The
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. Both members of IRAS and non-members congregate at the IRAS conference held annually at
Star IslandStar Island is one of the Isles of Shoals that straddle the border between New Hampshire and Maine, seven miles from the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. Star Island is the largest of the four islands in the group that are located in New Hampshire...
in
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
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The
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. Both members of IRAS and non-members congregate at the IRAS conference held annually at
Star IslandStar Island is one of the Isles of Shoals that straddle the border between New Hampshire and Maine, seven miles from the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. Star Island is the largest of the four islands in the group that are located in New Hampshire...
in
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
.
History
IRAS evolved from the ideas of two pioneer groups. The first was a group of scientists from the Committee on Science and Values of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The second group was an interfaith, religious coalition which hoped to revitalize religion for today's needs. Members of both groups saw the, at times, battlefield of conflicting ideologies of religion and science as a place of opportunity for a constructive relationship to emerge.
In 1954 the scientists accepted an invitation to present their views to the religious group at a seven-day conference on Religion in an Age of Science on Star Island. The October 1 issue of Science reported on the conference:
- Ten scientists explained how they thought scientific and religious knowledge could be integrated... While there were a number of both scientists and clergy who held that religious truth was hardly susceptible of being approached by scientific beliefs, there was a strong recognition that today we can increase the scope and validity of our understanding of our destiny and our relationship to that "in which we live and move and have our being," not only by reading ancient texts, but also by building up the science of theology in harmony with other science.
On November 9, 1954, members of the two groups established the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science to work toward these goals.
See also
- Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science
Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is an academic journal published quarterly by Wiley-Blackwell.Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science is a premier scholarly journal publishing in the area of religion and science dialogue since 1966 until present....
- European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
ESSSAT is a society of scholars who study the topic of Religion and Science. They meet every two years. They have 3 publications: Issues in Science and Theology , Studies in Science and Theology , and ESSSAT-News . It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its current president is Antje Jackelén...