Overview

In October 2014, a group of mathematicians, physicists, ecologists, philosophers, and theologians gathered at a special conference in Berkeley, California, to present the results of a two-year research program dubbed “Project SATURN.” This program explored many rich avenues of thought at the intersection of modern science and Christian theology. Chief among them is the possibility that specific processes might be so complex that they do not have sufficient physical causes. Known as “ontological indeterminism,” this idea has profound implications for theology. Specifically, it allows God to be thought of as acting providentially within nature without violating the laws and processes of nature. Such a momentous insight could influence how we understand free will, natural evil, suffering in nature, and the relation between divine providence and human evolution. The essays collected here discussed these topics and were initially presented at the 2014 conference. Part I establishes the scientific basis for conceptualizing specific processes in the universe as inherently random and possibly indeterministic. Part II discusses the philosophical and theological issues that spring from this understanding. Together they represent the cutting edge of thought in the increasingly productive dialogue between science and theology. Short for the “Scientific and Theological Understandings of Randomness in Nature,” Project SATURN was created by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, a Program of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. It was funded with a grant administered by Calvin College and provided by the John Templeton Foundation.

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Robert John Russell is the founder and director of CTNS and the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has promoted creative dialogue between scientists and theologians for more than three decades, including spearheading a twenty-year collaboration between the Vatican Observatory and CTNS. He is a member of the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, and the Templeton World Charities Foundation. Joshua M. Moritz teaches philosophy at the University of San Francisco, theology at the Jesuit Graduate School of Theology at Santa Clara University, and theology and science at the Graduate Theological Union and at the School of Applied Theology, Berkeley. Joshua is the managing editor of the journal Theology and Science. He has authored numerous books and articles, including Science and Religion: Beyond Warfare and Toward Understanding (Anselm Academic, 2016) and The Role of Theology in the History and Philosophy of Science (Brill, 2017).

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