THE SECOND ANNUAL GLORIA PATRI CONFERENCE ON RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND THE HUMANITIES
On June 18-22, 2009, the second annual international and interdisciplinary GLORIA PATRI conference will be held at Newbold College, Bracknell, Binfield, England. This conference will examine the ways in which the Christian tradition may uplift the God of creation through the disciplines of science, theology, history, philosophy, sociology, and psychology.
This conference series takes its name, GLORIA PATRI from the ancient Christian hymn, first rendered in the Koine Greek of the New Testament church. Its words affirm the Christian belief in the glory and majesty of the triune God:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,World without end. Amen, Amen.
Such belief, however, calls for responsibility and witness. George Marsden notes in his The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship (63) that
The broadest way that Christianity, or any other religious faith, makes a difference to scholarship, then, is in the scholarly agendas that faith will help set. The more amenable a problem is to tightly controlled empirical observation, the less the apparent relevance. Yet, as any topic, including empirical investigation, touches on questions of wider significance or meaning, faith becomes more obviously relevant. So on topics that have the most to do with interpretation and with the larger significance and meaning of humans in relation to each other and the universe, faith-related perspectives will have the most bearing.
Marsden (63-64) then points to four ways that faith can have a bearing, even in the largely technical disciplines, such as the hard sciences:
(1) "it may be a factor in motivating a scholar to do her work well."
(2) "religious faith may help to determine the applications one sees for his scholarship."
(3) "such motives may help shape a sub-field, speciality, or questions one asks about one's work."
(4) "when on occasion the technical scholar is asked to reflect on the wider implications of her scholarship, faith may have an important bearing on how she sees the field or its assumptions, fitting into a larger framework of meaning."
Thus the purpose of this conference is to examine the ways in which a Christian worldview may positively interact with and impact the disciplines. The conference will address the following areas:
(1) the historical interaction of Christianity with the sciences and humanities.
(2) methods for building positive interaction and dialogue between Christianity and the disciplines.
(3) the ways in which a Christian-based interdisciplinary dialogue and research may practically impact the disciplines.
OPTIONAL TOUR: PEOPLE OF POWER
An optional tour focusing on PEOPLE OF POWER in British history will follow the conference. More information will be forthcoming.
CALL FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS
Forthcoming.
REGISTRATION AND HOUSING OPTIONS
Forthcoming.
