Lectures - 2005 Overview Conflicts & Challenges

Father David Burrell, PhD

Hesburgh Professor in Philosophy and Religion University of Notre Dame and Author of Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions

Father Burrell has worked in comparative issues in philosophical theology in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam since 1982. He received his PhD from Yale University in 1965 and has been on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame since 1964. Father Burrell's publications include Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides, and Aquinas; Faith of Divine Unity and Trust in Divine Providence (Notre Dame, 1986), Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions (Notre Dame, 1993), and two translations of al-Ghazali.

He has published eight books and over one hundred articles on all areas of the philosophy of religion.

Father Burrell will discuss the possibility of peace between religions, including Christianity and Islam. "We are continually challenged to enlarge our own implicit horizons regarding what is deemed to be the human ideal. Our inquiry and teaching takes place in response to these demands, which call for an enlargement of the heart as well as continuing enhancement of our intellectual perspectives."

Dr. John Dominic Crossan

Author Of: The Birth of Christianity, The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus, The Birth of Christianity Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts, and In Search of Paul: How Jesus' Apostle Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom

Dr. John Dominic Crossan is a leading biblical scholar, internationally known lecturer and best selling author. He was educated in Ireland at Maynooth College, in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and in Jerusalem at the Ecole Biblique. Crossan was a member of the 13th-century Roman Catholic religious order, the Servites, and an ordained priest from 1957 to 1969. He taught at DePaul University for 25 years. He was chair of the Historical

Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature from 1992-1998. He has contributed articles and reviews for dozens of journals and has written 18 books over the last 30 years. Crossan's interviews include The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Larry King Live and the ABC special "The Search for Jesus" with Peter Jennings.

Barbara Ehrenreich

Author Of: Nickel-And-Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Barbara Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander in Butte, Montana in 1941. Ehrenreich attended Reed College, studying chemistry and physics; she then earned a doctorate in cell biology from Rockefeller University. The Vietnam War put an end to Ehrenreich's budding career in science. One day in 1966, in a lab at Rockefeller, a fellow grad student lamented, "Damn, Barbara, they're going to draft me! Let's write a letter to the president." Barbara's vocation as a writer and social activist was born.
Her most recent book, "Nickel and Dimed," was Ehrenreich's account of her undercover foray into low- paying jobs.

Previously, she spent ten years researching history, anthropology, psychology, and archaeology for the book "Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War."

The topic for Ehrenreich's Forum lecture is from a book not yet published. With hundreds of scholarly citations for a bibliography, Ehrenreich explores humankind's need for spiritual transcendence in an ever more structured society. "It's historical," Ehrenreich explains. "It's about the destruction of festivities." Ehrenreich isn't just a brilliant writer and scholar - she also has an irresistible, unique sense of humor.

Dr. Phil Hefner

Editor of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, University of Chicago and Author of 7 books and 150 scholarly articles

Dr. Phil Hefner is a Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and the Editor-in-Chief, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. He is also the Senior Fellow, Metanexus Institute and Zygon Center for Religion and Science and a Ordained Minister, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His bibliography of published writings includes 7 books and more than 150 scholarly articles, about half of which deal with religion and the natural sciences, while the other half deal with traditional historical and theological issues.

In Friday's session entitled "The Physicist and The Poet," Dr. Hefner will explore his topic using the perspectives of Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate in physics (1979); and Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate of the United States (1987). Saturday's session relates to OncoMouse which is a research tool in the battle against cancer, the first living animal to be patented. Religion and science come together in a striking manner in our society's attitudes towards OncoMouse.

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