Fearful Symmetry: Cosmic Order and a Divine Creator
Free and open to the public. This event is organized by the Harvard Catholic Forum and is co-presented with the Lumen Christi Institute. This event will be held on Zoom (registration required) and live-streamed to the Harvard Catholic Forum’s YouTube page. — For thousands of years, some philosophers and scientists have argued that order in the universe points to a creator God. How does this argument hold up against the scientific discoveries of recent decades? Join us as theoretical particle physicist Stephen Barr examines the cosmic order and its relationship to a Divine Creator.
Integral Bioethics in the Anthropocene
Free and open to the public. This event is being co-presented with the International Academy for Bioethical Inquiry, and co-sponsored by the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics. This event will be held on Zoom (registration required) and live-streamed on YouTube. In 2000, scientists argued that human impact on the Earth reached levels meriting the creation of a new geological epoch, naming it the Anthropocene. The challenge of the Anthropocene is more than just an acknowledgement of changes to our planet, but also a challenge to humanity, pressing us to reconsider human health, action, and ethics. Can theological insights, ranging from early…
Christ, the True Origin of Humanity
This event is co-presented by the Society of Catholic Scientists and the Science and Religion Initiative at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, and is co-sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute. “Its beginnings are no measure of its capabilities, nor of its scope.” These words of St. John Henry Newman describing the character of great ideas works equally well in describing the human species. For many, what we were in prehistory is what defines us now. But the Christian faith has a much different, and more exciting, perspective. In this presentation, Chris Baglow will connect the beginning and the end of humanity,…
Miracles: Source of Truth or Violation of Natural Law?
From the beginning, Christian faith has been founded on the evidence of miracles: the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the signs and wonders worked by Jesus, the workings of the Holy Spirit in the Church. But miracles, especially those claimed to have happened after New Testament times, have provoked unease and skepticism, even among Christians. Enlightenment rationalism tended to argue them away completely. Professor Johnson asks: what place do miracles have in the Biblical vision? And how should we understand them today? This event is co-presented with the Harvard Catholic Forum, as their Daniel Harrington SJ Memorial Lecture. This event is co-sponsored by…
The Impact of Asteroids
This event is presented by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame as part of The Steno Lectures; Discussions at the Intersection of Faith and Science and co-sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute, the Society of Catholic Scientists, and the Harvard Catholic Forum. As the human race increasingly covers planet Earth, we are providing an ever-growing target for the regular impacts of near-Earth objects. What are the odds that impactors from space will do major damage to human life on Earth? What’s the underlying science? And what are the larger implications for our place in the…
God is Complicated – Science is Complex
Free and open to the public. Presented by the Lumen Christi Institute’s Newman Forum for High School Students. Cosponsored by The Society of Catholic Scientists and Mundelein Seminary. The most important development in modern science that you’ve likely never heard of is “Complexity Theory.” Why do highly ordered structures seem to emerge almost spontaneously from chaotic, random collections? Whether it’s galaxies forming in the early universe, thousands of birds forming single flocks that move in perfect unison, or the possible emergence of life from random interactions of organic molecules, Complexity Theory is producing exciting new insights into how it all comes together. And if God works through complex systems, what does that…
Lunch with Dr. Lucas Mix – What Part Does Science Play in Salvation?
Open to current students. Presented by Brent House and the Lumen Christi Institute. One often hears of debates about science versus religion, or science’s compatibility with religion, but in the Christian tradition what might it mean to ask whether science plays a part in salvation? There are many possible answers: science can be interpreted as an alternative to grace (salvation by science alone), as a means of grace (God gives us science as part of redemption), as a product of grace (science as sanctification), or as fully irrelevant to salvation. Join us for lunch with the Rev. Dr. Lucas Mix, an Episcopal priest and astrobiologist,…
Student Lunch with Stephen Barr on “Should a Catholic Scientist Care About the Liberal Arts?”
Open to current graduate students and faculty. Cosponsored by Calvert House. Box lunches will be served. Join us at Gavin House, home of the Lumen Christi Institute, for a discussion with physicist Stephen Barr (President, Society of Catholic Scientists) for a conversation on what a Catholic scientist can learn from the study of philosophy, theology, and literature. Open to all students and faculty. Box lunches will be served. Prof. Barr will also give a lecture on Feb. 7 on “Is the Universe Made for Life? Anthropic Coincidences and Multiverse Ideas” For all events held at Gavin House, the Lumen Christi…
Is the Universe Made for Life? Anthropic Coincidences and Multiverse Ideas
Free and Open to the Public. The late Stephen Hawking wrote, “Our universe and its laws appear to have a design that is both tailor-made to support us and, if we are to exist, leaves little room for alteration.” What lies behind such a claim? And what might explain such a remarkable fact (if it is a fact)? Join us as Dr. Stephen Barr speaks on both the science and the speculations surrounding anthropic coincidences. This convening is open to all invitees who are compliant with UChicago vaccination requirements and, because of ongoing health risks, particularly to the unvaccinated, participants are…
Non-Credit Course – Faith, Science, and Reason
This weekly non-credit course is open to current Chicago area students and faculty. Others interested in attending should contact us. Registrants are free to attend as many sessions as they choose. Sessions do not presuppose previous attendance or prior knowledge of the subject. If the new Cosmic story, that started with the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years, were likened to a 30-volume encyclopedia, each volume consisting of 450pp., each page the equivalent of a million years, modern humans appear on the last page of the last volume. Are we humans a random consequence of evolving mindless matter or the crowning achievement of God’s…