Theology and Evolutionary Naturalism: How Much Can Biology Explain?
John F. HaughtGeorgetown University
Thursday, February 19, 4:30pm
BSLC 001, 924 East 57th Street
John Haught (Georgetown University)
Many scientists and philosophers claim that a Darwinian understanding of life has rendered the idea of God unnecessary. Descent, diversity, design, death, suffering, sex, intelligence, morality, and religion—features of life that had previously been understood theologically—now seem open to a purely natural explanation. This lecture will consider whether the claims of evolutionary naturalists are coherent and whether a theological understanding of life can still be reconciled with biological accounts.
cosponsored by the Program on Medicine and Religion and the Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop
John F. Haught is Distinguished Research Professor and Professor Emeritus of Theology at Georgetown University. His area of specialization is systematic theology, with a particular interest in issues pertaining to science, cosmology, evolution, ecology, and religion. In 2002 Haught was awarded the Owen Garrigan Award in Science and Religion, in 2004 the Sophia Award for Theological Excellence, and in 2008 a “Friend of Darwin Award” from the National Center for Science Education. He is the author of numerous books, including God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens; Making Sense of Evolution: Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life; and Is Nature Enough? Meaning and Truth in the Age of Science.
