Short Course in Cambridge. Reading the World: Science and Sacred Texts

Aim of Course

How do people read and understand their sacred scriptures in a scientific age? How do the scriptures relate to scientific questions surrounding human origins, cosmology and ecology? How have the Abrahamic faiths negotiated between scripture and science throughout their long histories, and how do they do so today?

The focus of this weekend course will be the Bible and the Qur’an and their reception and interpretation in Christianity and Islam respectively. Lectures will be delivered by scholars with expertise in each tradition from the perspectives of history, theology and philosophy, as well as contemporary social science. The weekend is aimed at interested people from a variety of backgrounds, rather than at specialists in any particular discipline.

The subsidised cost of attending this course is as follows:

Residential £240, students £140;

Non-residential £130, students £80

Speakers (listed in alphabetical order) and topics

See multimedia items for this course.

• Revd Prof. Alasdair Coles : Neuroscience, the Bible and the Soul
• Harfiyah Haleem : The Qur’an and the Environment
• Dr James Hannam : God’s Two Books: Western Christianity and the rise of Science
• Laura Hassan : God’s Two Books: Islamic Historical Perspectives
• Dr Cherryl Hunt : The Bible and the Environment
• Revd Dr Ernest Lucas : Science, the Bible and Human Origins
• Dr Hilary Marlow : Evolutionary Biology and the Bible
• Professor Martin Reixinger : Evolution and the Qur’an in the Contemporary Muslim World
• Dr Caroline Tee : Science and Sacred Texts: Ways of Reading
• Dr Mike Thompson : Neuroscience, the Bible and the Soul
• Dr Colin Turner : Modern Science and Qur’anic Exegesis

Venue

The course will be held at Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge, CB23 8AQ. www.madingleyhall.co.uk/

Set in magnificent gardens just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, Madingley Hall provides a memorable setting.
Built in the 16th century, this elegant country house has en-suite accommodation, all within seven acres of spectacular gardens and grounds, designed in the 18th century by ‘Capability’ Brown.

Course Schedule