The ISSR Executive Committee have asked ISSR member Sir John Houghton, to write about global warming, climate change and issues of sustainability from the point of view of both science and challenges to religious believers.
The International Society for Science & Religion was established in 2002 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion conducted where possible in an international and multi-faith context.
The Society took shape after a four-day conference in Granada, Spain, which until the late 15th century was the center of peaceful discourse between scholars of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Phillip Clayton, California-based philosopher and theologian:
"What we are hoping for is a cross-fertilization between two of the greatest forces of the human spirit - science and religion."
The late Arthur Peacocke, Church of England priest and physical biochemist at Oxford University:
"As we face the universal claims of science and confront its new challenges together, may we find a common spiritual ground among ourselves."
Bruno Guiderdoni, research director at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics:
"Once our spiritual nature is recognized, how is it possible to bring violence to each other?"
The New Atheism
Among philosophers and theologians, responses to the movement sometimes labelled the “new atheism” have been varied. A personal view by Keith Ward, which the ISSR Executive Committee feels is a good starting point for evaluation of this movement, may he read here.
Neuroscience and Religious Faith
The extent to which neuroscience can at least potentially explain religious belief and experience has been understood in different ways. A survey and personal evaluation by Warren Brown, which the ISSR Executive Committee believes provides a good starting point for further study, may be read here.
International Science and Religion News
ISSR, as a service to all engaged in the serious study of the science-religion dialogue, has now set up a new website giving details of recent news, regular courses, forthcoming conferences and academic positions worldwide.
ISSR Statements (Darwin and Religion, Cybrids and Chimeras, and Intelligent Design)
In this year, which marks the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book “On the Origin of Species”, there have been many comments – often speculative or ill-informed – about Darwin’s religious or anti-religious beliefs. To provide a balanced view, and a stepping stone to further study by anyone interested, the ISSR Executive Committee has asked the illustrious historian of science, John Hedley Brooke, to provide a brief, non-academic introduction to this topic.
Creationism as an educational issue
Following recent events within the Royal Society centred on the issue of how creationism should be dealt with in the educational system, a Fellow of that Society – ISSR’s first President, John Polkinghorne – gave a brief personal view in a short article in the Times (London). This article, and another by ISSR member Michael Poole and focusing on the educational issue can be read here.
Evolution Controversy
ISSR would like to draw attention to a report – “Science, Evolution, and Creationism” – prepared by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S., which we believe provides an important resource for an understanding of evolution by the general public. It can be read online or downloaded here by following the links to the report.
Religious Reasons for Supporting Science
ISSR believes that people of all the main religious faith traditions have strong reasons for supporting the scientific enterprise. We also believe that these reasons, while they may vary from tradition to tradition, should be articulated as well as possible within each of them. An admirable example of this, in the view of our Executive Committee, is a Pastoral Letter recently circulated within the United Church of Christ, which may be read here:
http://ucc.org/not-mutually-exclusive/pdfs/pastoral-letter.pdf