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| Registration | Biography | Conference Schedule| Former J. K. Russell Fellows
The 2010 J. K. Russell Research Fellowship in
Religion and Science
Dr. Thomas Tracy
Research Conference, Saturday, October 16
Fellow's Public Forum, Friday, October 15
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The Annual J. K. Russell Research Conference
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Scientific Vetoes and the 'Hands-off' God:
Can We Say that God Acts In History?
The idea of special divine action has been notoriously problematic in modern theology. Two difficulties in particular have dominated discussion. First, it has been commonplace to contend that this idea runs fatally afoul of the natural sciences. Second, it is widely thought that if we affirm that God acts on particular occasions to shape the course of events in the world, then the problem of evil is made even more difficult. We seem to face an unhappy trade-off: to the extent that we manage to develop an account of special divine action, we succeed only in making the problem of evil unmanageable. Why have some theologians thought that the idea of special providence faces a scientific veto, and how might we reply? Is a God who acts in history more problematic than a “hands-off” God who does not?
Thomas F. Tracy is Phillips Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. He received his B.A. from St. Olaf College and his Ph.D. from Yale University, Department of Religious Studies. His research focuses on questions about divine action, providence, and the problem of evil, and he has explored the relation between these classical issues in philosophical theology and contemporary developments in the natural sciences. His writings include God, Action, and Embodiment and The God Who Acts: Philosophical and Theological Explorations, and he has contributed essays to the Vatican Observatory and CTNS series on Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action. His teaching regularly includes a course on science and religion conducted jointly with a colleague in physics.
Richard S. Dinner Board Room of the GTU (Hewlett Library), 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley
12:00 to 5:00 pm ( Registration begins at 11:30 am)
Please note: Lunch will not be provided. There will be a coffee break in the afternoon.
Conference Respondents Include:
Michael Dodds, Adam Pryor and Junghyung Kim
J. K. Russell Research Conference Schedule
(Schedule subject to change)
Moderated by Ted Peters
| 11:30am |
Registration |
| 12:00pm |
Welcome: Ted Peters |
| 12:15pm |
Fellowship Lecture: Dr. Thomas Tracy
|
| 1:15pm |
Response: Michael Dodds |
| 1:35pm |
Response: Junghyung Kim |
| 1:55pm |
Response: Adam Pryor |
| 2:15pm |
Response: Robert John Russell |
| 2:35pm |
Discussion with Tom Tracy and Respondents |
| 2:50pm |
Q&A from the floor |
| 3:10pm |
Refreshments |
| 3:40pm |
Roundtable: Tom Tracy, Michael Dodds, Junghyung Kim, Adam Pryor, Bob Russell |
| 4:10pm |
Q&A from the floor |
| 4:30pm |
Tom Tracy, concluding comments |
| 4:45pm |
Thanks and Adjournment: Ted Peters |
Please Note: Lunch not provided.
Register on-line (with your Visa, MasterCard or PayPal account),
print a Registration Form to fax or mail
or
call 510-848-8152 to register.
Conference Registration Fees:
(Registration discount for 2010 CTNS members and students/seniors. Lunch not provided.)
Conference Registration: CTNS Member |
$20 |
Conference Registration: CTNS Member, FT Student or
Senior (62+) |
$15 |
Conference Registration: General |
$30 |
Conference Registration: General, FT Student or Senior (62+) |
$25 |
Directions and Lodging:
Fellow's Public Forum, Friday, October 15, 7:00 PM
"When We Say that God Acts, What Do We Think God Does?"
Tucson Common Room of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2451 Ridge Road, Berkeley
(Adjacent to Courtyard accessed through parking lot at the intersection of Le Conte and Euclid)
The idea that God acts purposefully in creating, sustaining, and governing the world is deeply embedded in the monotheistic faiths. The sacred texts of these traditions include rich collections of stories about God’s dealings with the world, and the practices of religious life invite the faithful to understand their lives as located within an ongoing drama of divine initiative and human response. Two broad categories of divine action play closely linked roles in this narrative structure: God creates and sustains the universe as a whole, and God acts within its history at particular times and places to advance specific divine purposes. What is the relation between these forms of divine action? In what sense can some events be singled out as “special divine actions”? If we move beyond a naïve reading of the Biblical stories as direct descriptions of miraculous interventions in history, then what should we say that God does, and how are these claims related to the biblical narratives?
The Fellow's Forum is free and open to the public. Registration not required.
Descriptions of Recent Fellowships..
The annual J. K. Russell Research
Fellowship was created in memory of John K. Russell (1896-1958). Mr. Russell, father of CTNS Founder and Director, Robert John Russell, was born of Italian immigrants, and worked as an industrial engineer and humanitarian.
Past CTNS J.K. Russell Research Fellows
Francisco J. Ayala — 2009
Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion
George V. Coyne — 2008
Twenty Years After the New View from Rome:
Pope John Paul II on Science and Religion
Celia Deane-Drummond — 2007
The Evolution of Sin and the Redemption of Nature
Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett — 2005
Assessing The Case(s) for Theistic Evolution
Niels Henrik Gregeren — 2004
The Complexification of Nature: Supplementing the Neo-Darwinian Paradigm
Paul Davies — 2002-2003
Multiverse and Anthropic Fine-Tuning: Philosophical and Theological Implications
Archbishop Joseph Zycinski — 2001-2002
Forum: "Metaphysical Presuppositions in Stephen Hawking's Physics of Creation"
J.K. Russell Research Conference: "Beyond Necessity and Design: God's Immanence in the Process of Evolution"
Philip Clayton — 2000-2001
The Emergence of Spirit
John Cobb, Jr. — 1999-2000
Science, Theology and Whitehead's Philosophy
Nancey Murphy — 1998-1999
Neuroscience, Mental Causation, and Freedom of the Will
Mary-Claire King — 1997-1998
Theological and Ethical Implications of Recent Research in Genetics
John Haught — 1996-1997
Science, Religion, and the Role of Metaphysics
Margaret Wertheim — 1995-1996
Women in Science, Women in Theology
George F.R. Ellis — 1994
What Does Scientific Cosmology Tell Us About God
Mary Gerhart & Allan M. Russell — 1993
Metaphoric Process as the Reformation of Worlds of Meaning in Theology and Natural Sciences
CTNS Decade Conference — 1992
Building Bridges Between Theology and Science: Beginning the Second Decade of CTNS
Holmes Rolston, III — 1991
Genes, Genesis, and God in Natural and Human History
Robert W. Jensen — 1990
Does God Have Time? The Doctrine of the Trinity and the Concept of Time in Physical Sciences
John Polkinghorne — 1990
The Church and the Environmental Crisis: Which Way Are We Heading?
God's Interaction with the World: Research Proposals by John Polkinghorne
The Challenge of Physics to World Religions
Lindon Eaves — 1989
Genes, Culture and Personality: An Empirical Approach
William R. Stoeger, S.J. — 1988
Cosmology and What It Tells Us About Physical Reality
Philosophical and Theological Implications of Contemporary Cosmology-the Philosophy and Theology of Creation
Ernan McMullin — 1987
The Viability of Natural Theology from a Roman Catholic Perspective in Light of Contemporary Science and Philosophy
Wolfhart Pannenberg — 1986
The Doctrine of Creation and Modern Science
Arthur R. Peacocke, SOSc — 1985
Critical Realism in Science and Religion
Philip Hefner — 1984
Do the Sciences Throw Light on God's Presence in the World?
Ian G. Barbour — 1983
Toward a Theology of Technology
Andrew Dufner, S.J. — 1981-1982
Science, Theology & Spirituality
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