Looking East for a New Theology of Evolutionary Biology

Andrew P. Jackson's new book Maximus the Confessor and Evolutionary Biology: The Phylogenetic Logoi (Routledge, 2024) takes the reader on a journey to 7th Century Byzantium in search of inspiration for a new theology of biological evolution.

Join us for this book launch event featuring a conversation between the author himself, Dr Elizabeth Theokritoff (Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies, UK) and Dr Robert Marsland III (Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Italy & University of California Davis, USA), on the possibility of a new Theology of Evolutionary Biology inspired by Eastern Christian thought.

This book launch is part of a new research initiative focusing on exploring patristics as valuable ressources for the contemporary Science-Theology dialogue. The book launch will be chaired by Dr Pui Him Ip who is leading this initiative at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.

This event is free to attend but please do register for the event.

Book Synposis: In Maximus the Confessor and Evolutionary Biology: The Phylogenetic Logoi, the scientist-theologian Andrew P. Jackson brings Maximus the Confessor’s logoi doctrine into dialogue with modern-day evolutionary biology. The book explores the extent to which the logoi, as described by Maximus, exhibit features that are concordant with evolution before going on to consider more discordant aspects that cannot be ignored. Through a close reading of primary textual material allied with a deep understanding of both the classical Darwinian and ‘extended’ evolutionary syntheses, Maximus the Confessor and Evolutionary Biology addresses the curious resonance between the logoi and evolution in a systematic way. This work joins with other Maximian interpreters in attesting to the incarnational and theophanic nature of the logoi, but seeks to extend this distinctively Eastern Christo-cosmology into the problematic territory of biological evolution, a territory historically dominated by Western scholarship. In staging this conversation, the book breaks new ground in its assessment of the possibility of an Maximian Theology of Evolutionary Biology for today.

Author's biography:

After taking a MA in zoology at Oxford University (New College, under Richard Dawkins) and a PhD in bioengineering at Reading University, Andrew P. Jackson pursued a 30-year career in the development of medical products and technologies, working for a major blue-chip company and two of the Cambridge-based engineering consultancies. After taking early retirement, he went on to study academic theology at the University of Cambridge (Advanced Diploma and MPhil, both awarded with distinction and the Divinity Faculty prize) followed by a PhD in theology at the University of Nottingham. His essay, 'Towards an Eastern Orthodox contemplation of evolution: Maximus the Confessor’s vision of the phylogenetic logoi' won the 2022 Science and Religion Forum’s Peacocke Prize and was subsequently published in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. His ongoing research interests lie at the intersection of Patristics, philosophical theology, biology (especially evolutionary biology), and technology.

Chair:

Pui Him Ip (Director of Tutorial Programme, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge & Affiliated Lecturer, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge)

Author:

Andrew P. Jackson (Academic Lead, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge & Honorary Research Fellow, University of Nottingham)

Respondents:

Elizabeth Theokritoff (Senior Research Associate & part-time lecturer, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge)

Robert Marsland III (doctoral student, Pontificcal University of the Holy Cross, Italy & Visiting Scholar, Environmental Science & Policy, University of California Davis, USA)

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Runcie Room, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, 25 West Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom