Conferences

International Conference on Natural Theology   Beyond Paley: Renewing the vision for Natural Theology   23-25 June 2008, Museum of Natural History,  Oxford University

A major international conference on natural theology will be held at Oxford University from 23 – 25 June 2008, entitled “Beyond Paley: Renewing the Vision for Natural Theology”. The conference will review every aspect of the question of whether the divine can be known through nature, aiming to stimulate discussion of the scientific, theological, historical, philosophical and broader cultural aspects of this important issue.

The conference is named after William Paley (1743-1805), whose celebrated Natural Theology (1801) is widely regarded as one of the most important historical statements of this approach. It is clear that the approach stands in need of substantial renewal and redirection, in the light of the many scientific, philosophical and theological criticisms directed against it. The conference will aim to craft new approaches in the light of developments since then.

This conference, in addition to reviewing past approaches, will seek to chart some new directions for natural theology, especially in the light of recent scientific exploration of so-called “anthropic” phenomena. There is considerable interest in these questions at every level of the academic world, as well as in the media. This conference is likely to attract much attention from the media and academy, and is certain to catalyse further discussion for years to come.

This conference will be held in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, designed by John Ruskin. Appropriately enough, at one stage it was proposed to name this building the “Museum of Natural Theology”. This magnificent neo-Gothic Grade I listed building contains scientific collections gathered over a period of three centuries. It was opened in 1860, and is widely regarded as one of the finest of its kind. The Museum includes a state of the art lecture theatre, fully equipped for digital presentations. Accommodation will be at St Anne’s College, close to the conference venue, but conference delegates are welcome to make their own arrangements with local hotels and guest houses.

We are negotiating to see if it may be possible for conference delegates to view the room (no longer open to the public) in which Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley debated Darwin's Origin of Species during the 1860 meeting of the British Association.

Confirmed speakers and topics include:

Dr Justin Barrett, Senior Director of the Centre for Anthropology and Mind, Oxford University. His publications include Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (AltaMira, 2004), described by Pascal Boyer as “a brilliant and challenging presentation of the cognitive study of religion, by a psychologist who practically invented the field.” Dr Barrett will explore the relevance of the emerging field of the cognitive science of religion for natural theology.

Topic: How “natural” is natural theology?

Jeremy Begbie, Professor of Theology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and Associate Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Professor Begbie’s research interests are principally in the interplay between theology and the arts. His publications in this field include Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts (T&  Clark, 1991) and Theology, Music and Time (Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Topic: Natural theology and the arts.

John Hedley Brooke, formerly Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford University, and presently Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University. Professor Brooke has a long-standing interest in the development of natural theology. His publications include the prize-winning book, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 1991), and more recently, Heterodoxy in Early Modern Science & Religion, co-edited with Ian Maclean (Oxford University Press, 2005).

Topic: The historical development of British natural theology.

Simon Conway Morris, FRS, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the University of Cambridge. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society aged 39, was awarded the Walcott Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987, and the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1998. His publications include The Crucible of Creation (Oxford University Press, 1998) and Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in an Lonely Universe (Cambridge University Press, 2003). His 2007 Gifford Lecture at the University of Edinburgh was entitled “Darwin's Compass: How Evolution Discovers the Song of Creation”.

Topic: New developments in evolutionary biology and the redirection of natural theology.

Hilary Fraser, Geoffrey Tillotson Professor in Nineteenth-Century Studies, and Head of School, English & Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London. In her Beauty and Belief: Aesthetics and Religion in Victorian Literature (Cambridge University Press, 1986), Dr Fraser explored the link between natural beauty and religion, a theme which she will develop in this conference address with particular reference to natural theology in the writings of John Ruskin and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Her more recent publications include The Victorians and Renaissance Italy (Blackwell, 1992), and English Prose of the Nineteenth Century (Longmans,1997).

Topic: Natural beauty and natural theology in Nineteenth Century Writers

Peter Harrison, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford University. He has published extensively in the area of cultural and intellectual history with a focus on the philosophical, scientific and religious thought of the early modern period. His publications include 'Religion' and the Religions in the English Enlightenment ( Cambridge University Press, 1990) and The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Topic: Reading the “Book of Nature” in the Early Modern Period

John Haught, Landegger Distinguished Professor of Theology at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He was the winner of the 2002 Owen Garrigan Award in Science and Religion. He has written extensively on the importance of Darwinism for Christian theology, including God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution (Westview Press, 2000), and Deeper Than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution (Westview Press, 2003).

Topic: The Challenges of Darwinism for Natural Theology

Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology, Oxford University. Dr McGrath has a special interest in the relation of the natural sciences and Christian theology. His recent publications include A Scientific Theology (3 vols, T&T Clark, 2001-3) and the forthcoming The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology (Blackwell, 2008). He will deliver the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen in 2009 on the theme of the place of anthropic reasoning in contemporary natural theology.

Topic: The theological basis of natural theology

Richard Swinburne, FBA,  Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford. Dr Swinburne is one of the best-known and most widely read contemporary philosophers of religion. His recent publications include new editions of his Faith and Reason (Clarendon Press, 2005) and The Existence of God (Clarendon Press, 2004). He has dealt with natural theology at many points in his writings.

Topic: Natural theology: the current state of the debate within philosophy of religion.

Keith Ward, FBA, Gresham Professor of Divinity, Gresham College, London, and formerly Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford University. Dr Ward has written extensively in this field, especially in relation to the interface of science and religion. His works include God, Chance and Necessity (Oneworld, 1996)and Pascal’s Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding (Oneworld, 2006).

Topic: The Arthur Peacocke memorial lecture: the future for natural theology. [This lecture will be open to the public, and will take place in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford].

Other speakers are being approached. A conference brochure is in preparation, which will be published in various formats, including a version to be distributed on the web.

Applications will be received from 1 January 2008.

Call for papers:

Papers are invited for presentation at the conference and publication on the web site. These should be limited to 15 minute oral presentations, although longer versions of the paper can be posted on the website. Applications should be received by 15 November 2007; decisions will be notified to the e-mail address supplied by 1 January 2008. We particularly encourage submission of papers in the following broad areas, although other areas are also welcome:

The history of natural theology

The philosophical foundations of natural theology

The place of the natural sciences in natural theology

The theological evaluation of natural theology

Applications should take the following form: A 200-300 word description of the topic to be addressed, including your assessment of its significance; a brief curriculum vitae (no more than a single side) including publications relevant to your proposed topic; and an e-mail address that will be active up to the time of the conference itself. Please submit applications as a Word attachment by e-mail, marking the message “Proposed Paper for Oxford Natural Theology Conference” to the convenor, Professor Alister McGrath, at the following address:

Alister.McGrath@hmc.ox.ac.uk

Bursaries

We will be offering a limited number of student bursaries to promising graduates who might wish to develop research in this area, and will provide further details of this shortly. These bursaries will cover the conference fee but not accommodation costs.

You are welcome to circulate this updated notice to anyone who might be interested in attending this conference.

Alister E. McGrath, Convenor Professor of Historical Theology, Oxford University

Last updated: 24 September 2007

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