Prof Robert Russell
Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science in Residence
Center for Theology & the Natural Sciences / Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California, United States
Biography
Professor Robert J. Russell is the Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), and the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science in Residence at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley. He is the author of the recent volume Time in Eternity: Pannenberg, Physics and Eschatology in Creative Mutual Interaction (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012) and Cosmology from Alpha to Omega: Towards the Mutual Creative Interaction of Theology and Science (Fortress Press, 2008). He has co-edited a multi-volume series of books focused on scientific perspectives on divine action through an international research conference program co-sponsored by CTNS and the Vatican Observatory, including such topics as quantum mechanics, chaos theory, evolutionary and molecular biology, the neurosciences, and quantum cosmology. His current research topics include: resurrection, eschatology and scientific cosmology; quantum mechanics, biological evolution and divine action; evolution, theodicy and christology; philosophical assumptions in contemporary scientific cosmology and their theological roots; time and eternity from a Trinitarian perspective in relation to time in physics.
He has been the P.I. of several CTNS international programs, including "Science and the Spiritual Quest" (SSQ) and "Science and Religion Course Program," (SRCP), and "Science and Transcendence: Advanced Research Series" (STARS). He has served on the JTF Board of Advisors since its inception and has been a judge for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. He holds a Ph.D. in experimental physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an M.Div. and an M. A. in theology and science from the Pacific School of Religion (one of nine seminaries in the GTU consortium), an M. S. in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and he triple- majored in physics, religion and music at Stanford University. He is ordained in the United Church of Christ. He is a member of the Society of Ordained Scientists.
His wife, Charlotte, is a UCC minister and they have two grown daughters, Christie Lavigne and Lisa Galicia.
Honoraria Titles
Major Prizes
Religion, Philosophy & History Interests
Christianity-Catholicism, Christianity-Protestantism, History of Religion, History of Science, Islam, Judaism, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
Science & Technology Interests
Biology, Cosmology, Evolution, Genetics, Human Origins, Information Technology, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics
Website
Publications
Time in Eternity: Pannenberg, Physics, and Eschatology in Creative Mutual Interaction
University of Notre Dame Press 2012
Cosmology from Alpha to Omega: Theology and Science in Creative Mutual Interaction (Collected Writings in Theology and Science 1983-2003),
Fortress Press
Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action: Twenty Years of Challenge and Progress (edited volume)
Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley, The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. To be distributed in the U.S. by University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. 2008.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, and William R. Stoeger, S. J.,
Physics and Cosmology: Scientific Perspectives on Natural Evil (edited volume)
Vatican Observatory Publications: Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 2007
Co-authors: Eds: Nancey Murphy, Robert John Russell, and S. J. William R. Stoeger,
Cosmology, Evolution, and Resurrection Hope: Theology and Science in Creative Mutual Interaction, Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Goshen conference on Religion and Science,
Pandora Press 2006
Co-authors: Robert John Russell, edited by Carl S. Helrich
Ed: Fifty Years in Science and Religion: Ian G. Barbour and His Legacy,
Ashgate Publishing 2004
Resurrection: Theological and Scientific Assessments (edited volume)
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company 2002
Co-authors: Eds: Ted Peters, Robert John Russell, and Michael Welker,
Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists (edited volume)
Routledge 2002
Co-authors: Eds: W. Mark Richardson, Robert John Russell, Philip Clayton and Kirk Wegter-McNelly,
Quantum Physics: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley, The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 2002. Distributed in the U.S. by University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Philip Clayton, Kirk Wegter-McNelly, and John Polkinghorne,
The Neurosciences and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley: The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 1999. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, Theo Meyering and Michael Arbib,
The Neurosciences and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley: The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 1999. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, Theo Meyering and Michael Arbib,
Evolution and Molecular Biology: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley: The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 1998. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, William R. Stoeger, S. J. and Francisco J. Ayala,
Chaos and Complexity: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley: The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 1995. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy and Arthur R. Peacocke,
Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory Publications, and Berkeley: The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 1993. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy and C.J. Isham,
John Paul II on Science and Religion: Reflections on the New View from Rome (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory, 1990. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press.
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, William Stoeger, S.J., and George Coyne, S.J.,
Physics, Philosophy and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding (edited volume)
Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory, 1988. Distributed in the U. S. by University of Notre Dame Press
Co-authors: Eds: Robert John Russell, William Stoeger, S. J., and George Coyne, S.J.,
