J.K. Russell Fellows  |  

Recent J. K. Russell Fellowships

The 2006-2007 J. K. Russell Research Fellowship,
March 2007
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond

J. K. Russell Fellow’s Public Forum:
"Genetic Futures and Our Search for Wisdom”
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond.

Forum Description
This lecture begins with an overview of the meteoric rise in genetic science over the last half century. The potential impact on all life forms- from microbes to humans- is enormous. The medical applications of genetic science sit uneasily in the shadow of eugenic practices of the last century. Geneticists are more modest today about the evolutionary potential of genetics in the human species. Yet genetics continues to fascinate or horrify. New controversial developments, including, for example, cloning and associated stem cell research has heightened both public discussion and controversy about genetic techniques. What are the ethical issues raised by such developments? How can we make decisions where such decision-making is fraught with controversy? My suggestion in this lecture is that theology has something to contribute to this debate, not by simply opposing the new in science by asking, for example, ‘Are we playing God?’, but by offering the tradition of wisdom, more particularly, that found in practical wisdom or prudence. Such wisdom is one of the classic virtues, which sits alongside charity and justice in finding a way through to a genetic future. Yet such an interdisciplinary weaving remains a search, a search that never is complete, for genetic science continues to surprise and fascinate both scientists and non-specialists alike.

The J. K. Russell Fellow’s Research Conference:
“The Evolution of Sin and the Redemption of Nature”
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond
Saturday, March 31, 2007

Conference Lecture Description and Respondents
Drawing on animal ethnographic studies, this article considers the possibility of a form of morality existing in animals and its relationship with human morality. "Given this capacity, I argue that first we need to reflect more carefully on human sin and evil in evolutionary terms. Second, I question the adequacy of the traditional divide between ‘moral’ and ‘natural evil’ as well as consider the possibility of ‘anthropogenic’ evil. Third, I suggest that a theological response to non-human morality should include discussion of the atonement, but traditional categories prove inadequate. Fourth, drawing on Sergii Bulgakov, I explore the symbol of shadow sophia as representing a multivocal theodicy that is potentially capable of holding together a tapestry of different dimensions of evil. Finally, I discuss the redemption of nature in the light of the foregoing discussion." --Celia Deane-Drummond

Respondents: include: Marc Bekoff, James Haag, Nathan Hallanger, William O'Neil, Oliver Putz and Robert Russell.

Brief Biographical Background:
Celia Deane-Drummond graduated with an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a doctorate in plant physiology at Reading and Letcombe Research Station (Oxford University). She worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Vancouver, Canada in the biophysics group at Cambridge University, and as a lecturer at Durham University. She then shifted her academic focus to theology, earning a BA with honors from Bristol. Her Ph.D. research at Manchester University specialized in Moltmann's thought.
                                                
After working at the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture in Manchester, she obtained a PGCE at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 1994 she began teaching at Chester College (now, the University of Chester). Her scientific and theological experiences have served her well in research. Celia has published over thirty articles in scientific journals and she has been active in interdisciplinary research, particularly in relating science to theology. Her first major book was Theology and Biotechnology: Implications for a New Science (Cassell, 1997). Since then she has published numerous monographs including Creation through Wisdom: Theology and the New Biology (T & T Clark, 2000), The Ethics of Nature (New Dimensions to Religious Ethics) (Oxford: Blackwell 2004), Genetics and Christian Ethics (New Studies in Christian Ethics) (Cambridge University Press, 2006), Wonder and Wisdom: Conversations in Science, Spirituality, and Theology (John Templeton Foundation Press and Novalis, 2006). Her edited collections include Re-Ordering Nature: Theology, Society and the New Genetics; Brave New World? Theology, Ethics and the Human Genome (both 2003) and Future Perfect? God, Medicine and Human Identity (2006). She was awarded a Chair in Theology and the Biological Sciences at the University of Chester in 2000 and founded the Centre for Religion and the Biosciences at the University of Chester in 2002.

The 2005-2006 J. K. Russell Research Fellowship,
September 14-15, 2006
Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett

The overall goal of the Fellowship events is to explore the
richness and diversity of views on theistic evolution and the way
they offer a robust alternative to the conflict model of evolution
and creation. Details are below.

Thursday, September 14, 7:00 pm, The J. K. Russell Fellowship Public Forum: "A Case for Theistic Evolution: Who's Fighting Whom about What?" (Part 1)
Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett, at the GTU in Berkeley. Location: The GTU Board Room, 2400 Ridge Rd., Berkeley. No charge. Please arrive on time.

Friday, September 15, 9:15 am - 5:00 pm:
The J. K. Russell Research Conference, "Assessing The Case(s) for Theistic Evolution" (Part 2).

The task for the scholars participating in the 2006 J.K. Russell Fellowship will be a constructive one, namely, to make a justifiable case supporting Theistic Evolution. Martinez Hewlett and Ted Peters will initiate the discussion on Thursday evening by explicating their co-authored paper, "A Case for Theistic Evolution." During Friday's sessions, a series of scholars will present papers with different perspectives on theistic evolution.

The numerous key discussants in attendance will analyze issues, weigh arguments, and put forth constructive suggestions for furthering the cause of theistic evolution in the wider public controversy.

Scholars presenting papers include: Ian G. Barbour, Philip Hefner, Antje Jackelen, Alex Garcia-Rivera, Robert John Russell and Thomas Tracy.

Discussants include: Michael Dodds, Ian Barbour, John Noonan, Adrian Wyard, Lou Ann Trost, W. Mark Richardson, Richard Randolph, Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Noreen Herzfeld, Greg Cootsona, Walter Hearn, Doo Hee Lee, Margaret Wetheim. GTU doctoral student discussants include Whitney Bauman, Gaymon Bennett, Chris Doran, R. Daren Erisman, Mark Graves, James Haag, Nathan Hallanger, Joshua Moritz, Oliver Putz, and Nancy Wiens.

Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett

Martinez Hewlett is a molecular virologist, a philosopher, and a novelist. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and is Adjunct Professor at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union. He has published over 30 scientific and philosophical papers and one novel. He is a founding member of the St. Albert the Great Forum on Theology and the Sciences at the University of Arizona ; and he served as facilitator for philosophy of science in the Program on Integrative Medicine at that university's College of Medicine. He is co-author, along with Ted Peters, of Evolution: From Creation to New Creation (Abingdon) and Can You Believe in God and Evolution?: A Guide for the Perplexed (Abingdon).

Ted Peters is an ordained Lutheran pastor, a systematic theologian, and a consultant in the dialogue between science and religion. He is Professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He serves as editor-in-chief of Dialog, A Journal of Theology and co-editor of the CTNS journal, Theology and Science. He is author or editor of a dozen books including GOD—The World's Future (Fortress); Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom (Routledge); and Science, Theology, and Ethics (Ashgate). He co-edited Bridging Science and Religion (Fortress 2003) which has now been translated into six other languages.

Presenters/Authors

Ian Barbour is the Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Emeritus, at Carleton College . He was awarded the Templeton Prize in 1999.

Alejandro (Alex) García-Rivera is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley .

Philip Hefner currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the journal Zygon . He is also a former Director of the Zygon Center for Science and Religion and Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago .

Antje Jackelen is the Director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science. She is also Associate Professor of Systematic Theology/Religion and Science at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Robert John Russell is Founder and Director of CTNS and Professor of Theology and Science in Residence at the Graduate Theological Union. He is also co-editor of the journal Theology and Science .

Thomas Tracy is Professor of Religion in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Bates College .

Past Fellowships

The 2004 Fellowship

Niels Henrik Gregersen, the J. K. Russell Fellow for 2003-2004, is Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Copenhagen. The fellowship forum and conference events are scheduled for October 5-15, 2004 in Berkeley, CA.

Niels Henrik Gregersen holds his PhD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark 1987. Having served as Research Professor in Theology & Science at Aarhus University 2000-2003, he was recently appointed Chair of Systematic Theology at Copenhagen University.

Photos From the 2004 J. K. Russell Conference Events

GTU Dean Arthur Holder Welcoming	Niels Gregersen Lecturing at Forum
Profs. Ted Peters, Niels Gregersen, Bob Russell (L to R)	Niels Gregersen Teaching

Gregersen's primary research fields are contemporary constructive theology and science-and-religion. His work on the theological perspectives in complexity studies is well-known, and he received from the John Templeton Foundation a significant award for his cutting-edge research in this area.

Gregersen's list of publications contains more than 400 entries, including 3 books, 2 co-authored books and more around 15 edited vols. He has edited or co-edited The Concept of Nature in Science and Theology I-II (Geneva: Labor & Fides 1997-98), Rethinking Theology and Science. Six Models for the Current Dialogue (Eerdmans 1998), Scientific and Theological Worldviews I-II (Labor & Fides 1999) , The Human Person in Science and Theology (Edinburgh: T & T Clark/Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), Design and Disorder: Perspectives from Science & Theology (T & T Clark 2002), From Complexity to Life: On the Emergence of Life and Meaning (Oxford University Press 2003), and The Future of Lutheran Theology (Fortress 2004).

From 1992-2003 he has been a leader of the Danish Science-Theology Forum, 1996-2002 Vice-President of The European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT), 2002 founding Executive Committee member and trustee for the International Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ISSR). In 1999 he was elected as member of The Learned Society , Denmark, and he served as its President in 2002 and 2003.

Gregersen was general editor of Studies in Science and Theology and of Issues in Science and Theology 1996-2002 , associate editor of Encyclopedia of Science and Religion vols. I-II (MacMillan Reference, 2003) and serves as systematic-theological editor of Dansk teologisk Tidsskrift since 1993.

As the 2003-2004 J.K. Russell Research Fellow at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Niels Gregersen will explore with his audiences and respondents the significance of complexity studies for understanding the emergence of hierarchical structures in biology. What is the ontological status of the emergent structures of the world? In which sense may higher-level structures play a top-down causal effect on the future of evolution? How do the selection rules of complexity fit in the physical laws of nature? Does Darwinian theory need to be supplemented in order to account for the actual ‘progress' in evolution? How can God interact with a self-developing world? And what is the meaning of it all, if scientific theories are interpreted theologically from an informed scientific perspective?

Friday, October 8, The CTNS Fellowship Public Forum, “Complexity Studies and Theories of Emergence: What Does It All Mean for Religion?” 7:00 pm in the Pacific School of Religion Chapel (PSR), 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley, California. Free and open to the public.

Saturday, October 9, The J.K. Russell Research Conference, “The Complexification of Nature: Supplementing the Neo-Darwinian Paradigm” 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, PSR campus, 1798 Scenic Ave., Seeley G. Mudd classroom 103, Berkeley, CA. Conference Respondents: Philip Clayton (Claremont School of Theology & Claremont Graduate University); Nancey Murphy (Fuller Theological Seminary); Ted Peters (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary); Robert J. Russell (GTU and CTNS) and Jeffrey Schloss (Westmont College).

Wednesday October 13 , an additional community event with Niels Gregersen: “Grace in Nature and Culture: Revisiting Luther's Doctrine of Creation”, the annual Luther Lecture at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS).

Past CTNS J.K. Russell Research Fellows

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