The relationship between science and religion is often thought of in terms of competing factual claims or ways of knowing - evolution vs creation, reason vs faith. But arguments along these lines are rarely persuasive. Yet the sense of inherent opposition between science and faith is still pervasive in public conversation and private assumption. What, then, are the alternative frameworks for understanding that relationship between empirical enquiry and theological claims?

 
In this year’s Bampton Lectures, Professor Peter Harrison will explore just this question, over the course of two day conferences here at St Mary’s on 12 and 19 February, 10.00-16.00. These lecture days are open to the public as well as members of the University, and are suitable for anyone with an interest in the relationship between science and religion. The Bampton lectures were founded by the will of John Bampton and have been taking place in the University of Oxford since 1780. 

Peter Harrison, the Bampton Lecturer, will argue that the inherited relation of competition between scientific discipline and theological belief is an expression of commitments to implicit historical narratives about science and religion. The most common is the conflict narrative, which proposes an enduring historical conflict between science and religion. Less commonly remarked upon is a naturalism narrative, according to which there is nothing in the universe but physical forces and entities. The lectures will trace the historical emergence of these powerful narratives and the ways they have unhelpfully shaped contemporary arguments about divine action and purpose.
Peter Harrison is a former Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He is now an Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland.

PROGRAMME
Tuesday 12 February: Modern myths about science and religion
10.00-11.00 Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age (Church)
11.30-12.30 Science and the Disenchantment of Nature (Church)
A sandwich lunch will be provided for registered participants.
13.30 - 16.00 Evidence and Religious Belief (Old Library)
Tuesday 19 February: Science and divine purpose
10.00-11.00 Nature and the Idea of the Supernatural (Church)
11.30-12.30 Religious Belief and the Myth of Scientific Naturalism (Church)
A sandwich lunch will be provided for registered participants.
13.30 - 16.00 Divine Action in a Disenchanted World (Old Library)