Dear WesleyNexus-Colleagues,
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny”… (attributed to Isaac Asimov).
As is done every year at this time, the world was informed of the 2021 Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry and medicine. And each year, many of us read popular media to find out who the winners are, where they did their research, and also hope to understand what it was that they discovered about our world. Discovering something new that was not known before appears to be the aim of science worthy of the Nobel prize. But, as Asimov alludes to in the quote above, a component of the discovery process is the ability to be surprised, or as he puts it, to say “That’s funny”. In this issue, we have included several articles highlighting recent discoveries. While they may not be surprising to scientists working in their respective fields, to outsiders, they may appear surprising, or at least they should. We hope you find them so, at least a little bit intriguing.
In this issue you also will find…
- IRAS Webinar November 11: Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy, and Other Last Chances
- Knowledge in Pursuit of Truth with Laura Eloe
- Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium, ‘On Our Way to Truth and Healing
- Luther Seminary Free Online Course:A Cosmic Adventure Through Science and Faith
- Lecture: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katherine Hayhoe
- Nobel Prizes in Science, 2021
- Nature’s laws and natural law by George L. Murphy
- CERN Just Took One Step Closer to Confirming a New Force in Physics by Brad Bergan
- In conversation with Jane Goodall on climate change — and remaining hopeful for the future by Richard Schiffman
- Meteorite older than Earth likely came from a “protoplanet” by Robby Berman
- Astronomers using NASA telescope find signs of a planet beyond our galaxy by Ellen Francis
- Our Connected Universe by Mo Thomas
May your day be filled with awe and surprise!
Thanks go out to our generous contributors. We encourage you to share comments, articles and insights that will help us all weather these difficult times.
Rick, Maynard, and the rest of the WesleyNexus team
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Upcoming Events
IRAS Webinar: Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy, and Other Last Chances
November 11, 2021 at 4:00 pm Central time, 5:00 pm Eastern time
IRAS will host a live session, featuring
Dr. Catherine Keller, the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University
Respondent: Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Adat Shalom (Bethesda MD), Chair of Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
Presentation Overview:
With an ascription from Shakespeare’s Hamlet referencing dooms\day, Catherine Keller frames her book with the Apocalypse of John, the last book in the Christian Bible. For centuries, the coded language of this scroll has fascinated people in all walks of life, including scholars, with its barely veiled politics, its metaphoric munificence, and its dramatic clues to collective trauma concerning “the end-times.” As Jurgen Moltmann puts it, “Using deep-interpretation and dreamreading, Keller succeeds in confronting the terminal forces of destruction of our present time with the message of the mysterious and terrifying Book of Revelation. A brilliant work taking the apocalypse in the double sense of the word as revelation and end-time seriously, full of surprising discoveries.” This book plays wonderfully between ‘the overstated and the unspeakable,’ to reveal deep patterns between the world of John’s apocalypse and our own, calling us to the possibility of a last chance for our increasingly uninhabitable planet. Catherine Keller is one of the greatest living theologians and in Facing Apocalypse she opens up that oft-hidden and neglected text of the signs of the times in a generative and revelatory tension.
Presenter Background:
As the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University, Catherine Keller teaches courses in process, political, and ecological theology. Within and beyond Christian conversation, she has all along mobilized the trans-disciplinary potential of feminist, philosophical, and pluralist intersections with religion. Her most recent books invite at once contemplative and social critique of our entangled existence: Facing Apocalypse (2021); Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public (2018); Intercarnations: On the Possibility of Theology (2017); and Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement (2014). Keller’s other books include On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process (2008); God and Power: Counter-Apocalyptic Journeys (2005); Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (2003); Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (1996); and From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self (1986).
