Human uniqueness from both biological/biblical perspectives in focus again in Goshen

Human uniqueness from multiple perspectives will be the theme of this years’ annual Goshen College Conference on Religion and Science that will be held at the college from March 14 to 16.

Joshua Moritz, PhD, a lecturer of philosophical theology and natural sciences at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, will be speaking on “Human Uniqueness and the Image of God: Bridging Biology and Theology through the Hebrew Concept of Election.” The Hebrew concept of election has not been discussed at the conference previously and refers to Israel’s identity as God’s chosen people.

Moritz’s primary research areas include the question of evolutionary evil; human evolution, human nature, non-human hominids and the Imago Dei; astrotheology; and theological understandings of non-human animals and animal mentality. Previously, Dr. Moritz was director of Considering God’s Works at Berkeley Covenant Church, a grant program funded by the John Templeton Foundation’s Scientists in Congregations Initiative. He is currently a research consultant for the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and John Templeton Foundation initiative: “Scientific and Theological Understandings of Randomness in Nature.”

For the Goshen College conference, this is the second time attendees have considered the idea of human uniqueness as Celia Deane-Drummond, professor of theology at nearby Notre Dame, spoke on the topic of “Re-Imaging the Divine Image: Humans and Other Animals” in 2012. She explored the topic primarily from the Christian tradition and incorporated her own experience in biology which includes research work in the area of biotechnology.

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