2016 Howard University Religion and Science Conference
April 6-7, 2016
Washington, D.C.
The Howard University School of Divinity held the first of what is hoped will be several conferences on religion and science. On Wednesday, April 6, the conference was preceded by a special chapel service. The guest speaker was Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes, Esq., president of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Among her several publications is Race and the Cosmos: An Invitation to View the World Differently (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2002). Her sermon was titled “Dark Hope and Cosmic Power.” Speaking from Psalm 18, she explored the wonder of biogenetic and cosmological power in the life of the individual and the community and the hope that it engenders. She exhorted us to not fear the beauty of the darkness given to us by God. Watch Dr. Holmes’ sermon here.
On Thursday, April 7, in the morning sessions of the conference, Walter Rogero and David Buller, representatives from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), presented information of the association’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program and overall statistics on the ten schools participating in the Science for Seminaries project.
Drs. John Ahn and Daryl Domning, faculty members from Howard University, and James Starke, Ph.D. candidate from Catholic University, engaged in a panel discussion about their roles and contributions to the Science for Seminaries project at their respective schools. Dr. Trulear, a member of the HUSD project team, moderated the panel discussion. In the afternoon sessions, outreach programs in science education sponsored by religious communities, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and public schools were showcased by divinity school alumnae Audrey Daniels and Hazel Cherry working in these areas.
Science and technology affect every area of modern life. Theological education of quality and relevance must engage several science-related questions. The fact that we exist at all, given the story and hazards of cosmic and biological evolution, is quite amazing. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Our future, if we continue to survive, will be as fascinating a story as our past. Maybe theological educators, clergy, scientists, and concerned activists can, in conversation with one another, reach a consensus on that which will make possible a future characterized by justice, peace, and flourishing.