Fall 2006 Program
The Sciences of Religion Revisited Sept. 10
Science and the Search for God Oct. 15
The Big Bang and its Philosophical Implications Nov. 19
Sunday, September 10 at 4:30
The Sciences of Religion Revisited
Dr.William Grassie
William Grassie, founder and Executive Director of
the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science, will
review the gains made by the scientific study of
religions.
Most people study religion from the inside, as believers
committed to a particular tradition where there is a lot to study. In our global civilization we are also confronted
with the challenge of understanding other peoples’ religions from the outside. As we attempt to understand
those who are different from us we can utilize the tools
of religious studies, psychology, sociology,
anthropology, philosophy and history, as well as new
tools from the cognitive neurosciences, linguistics,
physiology and health, behavioral genomics,
evolutionary psychology, game theory, political science
and economics. Inside out, outside in -- there is nothing
to fear from either side in this encounter. Much can be
gained, as long as we approach the scientific study of
religious and spiritual phenomena with a touch of
humility and reverence.
 William Grassie is founder and executive director of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science (www.metanexus.net). Metanexus currently runs some 300 projects at universities in 37 countries. Grassie also serves as executive editor of the Institute’s online magazine and discussion forum with over 140,000 monthly page views and over 7000 regular subscribers in 57 different countries.He has taught in a variety of positions at Temple University, Swarthmore College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Grassie received his doctorate in religion from Temple University in 1994 and his BA from Middlebury College in 1979. Prior to graduate school, Grassie worked for ten years in religiously-based social service and advocacy organizations in Washington, D.C; Jerusalem, Israel-Palestine; Berlin, Germany; and Philadelphia, PA. He is the recipient of a number of academic awards and grants from the American Friends Service Committee, the Roothbert Fellowship, and the John Templeton Foundation. He is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).William Grassie is the son of May Hatchard and Dr. Vernon Grassie (deceased) formerly from Hockessin, DE and was active as a teenager in the First Unitarian Church in Wilmington |
Follow up Program
Tuesday September 12 at 7 PM in Brunner Chapel at 7:00PM Science and Religion 101
Parry Norling, member of the D-DoSER organizing
committee, will review the ways in which science and
religion interact with a number of examples discussed
during D-DoSER’s first year: Evolution and Intelligent
Design; Embryonic Stem Cells; Nanoethics; Nancey
Murphy, the skeptic, and the Islamic Scientist ; and Ken
Wilber—with enlightening videos and DVDs.
Sunday, October 15 at 4:30
Science and the Search for God
Gary Kowalski, Minister, First Unitarian
Universalist Society of Burlington, VT, author of
Science and the Search for God
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 With the demise of the mechanistic, materialistic world
view of the Newtonian era, a new dialogue between
science and faith has become possible.
Process theology is at the forefront of that
conversation, offering a picture of the cosmos that is
dynamic, creative and hospitable to the spirit. In this
lecture, minister, author and scholar Gary Kowalski
suggests that the addition of time as a fourth
dimension in the space-time continuum necessitates a
new understanding of our own essence, not as human
beings but as human "becomings" and important
participants in the universe's evolutionary
unfolding. From the wormhole to the worm, our
universe appears to be self-organizing and
interactive. And without resort to antiquated notions of
the Creator as a supernatural agent, creativity itself
begins to take on a divine quality. Physicist Paul
Gailey writes that Kowalski's ideas "will pleasantly
surprise those who feel that modern scientific thought
is at odds with their faith in God. He helps lay the
foundation for a sorely needed, more meaningful
interpretation of the wonders revealed by science."
Follow up Program
Tuesday October 17 at 7PM in Brunner Chapel
Continued discussion of Reverend Kowalski’s premise
that science can help in our search for meaning and
the nature of God.
Sunday November 19 at 4:30
TThe Big Bang and its philosophical implications
Harry L.
Shipman
University of Delaware Professor of Astronomy and Physics
Harry L. Shipman: Annie Jump Cannon Chair of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware; NSF Distinguished Teaching Scholar Awardee, 2003
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The Big Bang Cosmology was first described by a Belgian priest-scientist, Abbe Georges Lemaitre, nearly one hundred years ago. For the past forty years, astronomers have been accumulating evidence showing the essential correctness of this picture. This view of cosmology offers epistemic support to religious traditions like the Abrahamic one in which there is a well-defined instant of creation. (The Abrahamic religious tradition includes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the world's three great monotheistic religions.) Epistemic support is quite different from proof, in that the consistency between this piece of scientific knowledge and the Abrahamic religions comforts and enriches the religious tradition but should not, and generally is not, used as the basis for faith. Some astronomers have become fascinated in recent years with the phenomenon of "fine tuning," whereby the constants of nature, which could just be anything, happen to be the values that permit life like us to exist. This talk will discuss various philosophical interpretations of fine tuning and will include many fine slides of the "heavens".
Note: While there will be some overlap between this talk and the presentation at the Newark UU fellowship the day after, there will be sufficient difference so that people who attend both will only find a small part of it to be repetitive. |
Follow up Program
Tuesday November 21at 7PM in Brunner Chapel
 The View from the Center of the
Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the
Cosmos.
Robert Gadon will review the new book by Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams
As a people, we now have the scientific ability to see so
much more deeply into the universe than the ancients,
yet most people experience it so much less and connect
with it almost not at all. Widespread cultural indifference
to the universe is a staggering reality of our time – and
possibly our biggest mental handicap in solving global
problems. The aim of this book is not only to help people
understand the universe intellectually, but also to
develop imagery that we can all use to grasp this new
reality more fully and to open our minds to what it may
mean for our lives and the lives of our descendants. As
we do this, we begin to discover our extraordinary place
in the cosmos.
About D-DoSER
Delaware Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (D-DoSER) is one of 200 Local Societies around the world sponsored by the Metanexus Institute (www.metanexus.net) to explore issues in and between science and religion. Recently D-DoSER won a $15,000 grant (over 3 years) from non-profit Metanexus Institute of Philadelphia to sponsor lectures and dialogues on the interaction of Science, Ethics and Religion. First Unitarian took the lead. A joint team will host on-going dialogues with local speakers and also seek nationally-known speakers for periodic major public events.
For more information contact Parry Norling at 302-652-5377, Patti Emmons at First Unitarian Church 302-478-2384 or send an email message to d-doser@comcast.net
Main Program 3rd Sunday of each month (except September),
A discussion/Dialog on the following Tuesday evening
All Sunday presntations: 4:30 - 6 PM
All Tuesday discussion/dialogues 7-9 PM.
All events hosted by First Unitarian (see http://www.firstu.org/)
All presentations held at First Unitarian at 730 Halstead Road, Wilmington DE (intersection of route 202, just behind the old New Castle County library). For directions, see http://www.firstu.org/contact.php
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