HAVERFORD, Pa., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- One hundred twenty scholars gather
today at Haverford College for a conference on "Interpreting Evolution:
Scientific and Religious Perspectives." The five-day gathering features
twenty plenary speakers and over one hundred participants from the U.S.,
Russia, Sweden, China, Pakistan, and Mexico. The conference is part of a
program to promote courses on science and religion at colleges, universities,
and seminaries worldwide.
"Evolution is a historical science," noted conference convener Dr. William
Grassie, director of the Philadelphia Center for Religion and Science and
editor of the website Metanexus.net. "so we need to distinguish between the
facts of evolution, which have never been more compelling, and the how of
evolution, which has never been more hotly debated within the sciences."
The conference is sponsored by three organizations: the Center for
Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, CA, the Program for Dialogue on
Science, Ethics, and Religion of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Philadelphia Center for Religion and
Science (PCRS/Metanexus).
"Evolution can also be understood as a mythic narrative, a story of
origins, which needs to be interpreted and integrated into our religious
consciousness," noted conference co-convener, Rev. James Miller from the AAAS.
"This is the challenge that brings us together for rigorous interdisciplinary
and inter-religious dialogue."
Conference speakers include paleontologists Niles Eldredge from the
American Museum of Natural History and Peter Dodson from the University of
Pennsylvania. Historian Ronald Numbers from the University of Wisconsin will
be on hand to give an overview of the Creation-Evolution debates over the last
century. On Sunday, Intelligent Design will be debated in a series of
encounters between the controversial William Dembski at Baylor University in
Texas, Brown University1s Biology Professor Kenneth Miller, Michael Behe from
Leigh University1s Biology Department. Warren Nord from the University of
North Carolina and Eugenie Scott from the National Center for Science
Education will debate the appropriate role of these issues in public
education.
The entire conference will be available for viewing online in early July
via Metanexus.net: The Online Forum on Religion and Science
http://www.metanexus.net.
The conference is not open to the public, but qualified reporters are
welcome to attend. Please contact Julia Loving at 215.601.0037 for more
information or to attend the meeting.
SOURCE Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences
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Related links:
http://www.metanexus.net
CONTACT:
Silas Deane of PR Source, 615-301-8313, for
Center for Theology and Natural Sciences
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