LeRon Shults

New book

Just found out from Eerdmans that the book "Christology and Ethics," edited with Brent Waters, will be available soon. 

You can see the table of contents, etc., on amazon.

Final Lesbos 2010 Pictures

Here is a link to Gro Anita's pictures of the trip to Lesbos.

More Lesbos Pictures

Now back from Greece and I've posted some more pictures in the right sidebar. 

First Lesbos Pictures

Having a good time on Lesbos.  For pictures, see the "photo album" in the right sidebar.

So far the weather has been good, but today it was hotter than usual.  We went for a walk up into the hills to the Leimonos monastery.

Most days it is reading on the beach in the morning and sitting in the shade of the groves at Xristos in the afternoon. 

The PhD seminar begins on Friday, so soon I need to get out my notes to do the final preparations.  Meanwhile, I'm enjoying reading about attachment theory.

New publication

Just got word that Cambridge University Press has sent me copies of this new book, in which I have a chapter.  It was based on a conference in Cambridge a couple of years ago, where I was one of the respondents.  Here is the amazon link. 

My (quite short) chapter is called "The Roots of Spirituality and the Limits of Human Mensuration."  I'm looking forward to turning back to interdisciplinary discussions with cognitive archaeologists this summer in Turkey.  But now its time to focus on packing for Lesbos.

Off to Lesbos

Next week I'm heading off to the Island of Lesbos for two weeks.  The first week will be at "Xristos," which is a research center run by the University of Agder.  Here are some pictures.  I've never stayed there before, but I'm looking forward to it. 

I'm not yet sure what I'm going to work on ...perhaps an article on cognitive science of religion, or on attachment theory, or on aesthetics and alterity...

Or I may actually just relax ...what a concept!  ;)

The following week will be the PhD course on "contextual theology," which will be held just down the road at the Metochi center.  I've been there three or four times, and it is always productive and fun.  Here are some other pictures.

Knowing God without God Knowing?

Here are some introductory comments I made prior to my presentation and discussion at the European Conference in Science and Theology in Edinburgh:
________

Recent developments in the cognitive science of religion (CSR) create a putative challenge for many official formulations of doctrine and popular forms of piety in Christianity (and other religions).  This challenge is related to the compelling evidence produced by CSR for the claim that a mental tool for detecting agency, which has significantly contributed to the survival of the human species, often works too well. 

As part of his answer to the question Why Would Anyone Believe in God?, Justin Barrett explains that this tool sometimes over-functions, attributing agency where none exists.  What he calls the Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device (HADD) registers “noninertial, goal-directed movement as caused by an agent and then searches for a candidate agent” (Barrett, 2004, 32).  If no known agent appears responsible for the movement, then the tool naturally attributes agency to the object, unless some reflective belief provides a defense against such attribution.  

The problem for theologians – and religious believers – who desire to attribute intentionality to a (super)personal God or gods is that this scientific theory can also be applied to human belief in (or detection of) divine agency.  A wisp of smoke may be interpreted as a ghost, a threatening storm as the judgment of a sky god, or the sudden appearance of a parking spot at the mall as divine intervention. 

Ilkka Pyysiainen, following Pascal Boyer and others, argues that religion and beliefs in supernatural agents are a “by-product” of evolved cognitive mechanisms (Supernatural Agents, 2009, 186). CSR scholars are usually careful to say that the hyper-activity of the device does not prove (or disprove) the non-existence or non-agency of the divine, but it does set out a plausible explanation for the natural (or non-super-natural) emergence of such beliefs.

Among those who accept these scientific findings, reactions tend to go in one of two directions.  Either: we should give up the belief in a god who knows us because our detection of being-known by god(s) is merely a projection of our HADD.  Or: the fact that HADD functions naturally can be interpreted as the result of God’s creative intention, making possible human knowledge of an all-knowing supernatural creative agent. 

I take Pyysiainen and Barrett to be representatives of these two reactions, respectively.  Both of these reactions, however, share a common set of dualistic assumptions; namely, that the options are either "only natural" or "also supernatural," either "theism" or "a-theism."  These dichotomies surreptitiously structure the debate itself and therefore limit the possibilities for theory-choice and interpretation. 

_________

Although I did not have space or time to argue in more detail, it seems to me like resources from the apophatic tradition, both in Christianity and other religions, might help us here.  

Off to Edinburgh

On my way to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the European Conference on Science and Theology.

The theme is cognitive science of religion.

Hope to start blogging again when I get back.

Easter in Valle

This is where I spent Easter weekend, in the village of Valle, which is a few hours north of Kristiansand.

Beautiful scenery and a great time with Gro Anita's family!

Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Ethics Announced

This just posted online: new post-doctoral fellowship in Ethics at the University of Agder. 

Deadline for application and proposals: 5 May.

Click here for details.