The IRAS webinar is FREE but registration is required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PvXWGdsES8uW4Y9ZrZRAcA
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KNOWLEDGE IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH: Édouard Le Roy and the Twentieth-Century French Intellectual Community as Inspiration for the Science and Religion Conversation in Twenty-First-Century America
November 8, 2021 – 7:00 pm EST – In person and Livestream – Free and open to the public at SugarLoaf Campus of Chestnut Hill College, 9230 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118
In twenty-first-century America we think of mathematics, philosophy, and theology as distinct fields of inquiry, but in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France, the boundaries between these fields of study were porous. Not only were there interdisciplinary conversations amongst those trained in these areas, but it was not uncommon for a single person to gain expertise in all three fields. The women and men of this era have much to teach us about how all branches of knowledge serve the human pursuit of truth. We’ll look at the life of Édouard Le Roy, a mathematician-turned-philosopher and friend of Teilhard de Chardin, who occupied a key position in the conversations of his day around science and religion.
For those wishing to connect on the livestream, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEld–hpjkrGdCPeF7zWimGWadkfscVk9ny
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the event as well as more information about the program.
Laura Eloe, PhD holds a doctorate in Theology from the University of Dayton. She has taught mathematics and theology for 29 years at Chaminade Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio and mathematics at the University of Dayton and Utah State University. She currently works in the office of the Fr. William J. Ferree, SM, Chair of Social Justice, and teaches in the graduate programs in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton. She is a member of the Board of the American Teilhard Association, serving as chair of the Publication Committee and Editor of Teilhard Studies.
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Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium, ‘On Our Way to Truth and Healing’
Lutheran School of Theology
Register for all-virtual Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium, ‘On Our Way to Truth and Healing’
R. Guy Erwin (Osage), president of United Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa., gives the keynote lecture live on Zoom Nov. 16, 7 p.m. CST. It will also be livestreamed on LSTC’s Facebook page.
The all-virtual 2021 Vine Deloria Jr Theological Symposium at LSTC, Nov. 16-17, will look at the complicity of the church and government in the cruel and shameful attempt to decimate Indigenous families by stealing away Native children and taking them to off-reservation Indian boarding schools.
For nearly 100 years it was a U.S. federal policy to enforce family separation for the purpose of eliminating identity through forced assimilation. Most of these schools were federally funded and operated. Many others were operated by the Catholic church and mainline Protestant denominations.
Presenters will talk about the intersection of Indian boarding schools and theological/Christian education as well as the work being done across the United States to bring truth and healing. The Albert “Pete” Pero Multicultural Center and Other+Wise are co-sponsors of the symposium.
Register here for the Nov. 16 and 17 online symposium.
See the full schedule and presenter biographies.
Vance Blackfox (Cherokee), Indigenous theologian, creator and producer of the symposium, founder and director of Other+Wise, and director of Indigenous ministries and Tribal relations for the ELCA, will serve as moderator of the sessions.
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Luther Seminary Free Online Course
A Cosmic Adventure Through Science and Faith
Go on a Cosmic Adventure!
Journey through the barrier between science and faith in an engaging online course.
Many will tell you that the gap between science and Christianity cannot be bridged, but don’t believe it! Astrophysicist Paul Wallace exercises both faith and intellect as he traces his journey away from God and back again.
With help from renowned scientists through the ages, including Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, Wallace proves that love for fact and truth does not have to be sacrificed in the search for meaning and significance.
In this compelling four-session course, you will be both enlightened and challenged. Each session includes a captivating video (under 10 minutes), summary points, questions for thought or discussion, and quiz questions to keep you on track.
You can complete the course at your own pace! It is completely free and is offered by Luther Seminary as part of our ongoing mission to educate leaders, serve in God’s world, and give witness to the salvation found in Jesus Christ.
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Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
The McClendon Scholar program at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, presented a compelling webinar on October 26, featuring Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Texas Tech University, and acclaimed as one of the world’s leading authorities on climate change. The New York Times has called Dr. Hayhoe “one of the nation’s most effective communicators on climate change” and her TED talk on the subject has been viewed by 5 million people. Dr. Hayhoe, who is also an evangelical Christian, discussed ethical and moral aspects of the climate crisis and also provided very specific suggestions of what each of us can do to make a difference. For more analytical details, you may wish to get a copy of her new book by the same title, which is easily available online. November is Climate Crisis month, and the Glasgow summit COP26 is currently formulating new strategies. The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges we face and we need to learn about it and find effective ways to talk about it if we are to find the solutions we need.
