2005 Press Releases

09 Feb 2005

God and Science - Last Lecture Series


Has science made God redundant and replaced the need to believe in a creator?
Dr John Polkinghorne, one of the most eminent physicists of his generation, and now an Anglican priest, believes the answer is a resounding "no".

Named as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974, Dr Polkinghorne is President of Queen's College, Cambridge University. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge until 1979 when he resigned his chair to begin theological studies for the Anglican priesthood. In 2002, he was the recipient of the prestigious Templeton Prize, awarded annually for work which leads to new insights at the boundary of theology and science. Widely published, Dr Polkinghorne is the author of a series of books on the compatibility of religion and science, including: Science and Creation, Science and Providence, and his Gifford Lectures, contained in Faith of a Physicist.

On Wednesday next, 16 February, Dr Polkinghorne will be the guest lecturer in the continuing Faculty of Science Public Lecture Series, organised by Professor William Reville as part of University College Cork's contribution to the Capital of Culture 2005 celebrations. This year, being a special year for Cork and the wider region, speakers have been asked to prepare each lecture as if it was the last one he or she will give.

Throughout a distinguished career in elementary particle physics, Dr Polkinghorne has championed the belief that science and religion are not mutually exclusive and that rather than disproving the existence of God, the wonders of science should be seen as a testament to his greatness. It is not a view, he accepts, held by the majority of his fellow scientists who do not factor a creator into their scientific equations: "They are wistful and wary about religion." Nevertheless, Dr Polkinghorne says, "a significant minority" of scientists do believe in a higher power and pursue the scientific discipline while understanding its limited nature. The answers to wonderful questions - why is the Universe possible at all? Why is it so special? Why are values such as beauty and morality so essential to the human condition? Is there a destiny beyond death? - are outside the remit of science, he adds.

Dr Polkinghorne takes the view that science and belief can co-exist happily, and in fact, that they can enrich one another and our understanding of the world. Titled "Has Science Supplanted Religion"? he says he is looking forward with great enthusiasm to his UCC lecture, an event which, characteristically, will be both thought provoking and enlightening.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, 16 February at 8pm, Boole IV Lecture Theatre. Admission is free, and as always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

014MMcS


« Back to 2005 Press Releases

                 

University College Cork

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh

College Road, Cork T12 K8AF

Top