Kuyper, Science, and Philosophy: A Centenary Celebration

Date & Time: 2nd - 4th September 2021 15:00 - 21:00 (UK time)

Location: Online

Speakers: Dr Jordan Ballor, Revd Dr Craig G. Bartholomew, Prof. Gerrit Glas, Dr Deborah Haarsma, Dr Lydia Jaeger, Professor Richard Mouw, Prof. René van Woudenberg

Workshop Description

2020 marked 100 years since the death of the great Dutch philosopher, theologian, and statesman Abraham Kuyper. To commemorate Kuyper’s contribution, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is hosting an academic workshop online entitled ‘Abraham Kuyper, Science, and Philosophy: A Centenary Celebration’.

Speakers

Plenary Speaker: Professor Richard Mouw (Fuller Seminary) – Kuyper, Science, and Kinds of Explanation

Professor René van Woudenberg (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) – Kuyper on the relation between science and religion
Professor Gerrit Glas (VU Amsterdam) – Sphere sovereignty and the idea of normative (professional) practices
Professor Lydia Jaeger (Nogent Bible Institute) – Human freedom between scientific determinism and liberty of creation
Dr Jordan Ballor (The Acton Institute, VU Amsterdam) – ‘A theater of God’s grace and glory’: Kuyper and the Reformed Tradition on Natural Philosophy, Theology, and Science
Revd Dr Craig Bartholomew (Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Cambridge)
Dr Deborah Haarsma (President, BioLogos) – Kuyper on Evolution, Then and Now

Conference Papers [Downloadable pdf]

Thursday 2nd September
15:00 René van Woudenberg – Kuyper on the relation between science and religion
17:00 Lydia Jaeger – Human freedom between scientific determinism and liberty of creation
19:30 Jordan Ballor – ‘A theater of God’s grace and glory’: Kuyper and the Reformed Tradition on Natural Philosophy, Theology, and Science

Friday 3rd September
15:00 Gerrit Glas – Sphere sovereignty and the idea of normative (professional) practices
17:00 Alden McCray – Theological Scientia and Epistemological Principia: Abraham Kuyper and John Calvin on the Principles of Theological Knowledge
17:35 Timothy Jones – The World Will Not be Lost
19:30 Richard Mouw – Kuyper, Science, and Kinds of Explanation

Saturday 4th September
15:00 Craig Bartholomew – Kuyper, the doctrine of creation, and science
17:00 James Eglinton – Kuyper on Evolutionary Linguistics
18:30 Deborah Haarsma – Kuyper on Evolution, Then and Now

All sessions will be opened 15 minutes before start time.

Call for Papers

Abraham Kuyper

We welcome abstracts for papers that discuss Abraham Kuyper’s views on the intersections between philosophy, theology, and science.

Topics might include Kuyper’s notion of the Reformed worldview’s contribution to modern science, Kuyper’s attitude toward the tradition of natural philosophy/natural theology, Kuyper’s account of creation and the image of God, his notion of ‘Platonic dualism’, or other aspects of his thought. But we also view the Kuyperian tradition as a living (and contested) framework for philosophy, theology, and science. So we welcome constructive papers which develop some Kuyperian themes in conversation with a contemporary scientific discipline or scientific issue.

Finally, we encourage papers which provide more critical perspectives on the Kuyperian tradition. Papers should be written for presentation in about 20 minutes. Applicants should register and apply here (DO NOT register on this main registration site if submitting an abstract).

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