This coming March, the first issue of Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences will be published with an editorial focus on constructive and critical interactions between the natural sciences in all their varieties–from physics and biology to social science–and the fields of contemporary philosophy and theology.
Editors of the new biannual journal are: Celia Deane-Drummond, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame; Dirk Evers, professor of systematic theology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany; Niels H. Gregersen, professor of systematic theology at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Gregory R. Peterson, professor of philosophy and religion at South Dakota State University. Associate editors include scientists such as Agustin Fuentes, professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and Gayle Woloschak, professor of radiology and cell and molecular biology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
The editors say that theology as a “self-reflective form of religious thought must explicate religious notions in a world that is deeply influenced by scientific world views.” They add that theology reflects upon religious convictions against the background of the scientific understanding of truth and acts to its own detriment when it ignores the significance of the empirical sciences. Both science and theology, they say, need philosophy to perform the bridging function lest the dialogue deteriorate into mere equivocation.
During the first two years every issue will be devoted to a specific theme and will be compiled by one of the four editors. Articles for these opening issues will be specially commissioned. The topics for the Journal’s first four issues will be “Naturalism” (Niels Henrik Gregersen), “Human Nature and Evolution” (Celia Deane-Drummond), “Neuroscience and Morality” (Gregory Peterson), and “Contingency” (Dirk Evers).
