Project Science and Orthodoxy around the World (SOW) gathers

Orthodox and non-Orthodox researchers from throughout the world

scholars with an interest in how the Orthodox Christian tradition articu-
lates the rapports between contemporary science and theology.
One of the main objectives of the project is to create a repository of rele-
vant information from throughout the Orthodox world. For this purpose, a
team of researchers undertakes a painstaking effort to identify and cen-
tralise materials on science and theology by Orthodox authors, in various
languages. The participants in the project are aware of the fact that much
has been written in other languages than English, valuable contributions
which must be brought to the knowledge of the Orthodox themselves and
the broader public. Alongside this task within the project, two more inter-
national conferences will be organised, in addition to a series of workshops,

relating
seminars, and lectures. Indeed, an international conference already took
place in Athens at the end of February of this year, and was met with much

Science&
enthusiasm and acclaim.
The Australian participants in the project are Peter Harrison, as a non-Or-
thodox expert in the field, and Doru Costache, as an Orthodox scholar with

Religion
an interest in the field. The Relating Science & Religion seminar is the only
SOW event organised in Australia.

https://www.aiocs.org
https://www.facebook.com/aiocs.org

http://project-sow.org
https://www.facebook.com/science.orthodoxy A seminar organised on behalf of the project
Science and Orthodoxy around the World
This publication has been implemented within the framework of the project Science
& Orthodoxy around the World, which was made possible through the support of a Hosted by the Sydney College of Divinity
grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. The opinions expressed in Unit 6B, The Park
this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of 5 Talavera Rd
Project SOW and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc.
Macquarie Park NSW 2113, Australia
Brochure design: Ion Nedelcu
30 June 2017 at 7:00pm AEST
Peter Harrison
Christian Origins
of Modern Science
Abstract: It is often thought that
modern science developed largely in-
dependently of, or even in opposition
to, religion. Some historians, how-
ever, have suggested that religious
factors played a key role in the emer-
gence of modern science in the sev-
enteenth century, and were import-
ant in establishing a permanent and
prominent place for scientific activity
at the heart of modern Western cul-
ture. This lecture explores a number
of ways in which religion may have
had a positive impact on the emer-
gence and consolidation of modern
science, paying particular attention
to the values needed to establish its
social and intellectual legitimacy.
Peter Harrison is an Australian
Laureate Fellow and Director of the
Institute for Advanced Studies in
the Humanities at the University
of Queensland. Prior to taking up
his present post at UQ he was the
Andreas Idreos Professor of Science
and Religion, and Director of the Ian
Ramsey Centre at the University of
Oxford. He is the author of over 100
articles and chapters. His six books
include The Bible, Protestantism and
the Rise of Natural Science (Cam-
bridge, 1998) and, most recently, The
Territories of Science and Religion
(Chicago, 2015), based on his 2011
prestigious Gifford Lectures.
Denis Edwards
Divine Transcendence and
Divine Humility
Abstract: Theology after Darwin has
to deal with the costs of evolution.
Evolutionary science makes it clear
that predation, competition for sur-
vival, pain, death and extinctions are
built into the 3.8 billion year history
of life on Earth. This pushes theol-
ogy to deeper reflection on divine
action, on the relationship between
the transcendent God and what Paul
calls the groaning of creation (Rom
8:22). Part of a theological response
to this issue is to affirm the compas-
sionate presence of God to suffering
creation. It is sometimes supposed
that a high view of Gods transcen-
dence is opposed to the idea of a God
who is radically present to creatures
in self-giving love. I will propose that
two of the great figures of Christian
theology, Irenaeus and Athanasius,
represent a tradition in which the
true nature of divine transcendence
finds expression in divine self-hum-
bling love. For both of them this love
has a down-to-Earth character. It is
the love revealed in the cross of Jesus.
And it is this same love that charac-
terises the divine act of creation.
Denis Edwards is a professorial
fellow in theology at Australian
Catholic University, Adelaide cam-
pus, and is a priest of the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide.
He is a member of the ACU Institute
for Religion and Critical Inquiry,
and is a fellow of the International
Society for Science and Religion.
Recent books include Ecology at
the Heart of Faith; How God Acts:
Creation, Redemption, and Special
Divine Action; Jesus and the Natural
World; and Partaking of God: Trinity,
Evolution and Ecology.
Doru Costache
The Kenotic God,
the Principle of Synergy,
and the Evolutionary Universe
Abstract: Certain early Christian
theologians, such as Athanasius,
the Cappadocians, Nemesius, and
Maximus, have advanced interesting
views on the function of movement
and change within the created uni-
verse. By and large, their views antic-
ipate the contemporary evolutionary
paradigm, but with a twist: they are
theologically articulated. Such con-
tributions are lost on most modern
Orthodox however, who believe in a
static world, perfect from the outset,
so created by the omnipotent God.
They seek proofs for their convic-
tions within the ecclesial tradition,
happily selecting only those passages
which praise the perfection of Gods
creation. In its complexity, the eccle-
sial tradition offers a very different
worldview, which I present in con-
temporary idiom. Here are its out-
lines. God has created the universe
out of nothing through the Logos,
endowing it with a potential for per-
fection. Conditioned by the divine
parameters, called principles or ratio-
nal patterns, the universes perfection
is neither a past reality nor a current
one; it is work in project, a goal to be
achieved eschatologically. That future
perfection and the present form of
the cosmos result from an ongoing
interaction between the divine and
cosmic energies. The evolutionary
movement of the universe manifests
that fundamental interaction. The
engine of the universes motion is
therefore the principle of synergy,
which attests to a God who, albeit
omnipotent, is also kenotic, humbly
and patiently working through the
natural development of the creation.
Dr Doru Costache is a protopresbyter
of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese
of Australia and New Zealand.
Co-founder and president of The
Australian Institute for Orthodox
Christian Studies. Senior lecturer in
patristic studies at St Cyrils Coptic
Orthodox Theological College, a
member institution of the Sydney
College of Divinity. Honorary asso-
ciate of the Department of Studies in
Religion, the University of Sydney.
Forthcoming books: Early Christian
and Byzantine Worldviews (2017,
sole author) and Dreams and Virtue
in Early Christian Egypt (2018,
co-author).