View on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvIlW69h3aY
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Nobel Prizes in Science, 2021
Chemistry
Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Germany, and David MacMillan, at Princeton University in the United States.
Physics
Giorgio Parisi at Sapienza University in Rome, Syukuro Manabe of Princeston and Klaus Hasselmann of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/science/nobel-prize-physics-manabe-klaus-parisi.html
Medicine
David Julius Of University of California, San Franciscoand and Ardem Patapoutian of Scripps Research in La Jolla, California
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/health/nobel-prize-medicine-physiology-temperature-touch.html
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Nature’s laws and natural law by George L. Murphy
“It can be claimed that there are true laws of nature that describe the physical world as well as true natural laws to which all humans ought to conform in their action. But experience has shown that our understanding of both types of laws is, at any given time, only approximate and open to improvement. Dogmatism about such matters should be avoided.”
https://www.luthscitech.org/natures-laws-and-natural-law/
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CERN Just Took One Step Closer to Confirming a New Force in Physics by Brad Bergan
From Interesting Engineering:
Everything changes, and nothing stays the same.
Even in physics.
Earlier this year, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) released new and exciting evidence that hinted at a new force in physics. Now, after months of deliberation, CERN’s colossal particle collider has taken one step closer to confirming this world-historical finding.
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In conversation with Jane Goodall on climate change — and remaining hopeful for the future by Richard Schiffman
Jane Goodall:
If we respect nature, if we respect animals, if we respect one another, things would be very different. I want a future where we’ve learned to live in harmony with the natural world, where we develop new ways of living, ways of growing food, ways of making money. You know we’ve got to lose this arrogance that just because we’ve got a brain that can design a rocket to go to Mars — but that doesn’t mean that we have any more right to be on this planet than an octopus. We need to realize that we’re part of this natural world and our lives depend on it.
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Meteorite older than Earth likely came from a “protoplanet” by Robby Berman
From Big Think:
- Erg Chech 002 is a meteor not like any other ever found.
- It’s older than the Earth, and its composition raises interesting possibilities.
- The meteor likely comes from an early baby planet in our solar system.
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Astronomers using NASA telescope find signs of a planet beyond our galaxy by Ellen Francis
Washington Post:
So far, the planets we know of beyond our solar system — they are called exoplanets — have all been spotted in the Milky Way, often within 3,000 light-years of Earth, the U.S. space agency said. This potential planet — around the size of Saturn — would be in the Whirlpool Galaxy, some 28 million light-years away.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/26/nasa-chandra-signs-planet-other-galaxy/
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Our Connected Universe by Mo Thomas
I ran across the poetic post by Mo Thomas (shown below) and was intrigued by what it said, so I went to Mo’s facebook page and found out that he is a lay, amateur theologian with a background in engineering. He has also written a book, Into the Abyss: Discover Your True Identity in the Infinite Depths of Christ, reflecting on his journey from fundamentalism to a more open and risky faith that is surprising. It is always a pleasure to come across something new and unexpected, particularly on Facebook.
Our Connected Universe by Mo Thomas
Within every subatomic particle we find the Christ that holds and sustains all things together by the beauty of Their essence (Love). . . The Presence that entangles and connects all of existence in what we now call the Quantum Field that permeates the entire universe.
John 1… prologue to the 4th Gospel in the Voice translation:
“Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking.
The Voice was and is God.
“This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator;
His speech shaped the entire cosmos.
Immersed in the practice of creating,
all things that exist were birthed in Him.
His breath filled all things
with a living, breathing light—
A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms.
It cannot and will not be quenched.”
(Noted comment from Nancy Van Antwerp: The eternal Voice is not masculine. The male pronoun continues to perpetuate the image of a male God.)