Alister McGrath, Andreos Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, and a Fellow of Harris Manchester College, retired from the position of Andreas Idreos Chair following the end of Trinity Term 2022. This lecture was his final public lecture in this position, a lecture that also opened a celebratory conference. The Ian Ramsey Centre is grateful for the support of the Issachar Fund in hosting this conference.
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In this talk, Professor McGrath reflects on the development of the field of science and religion, as well as his own involvement in developing it. Among the issues considered are whether science and religion is a "field" or "discipline"; the diversification of the field, and its implications for its unity; the place of natural theology in these discussions; how the future of the field can be secured; the worrying absence of women in the field, and what can be done about this. McGrath also reflects on how he became involved in the field, and what he has learned from the process. He also talks about some of the themes in his forthcoming book, Natural Philosophy: On Retrieving a Lost Disciplinary Imaginary, to be published by Oxford University Press late in 2022.
ALISTER MCGRATH is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University, and Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion. After gaining first class honours in Chemistry at Oxford in 1975, McGrath began a DPhil in molecular biophysics under the supervision of Prof Sir George Radda in Oxford University's Department of Biochemistry, while at the same time studying for Oxford's Final Honour School of Christian theology. In 1978, he gained both his DPhil and first class honours in theology. He returned to Oxford in 1983 to teach theology, and has remained at Oxford ever since, apart from a 6-year period as professor of theology at King's College London.