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Vatican Conferences

In July 1996 the Vatican Observatory, in association with the Berkeley-based Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, held an international conference on the theme of evolution. The conference, which took place in the pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo (outside Rome), was the fourth in a series based around the overall theme of "Divine Action". Over the past decade the Divine Action conferences (which are held every two years), have been bringing together scientists, philosophers, and theologians from around the world.

Each conference has a specific scientific theme, and participants present papers on how these scientific themes are relevant to theological and religious questions. The theme of the first conference was physics, philosophy, and theology; the next was chaos and complexity; the third was quantum cosmology; the fourth was evolution; the fifth conference (held in July 1998) was focused around the brain/mind problem; and the sixth (held in 2000) was on the theme of quantum mechanics. At the evolution conference, participants considered both the biological evolution of life on earth, and the evolution of the cosmos as a whole. All agreed that, in essence, an evolutionary perspective was commensurate with a Christian world view. The papers from this conference have been published as a book "Evolutionary and Molecular Biology: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action", which is an excellent resource for anyone interested in exploring this subject more seriously.

Email link | Feedback | Contributed by: Margaret Wertheim

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Vatican Conferences


Topic Index
History
The Birth of Modern Cosmology
Galileo
Separation of Science and Religion
Evolution
Creationism
Genetics
Genes and Sin
Cloning
Cosmology
The Big Bang
Stephen Hawking's God
God and Time
Purpose
A Theory of Everything
A Cosmic Designer?
Technology
Genetic Screening
The Future
Ongoing Dialog
Ecumenical Dialog

Related Topics:
Genetics
Evolution
Physics and Cosmology
History
Ethics
Theology
The Relation of Science & Religion
Purpose and Design
Controversy
Science and Religion in Conflict?
Books on Science and Religion - General
Galileo
Copernicus
Sir Isaac Newton
Charles Darwin
Dolly the Cloned Sheep
Egg Manipulation
Chromosome
DNA Double-Helix
Castel Gandolfo
Pontifical Academy
Kitt Peak Telescope
Galaxies and Nebulae