Date/Time
Date(s) - Thu 11 June
20:30 - 21:30
Two converging challenges risk overwhelming the dialogue around Christianity and evolution. Firstly, biology has exploded into a new data revolution in the past decade. As the life sciences have never been hotter, the inability to accurately communicate where the science is has caused problems for the public. We must better understand what today’s evolutionary biology is. Secondly, a great deal of misinformation and confusion has emerged in Christian circles around the state and implications of evolution, largely as a result of popular creationism and Intelligent Design. Twenty years on from the Kitzmiller v Dover trial, the penetrance of these ideas into Christian culture still holds sway. For theologians to engage with evolution, they must understand the landscape. Samuel McKee will address these two points and ask what the best step forward for this area of science and religion is.
Bio
Samuel McKee is a researcher in cancer genomics at the University of Reading and a doctoral candidate in the history and philosophy of science at Manchester Metropolitan University. He holds degrees in genetics and genomic medicine from Cambridge, theology from the University of Chester, and molecular biology from Birkbeck. He serves on the board of Christians in Science, is an ISCAST Fellow, and is assistant editor of the journal Science and Christian Belief. He also hosts The Polymath World Channel on YouTube, where he interviews scientists, philosophers, and researchers working at the frontiers of their disciplines.
New perspectives on evolution and Christianity series
The old formula of evolution by natural selection is undergoing pressure. The idea that all change over many aeons occurred through random mutation followed by the survival of the fittest has been modified, expanded upon, and, in some ways, upended in recent decades. Convergence and constraints, evo devo, the ubiquity of altruism in the mammalian tree, cooperation as a driver of development and epigenetics are among the emphases that subtly change our paradigm of evolution.
In this six-part series, the ISCAST-NZCIS Conversations bring together international biologists and theologians to highlight newer understandings of evolution and their repercussions for theology.
Information on the other conversations in the series here.
Registration
For this Conversations series, one ticket gives you access to all six sessions.
$40 General
$30 ISCAST or NZCIS Member
Free Student
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