the Zygon Center for Religion and Science

Presents:

 

The Epic of Creation

Scientific, Biblical, and Theological Perspectives on Our Origins

 

Monday Evenings, 7:00 – 10:00 pm

February 2 – May 3, 2004

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Common Room 3rd Floor

 

 


I. Prologue

 

The Meaning of the Creation Stories

February 2 (7:00 pm)              A Scientist's Perspective [Gayle Woloschak, molecular biology, NU/ZCRS]

February 2 (8:30 pm)              A Theologian's Perspective [Antje Jackelén, theology, ZCRS/LSTC]

 

 

II. The Scientific Story of Creation

 

The Creation of Matter and Our Physical Environment

February 9 (7:00 pm)              The Origin of It All [Rocky Kolb, cosmology, UC]

February 9 (8:30 pm)              The Ongoing Creation of Stars, Planets, and Possibly, Life [Donald York, cosmology, UC]

 

The Creation of Life and Our Biological Environment

February 16 (7:00 pm)            The Origin of Life [Tanja Paunesku, radiology, NU]

February 16 (8:30 pm)            The Origin of Multicellular Life [Gayle Woloschak]

February 23 (7:00 pm)            Brain Evolution [Philip Ulinski, neurobiology, UC]

February 23 (8:30 pm)            Biological Evolution from the Cambrian Explosion to the Appearance of Higher Primates [James Hopson, biology, UC, (emeritus)]

March 1 (7:00 pm)                  From Miocene Apes to Modern Humans:  An Overview of the Fossil Record of Human Evolution [Fred Smith, anthropology, LUC]

 

The Creation of Humans and Our Cultural Environment

March 1 (8:30 pm)                  The Evolution of Human Emotions [Nancy Stein, human development, UC]

March 8 (7:00 pm)                  Cosmic History: Chance, Law, and Design [Ian Barbour, physics/theology, CC (emeritus)]

March 8 (8:30 pm)                  The Evolution of Language [Salikoko S. Mufwene, linguistics, UC]

March 15                                 {no lectures}

March 22 (7:00 pm)                Precursors of Human Behavior and Culture as Revealed by Studies of Primates [Paul Heltne, primatology, CAS]

March 22 (8:30 pm)                The Evolution of Culture and the Capacity for Culture in the Human Descent Line [William Irons, anthropology, NU]

 

 

III. The Biblical Story of Creation

 

The Old Testament Story

March 29 (7:00 pm)                The Ancient Near-Eastern Context for Hebrew Ideas of Creation [Esther Menn, Old Testament, LSTC]

March 29 (8:30 pm)                Old Testament Views of the World's Beginnings [Theodore Hiebert, Old Testament, MTS]

 

The New Testament Story

April 5 (7:00 pm)                    The Greco-Roman Context for New Testament Ideas of Cosmogony and Cosmography [Edgar Krentz, New testament, LSTC (emeritus)]

April 5 (8:30 pm)                    Creation in the New Testament I [Edgar Krentz]

April 12 (7:00 pm)                  Creation in the New Testament II:  Luke and Acts [Robert Brawley, New Testament, MTS]

 

 

IV. Theological Reflections

 

April 12 (8:30 pm)                  God Working in the Epic of Creation [Karl Peters, religion and philosophy, RC (emeritus)/ZCRS]

April 19 (7:00 pm)                  Reconstructing a Christian Theology of Nature:  Prerequisites and False Starts [Anna Case-Winters, theology, MTS]

April 19 (8:30 pm)                  The Epic of Creation and Interfaith Dialogue: James Moore, theology, VU/ZCRS]

April 26 (7:00 pm)                  Christ and the Cosmos [Zachary Hayes O.F.M., theology, CTU]

April 26 (8:30 pm)                  Interpreting Salvation as Part of the Epic of Creation [Richard Busse, theology, ZCRS]

 

 

V. Epilogue

 

May 3 (7:00 pm)                     The Epic of Creation — What Does It Mean? [Philip Hefner, theology, ZCRS/LSTC (emeritus)]

May 3 (8:30 pm)                     Where is the Future of the Epic of Creation? [Antje Jackelén; Gayle Woloschak]

 

 

Institutional affiliations are:  CAS, Chicago Academy of Science;  CTU, Catholic Theological Union;  LSTC, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago;  LUC, Loyola University of Chicago;  MTS, McCormick Theological Seminary;  NU, Northwestern University;  RC, Rollins College;  UC, University of Chicago;  VU, Valparaiso University;  ZCRS, Zygon Center for Religion and Science.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information about ZCRS or the Epic of Creation, please contact us at 773-256-0670 or [email protected]