Introduction This book documents a four-day conference in commemoration of the100th anniversary of the birth of Sir John Templeton and of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of his John Templeton Foundation. It brought together about 60 active participants, most of them leading scholars, from many countries and many academic fields, who have been engaged in the “Science and Religion Dialogue” or, as some preferred to say, the “Science and Theology Dialogue” in the last two or three decades. The book reports on multi-year international and interdisciplinary research projects at leading institutions as well as on the Foun- dation’s strong support of upcoming generations of researchers. The conference started on 25 October 2012 with a public eventin the Great Hall of the University of Heidelberg, Germany. It continued the following days at the Internationales Wissenschaftsforum der Universität Heidelberg (IWH) with presentations and discussions among the scholars. The complete confer- ence was streamed and documented on the web. In the first year, it has already been visited over 11,000 times. This book documents the main results of the event, which was planned and orchestrated by the Forschungszentrum Interna- tionale und Interdiszipliäre Theologie (FIIT) Heidelberg in a readable form. On the first day, in honor of Sir John Templeton and the two anniversaries mentioned above, addresses were given by John M. Templeton, Jr., President of the JTF, Stephen Post and Michael Murray, and from the Vice-President of the University of Heidelberg, Thomas Pfeiffer and Michael Welker, director of the FIIT. These addresses were followed by three lectures addressing the general topic: On the Engagement of Science and Religion, 1. Hans Joas (University of Freiburg and University of Chicago): The Natural History of Religion; 2. Martin Nowak (Harvard University): God and Evolution; 3. John Polkinghorne (Cambridge University): The Search for Truth. The following days, presentations were given and discussed on the sub-topics: The Science and Theology Dialogue. Multi-Year Research Projects John Polkinghorne and Michael Welker spoke about multi-year projects on top- ics of Eschatology, Anthropology and Concepts of Law, which they had chaired 10 Introduction at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton (CTI), in Cambridge, UK, and in Germany (Heidelberg, Düsseldorf and Berlin). Denis Alexander reported the success story of the Faraday Institute, Cam- bridge, UK, which hosted many academic events on the topic, but also many educational projects for the broader public. Robin Lovin and Friederike Nüssel presented a multi-year project that they had organized at the CTI, Princeton, with support from the Templeton Founda- tion. Ted Peters and Robert Russell explained interfaces between theology and sci- ence that had stimulated research and discourse at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), Berkeley. The Science and Religion Dialogue: Multicontextual Dimensions Cyril Hovorun reported on the dialogue between science and religion in Rus- sia. From a European and a North American perspective, Niels Gregersen and Wentzel van Huyssteen sketched postfoundational approaches to the dialogue and the impact on it by a “post-modern” climate of thinking. Contributions from Astronomy and Mathematics (Chris Impey, Matthias Baaz and Harvey Fried- man), from Physics and Biology (Andrew Briggs, Simon Conway Morris and Gunter Wagner) and finally from Religious Ethics and Philosophical Theology (Kelly James Clark and William Schweiker) gave an impression of the enormous breadth of the fields and concerns that have shaped this dialogue in the past. The conference was concluded with the unit Philanthropic Investment and the Future Academic Generation. We document presentations from three of the sixty winners of the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise (2007– 2011), by the German scholar for American studies Jan Stievermann, the Or- thodox theologian Daniel Munteanu from Romania and the Austrian Protestant theologian Eva Harasta. Heidelberg, Spring 2014 Michael Welker I. Celebrating the Past – Shaping the Future Thomas Pfeiffer The Science and Religion Dialogue: Past and Future It is my pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the University of Heidelberg at the opening ceremony of the three-day conference on The Science and Religion Dialogue: Past and Future. My particular greetings go to the participants in this conference. You have come here from leading universities from all over the world and from many fields: physics, biology, mathematics and astronomy, philosophy, psychology, theology and religious, historical and ethical studies. Most of you have been engaged in the dialogue between scientific modes of thought on the one hand and the rationalities of different faith traditions on the other. These faith traditions cover not only the broad spectrum of Christian confessions, but also Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. Apart from the highly established scholars in their fields, I extend my greet- ings to the group of doctoral and postdoctoral scholars, most of whom were win- ners of the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, a prize they received here in Heidelberg; and to the five international winners of the recent essay con- test on the Science and Religion Dialogue. It is my special pleasure today to welcome Dr. John Templeton, Jr., Dr. Pina Templeton and the representatives of the John Templeton Foundation. We are delighted to host the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chartering of the Templeton Foundation, as well as the 100th anniversary of Sir John Templeton’s birth. He established his foundation as a philanthropic organization that funds interdisciplinary research to advance human progress through new discoveries. One of the main goals of the foundation was the stimulation and support of academic discourses between the areas of science and religion or, rather, sci- ence, theology, religious studies and the philosophy of religion. These areas of knowledge have very much moved apart from each other, especially in moder- nity. It has been doubted whether any meaningful exchange between them is possible, and there have even been fears that the contact between these two areas of knowledge leads to obscurantism. The second half of the twentieth century, however, saw the emergence of academic and civil societal institutions that regarded this split of rationality as unfortunate and initiated the dialogue on topics crucial for both sides, 14 Thomas Pfeiffer such as cosmology, anthropology, eschatology and ethical responsibility. Leading academic institutions, particularly in the USA and Great Britain, created university chairs for Theology and Science, or Science and Religious Studies. Sir John had not only a genius perception of the powers of the economic markets. He also had a deep sense for the creative potentials of the dialogue between scientific and religious thought despite its uncertainties and risks. Ac- cordingly, for the past 25 years, the John Templeton Foundation has supported many research projects in this field. The University of Heidelberg and its -Re search Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology were among the institutions that received major grants from the John Templeton Founda- tion. Above all, in one of his last founding decisions, Sir John established the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise at this university. Young schol- ars from across the globe were invited to apply for it with their doctoral dis- sertation or their first post-doctoral work in the area of “God and Spirituality” (broadly understood). Each year, 12 of them received a substantial prize after a strict evaluation process by 25 scholars from different fields and from 19 coun- tries. In the days following the award ceremony (held in this room) they pre- sented their next academic projects at the Internationales Wissenschaftsforum, where an academic conference will start tomorrow. The award very quickly made a name for itself on a global scale. When the John Templeton Foundation had to terminate it after five years because of its legal rules, the Heidelberg Manfred Lautenschlaeger Foundation decided to continue the prize as the Man- fred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise. This opening ceremony, apart from commemorating Sir John and celebrat- ing the 25th anniversary of his foundation, intends to mirror the broad spec- trum of its support in the science and religion discourse. We are very glad to welcome the three speakers from different fields, namely Professor Hans Joas from the Universities of Freiburg and Chicago, who will give a short pres- entation on “The Natural History of Religion.” We are grateful that Profes- sor Martin Nowak from Harvard University will deal with the topic “God and Evolution.” Finally, it is a particular joy to welcome Professor John Polking- horne from the University of Cambridge, UK; he has repeatedly been a guest professor in Heidelberg and is also a Von Humboldt prize winner. His lecture is entitled “The Search for Truth.” We are looking forward to a stimulating event tonight and a fruitful conference. Michael Welker The Science and Religion Dialogue: Past and Future The Science and Theology Dialogue has been well established in Heidelberg since 1958. Located above Heidelberg’s famous castle, the Research Center of Protestant Churches in Germany, the FEST, has cultivated this dialogue in con- sultations, workshops and publications. Its current topics are interdisciplinary