National Hellenic Research Foundation’s Science & Orthodoxy around the World (SOW) project focuses on the dialog between science and religion in the Orthodox Christian world. More than 50 specialists from 15 countries participate from various academic fields, such as Science, and Philosophy, to History, Theology and Education. It reaches out to all relevant scholars, researchers specializing in the study of Science & Religion throughoutthe world, as well as a wider audience with an interest in issues that arise from the relation of sciences with faith. SOW’s actions are to be presented through three large international conferences with parallel workshops and proceedings volumes to take place during 2017 and 2018, public lectures, a documentary and 45 peer-reviewed articles.
The First International Conference of SOW under the title “Modern Science and the Orthodox Tradition. An uneasy relationship?” is taking place fromFriday 24to Saturday 25 February 2017 at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (Leonidas Zervas Auditorium), 48, Vasileos Konstantinou Ave, Athens. Press here to watch the conference live.
The Conference focuses on the nature of the relationship between modern Science and Orthodox Christianity with its centuries-old tradition: “Orthodoxy today shares a variety of – sometimes ambiguous – attitudes towards modern Science shaped by the texts of the Church Fathers, medieval and modern theologians and scholars, as well as contemporary social realities. On the other hand, modern Science, which sprung from the seventeenth-century quest by Western-European philosophers for rationality, is faced with crucial and uneasy questions about the meaning of life and the position of Humankind within the natural world.”
“The main goal of the Conference is to define the patterns of the Science-religion relationship in the Orthodox world, especially in the light of the most recent trends in both Science and Theology. Is this a relationship of dialog or conflict? Of integration or independence? What is the impact of the revival of patristic studies and new theological currents on the relationship? But also what is the relevant impact of new scientific discoveries on the image of Man and the Universe? Has the modern Science-religion dialog in the West influenced Eastern Christianity in its effort to create new perspectives and concepts in response to new challenges? These questions are crucial for understanding and mapping the current science-religion dialog in the Orthodox world, and apart from recording given views and opinions.”
SOW is hosted by the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation. The Institute was formed in 2012 from the development of the three former humanities institutes of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (KERA, IBR and INR), the oldest Greek research institutions on historical and philological sciences. Its research Programs and Projects aim at documenting and studying Greece’s ancient, medieval and modern history in an effort to produce synthetic diachronic approaches.
The project’s Director, Dr Efthymios Nicolaidis has been President (2013 – 2017) and Secretary General (2005-2009 and 2009-2013) of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology / Division of History of Science and Technology and member of the Council of the International Academy of History of Science.
Read also via Greek News Agenda: Shedding “light” on the Relationship between Science and Religion
