Dr. Nancey Murphy
Dr. Nancey Murphy to Speak on "Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies?"
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Dr. Nancey Murphy |
The Center for Ethics and Religion at Queens will present as this year’s Witherspoon Lecturer Dr. Nancey Murphy on February 24, 2009, at 7 p.m. in Sykes Auditorium on the Queens University of Charlotte campus, 1900 Selwyn Avenue. The talk is free and open to the public.
Murphy, the author of nine books and a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, is highly sought as a speaker at national and international conferences on the relationship between theology and science. Her first book, Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning (Cornell, 1990) won the American Academy of Religion award for excellence. Her most recent books are Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? (Cambridge, 2006); and (co-authored with Warren Brown) Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will (Oxford, 2007).
Click here to reserve your tickets.
For more information, visit www.queens.edu/ethicsandreligion or call 704-337-2577
The William and Margaret Witherspoon
Lecture Series
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William Witherspoon |
Margaret Witherspoon |
William Witherspoon established the lecture series at Queens in memory of his wife Margaret, a 1932 alumna of Queens who passed away in 1995. She majored in chemistry and biology and taught high school in St. Louis, Mo. They were married in 1938. The Witherspoon Lectures were established to address the religious and moral implications of developments in the sciences.
"I decided to endow theis lecture series at Queens because I feel it is important for students today to know the important connection between theology and science," Witherpoon said. "The number of philosophy and religion majors has risen in recent years at Queens, and I wanted to support the University's committment to linking the humanities and the natural sciences."
William Witherspoon studied nuclear physics, chemistry and astronomy at the University College of Washington University in St. Louis while building a successful career in investment analysis.
A sampling of Witherspoon's writings connecting philosophy, religion and the natural sciences
can be found at www.wwitherspoon.org.
Previous Events
The Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne
Reverend Dr. John Polkinghorne
"Divine Action and Providence (‘Can a Scientist Pray?’)"
April 26, 2007
Dr. John Polkinghorne is one of the most respected living writers and thinkers on science and religion. A former particle physicist at Cambridge University, Polkinghorne is an Anglican priest whose books include "Science and Creation," Science and Providence" and his Gifford Lectures, "The Faith of a Physicist."
In 2002 he won the prestigious Templeton Prize which is awarded to those who, “particularly through scientific research, serve to supplement the wonderful ancient scriptures and traditions of all the world's religions.” He is traveling from England to Queens University of Charlotte to present for Queens’ Center for Ethics and Religion and the Witherspoon Lecture.
Dr. Polkinghorne’s topic was "Divine Action and Providence (‘Can a Scientist Pray?’)." Dr. Polkinghorne also held small group discussions with invited guests and with the Queens community.
To read more about Rev. Dr. Polkinghorne, please click here.
The 2006 William and Margaret Witherspoon lecturer, Dr. Ursula Goodenough, spoke to a large crowd of Queens students and Charlotte community members on Thursday, April 6 in Accenture Auditorium on the campus of Queens. Her lecture, “Exploring the Concepts of Religious Naturalism,” focused on the intersection of science and religion.
Goodenough posed such questions as, “What is meant by religious?” and, “What is meant by naturalism?” She discussed the story of the evolution of the universe and suggested ways that this narrative can frame interpretive, spiritual and moral responses.
"The paradox we've struggled with," Goodenough said, "is ourselves - our spirits don't feel material, we experience them as virtual realities." She went on to explain that the human lineage is a "social" lineage where we are not only aware of ourselves, but also of others.
Goodenough addressed the issue that some think attention to science is to be feared because it reduces religion and faith to molecules, genes and neurons. She cited several studies and explained the various positions scientists take and although some claim only "non-God" findings, there are many who can see and live both sides. There are scientists who feel that to deny God is to deny a creator with a plan and a purpose. The scientific findings they conclude are merely evidence of a greater, larger being who controls us all.
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Dean of CAS Betty Powell and |
Goodenough is the author of a best-selling textbook on genetics and the popular book, "The Sacred Depths of Nature," which received the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Book of 1999. She has served as president of the Society of Cell Biologists and also as president of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science.
William Witherspoon established this free lecture series at Queens to address the religious and moral implications of developments in the sciences. Margaret Witherspoon was a 1932 alumna of Queens with majors in chemistry and biology who taught high school in St. Louis, Mo. William Witherspoon studied nuclear physics, chemistry and astronomy at the University College of Washington University in St. Louis while building a successful career in investment analysis. A sampling of Witherspoon's writings connecting philosphy, religion and the natural sciences can be found at www.wwitherspoon.org.
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From left: Dr. Norris Frederick, Dr. Betty Powell, |
She also mentioned that traditional ways of understanding God may be called into question regarding miracles and signs, etc. She suggested that it could be possible that God works within the scientific process and doesn’t necessarily orchestrate a world of “puppet theater.”
In conclusion, Dr. Case-Winters said that theologians and scientists recognize the need to be cautious because they both know they are radically situated. “But,” she stated, “the quest for truth is upon us. Challenges are real and urgent and they are best addressed by theology and science uniting together.”
Dr. Case-Winters is the author of "Divine Power: Traditional Understandings and Contemporary Challenges," and is currently engaged in research and writing on the topic of theology and science. She is the recipient of the Templeton Exemplary Paper in Humility Theology for 1997, the 1998 recipient of the Religion and Science Course Award and was the 2000 grant recipient for the Templeton/USA Lecture Series. Dr. Case-Winters is a member of the American Academy of Religion and past president of the American Theological Society.
Dr. John F. Haught. “God After Darwin: Evolution and the Question of Divine Providence.” September 25, 2003.
Dr. Haught is the Thomas Healey Distinguished Professor of Theology at Georgetown University. His area of specialization is systematic theology, with a particular interest in issues per¬taining to science, cosmology, evolution, ecology and religion. He is the author a number of books, including Deeper than Darwin; Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution; God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution; Science and Religion, and What Is Religion? In 2002, he was the winner of the Owen Garrigan Award in Science and Religion.
Dr. Paul Davies. “The Last Three Minutes.” March 21, 2002.
Dr. Davies has developed several important contributions to theories concerning the beginning of the universe and other monumental questions of modern physics, but it is his wide-ranging inquiries into the workings of the universe that breach the barrier between science and religion which won him the Templeton Prize in 1995. He was professor of theoretical physics at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and he later served as chair of Mathematical Physics and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Adelaide in Australia. His more than 20 published books include The Mind of God, The Last Three Minutes, The Accidental Universe, and Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?, based on his award-winning BBC documentary of the same name.
Dr. Holmes Rolston III. “Genes, Genesis, and God.” April 5, 2001.
Dr. Holmes Rolston is University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. He has written six acclaimed books, including Genes, Genesis and God, Science and Religion: A Critical Survey, Philosophy Gone Wild, and Environmental Ethics. His books have been published in many countries, and he has lectured worldwide. Rolston was awarded the Templeton Prize in Religion in 2003
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Printed from www.Queens.edu.
Queens University of Charlotte
1900 Selwyn Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28274
Phone: 704 337-2200
Fax: 704 337-2403
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