the BTI can be found here: https://www.bostontheological.org
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Scholar
School of the Environment & Yale Divinity School
Yale University
https://environment.yale.edu/profile/tucker
Dr. Michael Ferguson, Ph.D.
Instructor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Lecturer on Neurospirituality,
Harvard Divinity School
Neurospirituality Research Director,
Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
https://neuromichael.com
“In the new humanity which is begotten today the Word prolongs the unending act of his own birth; and by virtue of his immersion in the world’s womb the great waters of the kingdom of matter have, without even a ripple, been endued with life. No visible tremor marks this inexpressible transformation; and yet, mysteriously and in very truth, at the touch of the supersubstantial Word the immense host which is the universe is made flesh. Through your own incarnation, my God, all matter is henceforth incarnate.”
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, “The Mass on the World” in Hymn of the Universe (1961)
Faith, Religion, and Science are lenses for viewing reality. Although religious belief and science have long been constructed as being in tension and conflict in Western society, they also work together cooperatively, with mutually-informing perspectives despite different commitments, frameworks, burdens, strengths, limitations, methods, or goals. These tensions and differences in method, however, speak to one another creatively and lead to a greater understanding of reality. Christian theologians have described Faith, Religion, and Reason as aspects of the human experience that assist in the pursuit of truth, and ultimately the search for God. Theologians such as Teilhard have poetically and analytically tried to incorporate the perspectives of science into their theologies. On the other hand, scientists such as Francis Collins (former director of the Human Genome Project and 2020 Templeton Prize Winner) have tried to reconcile personal religious faith with their research. Following such prominent examples of dialogue between these two human areas of inquiry, we seek further conversation and collaboration between these two methods and modalities for encountering reality. Faith, Religion, and Science are embodiments of different human capacities that have much to learn from one another with their own particular perspectives. Sometimes there have been misguided or mistaken attempts to combine them. Lumen et Vita seeks to engage and promote learning (in theoretical realms of theology and science and in practical realms such as the social sciences and pastoral practice), dialogue, and collaboration in exploring how these lenses might be used in conjunction to further true knowledge of humanity, creation, and, ultimately, the Divine.
A tentative schedule:
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(Continental) Breakfast until 9:30
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1st Keynote: Dr. Tucker: 9:30-10:30
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Break: until 10:45
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First set of two panels (concurrent): 10:45-12:00
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Lunch: 12-1
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Second set of two panels (concurrent): 1:15-2:30
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2nd Keynote: Dr. Ferguson: 2:45-3:45
