Tradition & Discovery
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Is God Emeritus? the Idea of God Among Religious Naturalists
Is God Emeritus? The Idea of God Among Religious Naturalists Jerome A. Stone Religious naturalism, a once-forgotten option in religious thinking, is making a revival.1 Very close to religious humanism, perhaps overlapping it, it seeks to explore and encourage religious ways of responding to the world or at least ways that are analogous to what we traditionally call religious. The difference between religious naturalism, as I am defining it, and the humanism of classical humanists such as John Dietrich during the time of the Humanist Controversy (1920’s) or the Humanist Manifesto of 1933 is a richer sense of our response to the world. Words like “mystery” and “openness” are more likely to be used by religious naturalists. In the debates between humanists and theists (classical or revisionary) religious naturalism as a viable option has often been overlooked, but no longer. Who are the religious naturalists? Historical roots go back at least to Spinoza and include Henry David Thoreau, and some poets including Whitman and Robinson Jeffers. Former religious naturalists included Samuel Alexander, Santayana, Dewey, Mordecai Kaplan, Ralph Burhoe, founder of Zygon, and such Chicago theologians as Wieman, Meland, and the later Bernard Loomer. Recent religious naturalists include William Dean, Willem Drees, Ursula Goodenough, Charley Hardwick, Henry Levinson, Karl Peters, myself, and perhaps Gordon Kaufman. Several articles in the 2000 issue of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science are on religious naturalism. I. What is Religious Naturalism? First, the generic definition of religious naturalism, what I think marks the essence of religious naturalism.1 We start with naturalism itself. -
The Sacred Depths of Nature and Ursula Goodenough's Religious
The Sacred Depths of Nature and Ursula Goodenough’s Religious Naturalism Phil Mullins Ursula Goodenough, The Sacred Depths of Nature. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. pp.182. ISBN 0-19-513629-2 (paper), $13.95. ABSTRACT Key words: Ursula Goodenough, science and religion, religious naturalism, philosophy and biology, Michael Polanyi. This review essay summarizes major themes in Ursula Goodenough's The Sacred Depths of Nature and in several of her recent shorter publications. I describe her religious naturalism and her effort to craft a global ethic grounded in her penetrating account of nature. I suggest several parallels between Goodenough's "deep" account of nature and Michael Polanyi's ideas. Unlike the physical universe, which for most people becomes increasingly bleak and terrifying the better it is known, the biological world yields an increasing sense of sacredness the better it is known. The more we know about life, the more we can care about it.1 What follows is a rough effort to chart the territory covered by Ursula Goodenough in her concise but rich 1998 book, The Sacred Depths of Nature. Many of the themes in her book are also treated in several articles in Zygon and other journals, published both before and after her book.2 Where appropriate, I shall draw elements from these articles into the discussion as part of a somewhat broader effort to suggest the scope and coherence of Goodenough’s ideas. My concern here is faithfully to outline Goodenough’s project, not to criticize it. As material elsewhere in this issue of TAD indicates, Goodenough will be a featured speaker at the 2002 annual meeting of the Polanyi Society. -
Mcduffienaturessot17.Pdf
1 2 3 Abstract “NATURE’S SACRAMENT: THE EPIC OF EVOLUTION AND A THEOLOGY OF SACRAMENTAL ECOLOGY” Project under the direction of Dr. Andrew R. H. Thompson The ‘Epic of Evolution’ is the scientific story that reveals that we live in an approximately 14 billion year old universe on a planet that is approximately 4.6 billion years old and that we are a part of the ongoing process of life that has existed on Earth for 3.5-4 billion years. This project focuses on the religious and ecological significance of the evolutionary epic in an effort to seamlessly connect the ecological value attributed as a part of an understanding of the evolutionary connectedness of life on earth with the Divine grace understood to be present in Christian sacramental worship. With a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, I argue that the sacramental perspective of grace being conveyed through material reality provides the potential for Christian sacramental tradition to make a significant contribution to protecting the threatened ecological communities of our planet. Focusing on the work of E. O. Wilson and Ursula Goodenough, I explore the sacramental significance of the Epic of Evolution itself as value is attributed through recognition of the connectedness and kinship characteristic of all Earthly life. Concurrently, by incorporating William Temple’s concept of a ‘sacramental universe’ from Anglican sacramental theology, I propose that the grace that is understood to be present in the substances of the bread and wine of the Eucharist points outward so that it can also be witnessed in all of God’s ongoing Creation. -
Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence Ursula Goodenough Washington University in St Louis, [email protected]
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations Biology 12-2001 Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence Ursula Goodenough Washington University in St Louis, [email protected] Paul Woodruff Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs Part of the Biology Commons, and the Ethics in Religion Commons Recommended Citation Goodenough, Ursula and Woodruff, Paul, "Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence" (2001). Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations. 84. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bio_facpubs/84 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biology at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINDFUL VIRTUE, MINDFUL REVERENCE by Ursula Goodenough and Paul Woodruff Draft of article published in Zygon 36: 585-595 (2001) Abstract. How does one talk about moral thought and moral action as a religious naturalist? We explore this question by considering two human capacities: the capacity for mindfulness, and the capacity for virtue. We suggest that mindfulness is deeply enhanced by an understanding of the scientific worldview, and that the four cardinal virtues – courage, fairmindedness, humaneness, and reverence – are rendered coherent by mindful reflection. We focus on the concept of mindful reverence, and propose that the mindful reverence elicited by the evolutionary narrative is at the heart of religious naturalism. Religious education, we suggest, entails the cultivation of mindful virtue, in ourselves and in our children. Keywords. mindfulness, morality, religious naturalism, reverence, virtue ethics INTRODUCTION This essay represents an intellectual and spiritual collaboration. -
Participant Biographies
Journey of the Universe Yale University, March 24-26 2011 Participant Biographies Jean E. Thomson Black is Executive Editor for Science and Medicine Acquisitions at Yale University Press, where she manages trade, scholarly, professional, reference, and course books in the life, physical, environmental, and cognitive sciences, as well as consumer health, history of science and medicine, and environmental history. Series for which she has responsibility include the Terry Lectures, Yale Agrarian Studies, and Yale University Press Health & Wellness (the imprint for consumer health). Many of her titles have won prizes from the American Association of Publishers Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division, the American Medical Writers' Association, the American Meteorological Society, and other organizations. She has worked at Yale University Press since 1990, and previously was employed for nearly 12 years by Academic Press, a publisher of scientific journals and books that is now part of Elsevier Science and Technology. Ms. Thomason Black was educated at Wellesley College (honors graduate and Sigma Xi), Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Rutgers University. She is a member of Sigma Xi, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ecological Society of America, Appalachian Mountain Club, and Explorers Club (admitted as a member in 2006. Derek E.G. Briggs, G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, has been Director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History since 2008. Briggs joined the Yale faculty in 2003. Except for a one-year term from 2001-2002 as a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago, his prior appointments were in the UK. -
Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context / Steven J
Edited by Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella NASA SP-2009-4802 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cosmos and Culture : Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context / Steven J. Dick and Mark Lupisella, editors. p. cm. -- (NASA SP ; 4802) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Cosmology--History. 2. Astronomy--History. 3. Culture--Origin. 4. Social evolution. 5. Human evolution. I. Dick, Steven J. II. Lupisella, Mark. QB981.C8263 2009 523.109--dc22 2009004348 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 9 0 0 0 0 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 9 780160 831195 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 9 0 0 0 0 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 9 780160 831195 Table of Contents Introduction – Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella v Part 1: The Cosmic Context Chapter 1 – Eric J. Chaisson Cosmic Evolution State of the Science 3 Chapter 2 – Steven J. Dick Cosmic Evolution History, Culture, and Human Destiny 25 Part 2: Cultural Evolution Chapter 3 – Kathryn Denning Social Evolution State of the Field 63 Chapter 4 – Daniel C. Dennett The Evolution of Culture 125 Chapter 5 – Howard Bloom The Big Burp and the Multiplanetary Mandate 145 Chapter 6 – John M. -
Program Book
