Mark Harris is Lecturer in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh. His first degree and PhD at Cambridge were in earth sciences (specifically mineral physics), but he soon moved into condensed matter physics, working at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford from 1994 to 2004. Exploring a call to ordained ministry, he studied theology at Oxford, and was then Chaplain at Oriel College, Oxford from 2004 to 2010, where he also taught New Testament studies. After moving to Edinburgh to become the Vice-Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, in 2012 took up the brand new post of Lecturer in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh. Here, he manages Edinburgh’s MSc programme in Science and Religion, one of the world’s few advanced programmes in the subject.
Mark’s current research interests explore the interface between science and biblical interpretation. He is the author of The Nature of Creation (2013, Acumen Press), a theological investigation of the creation texts of the Bible in the light of modern science and critical biblical scholarship. He is also interested in the interpretation of miracles, especially in the idea of resurrection in Christianity, and in the way that scientific catastrophism has become an important driving force in popular interpretations of the Bible.
At the same time, as a physicist, Mark is interested in the ambiguous relationship between physics and religious belief, and he is working on a long-standing project on the question of scientific and theological views of ultimate reality and the laws of nature.
