Summaries of the lecture series in the winter semester 2022/2023

09.01.2023

After the lectures of the online lecture series Religions and Science in Current Discourse - Tensions, Challenges, and Opportunities of the discipline of Islamic Religious Education, the summaries of the individual lectures will be uploaded for future reference.

Summary of the lecture Islam and Science by Prof. Dr Denis Alexander:

Prof. Dr Denis Alexander presented highly exciting scientific perspectives in his online lecture Science, Faith and Ethics on 25 October 2022. Scientific discoveries are always being made, the application of which requires a considerable amount of ethical reflection, but science itself (i.e. the natural sciences in this case) cannot decide on ethical questions. So which ethical principles should we give priority to in the application of science? The speaker discussed the ethical tools used by scientific ethics committees around the world: Natural Law Ethics, Utilitarianism, Deontological Ethics and Virtue Ethics. He elaborated on how religious principles interact with these four perspectives. The lecture assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the ethical toolkit in its application to recent scientific advances e.g. in genetic engineering such as the recent applications of CRISPR/Cas and embryo editing.

On behalf of the Department, we would like to thank Prof. Dr. Alexander for his lecture as well as the numerous participants for their great interest and discussion.

The full summary of the lecture can be found on the website of the lecture series (in German).


Summary of the lecture Islam and Science by Prof. Dr. Nidhal Guessoum:

An online lecture on Islam and Science by Prof. Dr. Nidhal Guessoum (astrophysicist) from the American University of Sharjah (UAE) took place at the Department of Islamic-Theological Studies on 22 November 2022.

The participants showed great interest and at the end of the lecture there was enough time for an fascinating and interesting discussion in which many listeners actively participated. Not only this exchange, but also the presentation itself was characterised by exciting aspects on the topic of Islam and science. At the beginning, the term 'ilm (knowledge, cognition) was examined more closely from an etymological and semantic perspective and critically questioned, especially to what extent Islam attaches great importance to the Koranic term 'ilm and science.

This was followed by a discussion on modern science and its challenges. The lecture gave an insight into the different reactions and perspectives of Islamic researchers in this discourse. The discussion then turned to the question of how Islam and science can be reconciled. The speaker brought remarkable, critical and thought-provoking aspects to this topic. All in all, Prof. Dr. Nidhal Guessoum's guest lecture left a very positive impression and we would like to thank him for this.

The full summary of the lecture can be found on the website of the lecture series (in German).


Summary of the lecture Islam and Science by Dr. Rachel S. A. Pear:

The Department of Islamic-Theological Studies hosted the online lecture Religious and Scientific Instruction on Evolution and Origins in Israeli Schools by Dr. Rachel S.A. Pear (University of Haifa, Israel)  on 13 December 2022.

The audience showed great interest and at the end of the lecture there was enough time for an exciting and interesting discussion with lively participation. Both the presentation and the debate covered exciting aspects of religious and scientific instruction on evolution and origins of humankind in Israeli schools.

Pear presented, among other things, preliminary results of her project at the University of Haifa. Within the framework of this project, she conducted interviews with various experts as well as with Israeli students. Her study and related research were initiated because of complaints that evolution was not being taught adequately. This resulted in a change in the curriculum, which now includes evolution as a compulsory part of the biology classes. Subsequently, teachers were asked how they could teach the sensitive topic of evolution to their students. Pear's study concludes that the views of educators (experts) are completely different. Therefore, it is important to be well trained to teach this complex subject. In addition, Pear presented possible solutions, which turned out to be difficult to implement. Towards the end, she presented further aspects of her study and rounded off her presentation with discussion topics such as religious and cultural identities, pedagogical interventions and respect for science and religion.

All in all, Pear's presentation received an extremely positive response. We would like to express our sincere thanks for this.

The full summary of the lecture can be found on the website of the lecture series (in German).


Summary of the lecture Islam and Science by Prof. Dr. Matthias Beck:

On 16 January 2023, the Department of Islamic-Theological Studies hosted the online lecture The Relationship of Christian Theology to Natural Sciences and Medicine, moderated by Dr Christian Feichtinger. Prof. Dr. Matthias Beck introduced his lecture with the exciting question of what Christianity actually is. In the course of this, he explained that man is "a being of question" and introduced the term "the ultimate ground of being", which describes God.

He went on to explain the origin of this term and spoke of the upheaval that makes God not only a projection of man, but an acting and speaking person. For this, he used the Greek term logos, which can be translated as "word", and showed parallels with scientific concepts such as biology. Beck then turned to the Trinity and the complements between Catholic theology and biology, as well as the relationship between Catholic theology and medicine. His basic premise was that there is no contradiction between Christian theology and scientific knowledge. As another important topic, Beck formulated as a theologian and physician that an intensive religious attachment to God or a healthy spirituality has a great influence on human health.

The informative lecture was rounded off with a lively discussion and many interesting approaches were highlighted. The Department would like to thank the lecturer for his commitment and the great interest of the audience.

The full summary of the lecture can be found on the website of the lecture series (in German).