metanexusinstitute: conferences

We say at Metanexus that we are after something like “the whole story of the whole cosmos for the whole person.” We are “after” it, because we do not have it. What we do have are the stories told to us and by us in our various academic fields and intellectual areas of expertise. We have the stories told to us and by us in our diverse faith traditions and our various cultural contexts. We have the stories told to us and by us in the very formation and structure of our institutions–educational and commercial, religious and political.

There is something within us—manifested as it is in the entire spectrum of human endeavor, from the sciences, to philosophy, to religion, to the arts, to ethics—that demands we pursue the whole story of the whole cosmos if we are to be whole persons, in order to know who we are, where we are from, where we are going, and how we should live.

To understand ourselves, our place in the cosmos, and our relation to each other and the divine, we must adopt rich approaches that cut across fields of knowledge, institutional boundaries, cultural borders, and religious traditions.

Does hyper-specialization produce significant problems? Does it, and must it, lead to disintegration, a fracturing of knowledge, of culture, and of the soul? What impact has it had on education? And what are its implications for the "science and religion dialogue"?

The tension between continuity and change is not simply an ancient philosophical conundrum. It is also at the root of the most pressing questions of our time. If Heraclitus is right that change is essential to the continuity of reality, and change is the "clash of opposites," then the constructive engagement of the seemingly "clashing opposites" of science and religion may hold the secret to our well-being and our future.

Today more than ever before in history we have the opportunity to encounter and consider a panoply of perspectives from around the world on the most fascinating questions of science and the most pressing questions of justice and human flourishing.

This international conference examined foundational questions in the natural sciences, new approaches to the human sciences, all with the aim of discerning the whereto and why of humanity, cosmos, and the divine in the 21st century.

How do our complex brains, unique imaginations, communicative abilities, reasoning powers, moral sense, and spiritual and religious promptings give rise to the remarkable yet not at all uncommon practice of unselfish love for our neighbors, or those we do not even know?

Interpretation is important. It matters what we mean by interpretation, how we come to our interpretations, and how we legitimate them. And we may find that interpretation is the key to enriching the dialogue between these two great pillars of culture: religion and science.

Evolution can also be understood as a mythic narrative, a spectacular story of origins, which needs to be interpreted and integrated into our religious consciousness. This is the challenge that brings us together for rigorous interdisciplinary and inter-religious dialogue. The conference was part of a program to promote the teaching of course on science and religion at colleges, universities, hospitals, and seminaries worldwide.There is no website for this conference.