2001 AAR Online Program Book A1 Chairs Workshop Friday - 8:00 am-4:00 pm Edward Gray, American Academy of Religion, Presiding Theme: Effective Assessment Separate registration required. See the registration form in the Program Book or see the Evaluating and Advancing Teaching in the Religious Studies Department - Registration page for a registration form. A2 Chairs Workshop Friday - 8:00 am-4:00 pm Edward Gray, American Academy of Religion, Presiding Theme: Effective Assessment Separate registration required. See the registration form in the Program Book or see the Evaluating and Advancing Teaching in the Religious Studies Department - Registration page for a registration form. A3 Chairs Workshop Friday - 8:00 am-4:00 pm Edward Gray, American Academy of Religion, Presiding Theme: Effective Assessment Separate registration required. See the registration form in the Program Book or see the Evaluating and Advancing Teaching in the Religious Studies Department - Registration page for a registration form. A4 Chairs Workshop Friday - 8:00 am-4:00 pm Edward Gray, American Academy of Religion, Presiding Theme: Effective Assessment Separate registration required. See the registration form in the Program Book or see the Evaluating and Advancing Teaching in the Religious Studies Department - Registration page for a registration form. A5 Chairs Workshop Friday - 8:00 am-4:00 pm Edward Gray, American Academy of Religion, Presiding Theme: Effective Assessment Separate registration required. See the registration form in the Program Book or see the Evaluating and Advancing Teaching in the Religious Studies Department - Registration page for a registration form. A6 AAR Board of Directors Friday - 9:00 am-5:00 pm Rebecca S. -
Emergence: Nature’S Mode of Creativity – the Human Dimension
IRAS Emergence: Nature’s Mode of Creativity – The Human Dimension Program and Schedule The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science 54th Annual Star Island Conference, July 26 to August 2, 2008 CONFERENCE STATEMENT In 2006 we explored the concept of emergence in its physical, geological, biological, and ecological contexts, enriching our sense of connection with the universe and other beings (http://www.iras.org/Site/Past%20Conferences_files/book2006_nomap.pdf). This year we will consider emergence in the context of the human, ranging across our cognitive, emotional, linguistic, cultural, artistic, and religious capacities. Emergent properties arise out of relationships, like the neuronal signaling patterns that generate mental experience or the interpersonal connections that generate communal identity. They can be analyzed in terms of their interacting components, but the synergies that develop can generate higher-order unities with novel properties. Humans exemplify these emergent capacities in our modes of cognition, allowing us to generate phenomena that could not previously exist, such as music, morality, religion, and science. The core thesis of the conference is that human mental evolution was not just “evolution as usual.” Rather, it was a case of “emergent evolution,” traversing a causal threshold as fundamental as the emergence of life, which in turn made biological evolution possible. Similarly, the emergence of symbolic communication made possible the subsequent co-evolution of brain, language, and culture, driving technology and generating new forms of consciousness in which vast webs of collective cognition and intersubjectivity are possible, many manifest in our religious traditions. These processes can be expected to lead to future transitions—not all human-friendly—that are every bit as revolutionary, demanding that we reflect on our understandings of the true, the good, the beautiful, and the sacred. -
Envisioning Nature, Science, and Religion Templeton Press Envisioning Nature, Science, and Religion
Envisioning naturE, sciEncE, and rEligion templeton press Envisioning naturE, sciEncE, and rEligion edited by James D. Proctor Templeton Press 300 Conshohocken State Road, Suite 550 West Conshohocken, PA 19428 www.templetonpress.org © 2009 by Templeton Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Templeton Press. Designed and typet by Kachergis Book Design Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Printed in the United States of America 09 10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ContEnts Acknowledgments vii Introduction. Envisioning Nature, Science, and Religion 3 James D. Proctor 1. The Nature of Visions of Nature: Packages to Be Unpacked 36 Willem B. Drees 2. Visions of Nature through Mathematical Lenses 59 Douglas E. Norton 3. Between Apes and Angels: At the Borders of Human Nature 83 Johannes M.M.H. Thijssen 4. Locating New Visions 103 David N. Livingstone 5. Enduring Metaphysical Impatience? 131 Robert E. Ulanowicz 6. God from Nature: Evolution or Emergence? 149 Barbara J. King 7. Who Needs Emergence? 166 Gregory Peterson 8. Creativity through Emergence: A Vision of Nature and God 180 Antje Jackelén 9. Rereading a Landscape of Atonement on an Aegean Island 205 Martha L. Henderson 10. The Vision of Malleable Nature: A Complex Conversation 227 Andrew Lustig 11. Visions of a Source of Wonder 245 Fred D. Ledley 12. Nature as Culture: The Example of Animal Behavior and Human Morality 271 Nicolaas A.