Stephen Hawking’s theories about the origin of the universe and his theoretical exploration of the nature of black holes reveal the universe as a place of wonder. The work of the renowned physicist and cosmologist, who died on the 14th of March 2018, links the two overarching concepts of 20th century science—general relativity and quantum theory. The purpose of this symposium, taking place in one of the world’s oldest cities, is to review recent scientific advances in key areas of astronomy and to consider their implications for underlying theological and philosophical questions of meaning.

Does religion contribute to human flourishing? The premise underlying this symposium is that religion—in its various components—may have consequences for humanity at multiple levels of analysis, including the health or well-being of individuals, relationships within and among groups, the development and maintenance of social institutions (e.g., markets, educational systems, and social welfare programs), and cultural evolution (not least innovation of all kinds, scientific advance, and moral progress). But what is the quality of evidence for and against claims that religion is causally consequentia —whether positively or negatively—at each of these levels? And if there are gaps in our knowledge, what kinds of theoretical and empirical research initiatives would have potential to provide definitive answers?

This year is the 105th anniversary of Sir John Templeton’s birth and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the John Templeton Foundation (JTF). It may be that 2017 is the last significant anniversary year when it will be possible to draw together a sizable number of scholars, scientists, and others who worked closely with the founder of a philanthropy that ranks among the top twenty-five in the United States in terms of its assets. To reflect on their relationship with Sir John, eleven people who knew him in the Foundation’s formative years are gathered in Lyford Cay, the community on the western tip of New Providence Island in The Bahamas where he made his home for four decades.

At a critical juncture in the postwar order that has prevailed in Europe since 1945, this symposium begins with the premise that violence committed in God’s name is always an act of desecration. Hope of redress must start, we believe, in reimagining the intended relationship amongst the Abrahamic faiths. Participants come together to consider how a rereading of the hallowed texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam might mitigate the militancy whereby group identity can lead to deadly conflict.

Where did human wisdom come from and how did it begin? Are the changing evolutionary patterns in human relationships, understood through the lens of complex social negotiation and symbol making integral to human evolution, also an expression of human wisdom? The symposium gathers fourteen researchers from archaeology, anthropology, and theology in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Their conversation expands on existing research to ask: What might be the relationship between the virtues of wisdom and humility and could the latter be tracked in the evolutionary record along with wisdom? Furthermore, does the integration of theological approaches into such questions shape, facilitate, and change answers to them?

Educators from across the United States gathered to explore what character-focused teaching and learning can be, why it is important, and how to implement research-informed strategies with K-12 students.

The purpose of this symposium is to probe the nature of meaning by examining, in the first place, how people develop a sense of meaning, in particular, the psychological mechanisms that contribute to it, as well as significant antecedents and environmental (especially familial), cognitive, and personality variables that bear on the experience of meaning across life spans.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the epistemic spaces needed for geniuses to make the perceptual leaps that can sometimes transform the world. It is to investigate the sources of the often unacknowledged inventiveness that lie behind each and every creative nuance in a range of realms, but most particularly in science and in religion.

The purpose of this symposium is to probe the assumption that, if it exists, life elsewhere in the universe has a biochemistry similar to our own. Some scientists have speculated that any sufficiently advanced alien civilization might well be capable of augmenting itself by using technology to overcome its biological limitations.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore how the wisdom tradition, dating from early Christian spirituality, might facilitate the development of innovative and creative treatment options to heal the wounds of the survivors of trauma experienced in combat or in other violent situations.

The starting point for this symposium is to consider the findings of neuroscience on brain laterality. The purpose is firstly to reflect on the implications of this research for sustained practices of prayer and meditation in a secular age as well as for the absence of such practices. The second point of reflection will involve an examination of what conclusions reached as the result of the first exercise may mean for rethinking monastic life and ascetical practices more broadly.

The purpose of this symposium is twofold. It is to explore how the discoveries being made about the relationship of episodic memory (memory of particular past events a person has directly experienced) to foresight and ingenuity can suggest ways to solve problems and offer comfort to individuals during periods of stress and anxiety. It is also to consider whether such important new findings might have an impact on what we are learning about how societies, forged in no small part by types of communal memory termed communicative memory (shared yet changing) and the more stable cultural memory, respond both to ongoing challenges and catastrophic change.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore foundational issues concerning the nature and effects of light as quantized photons, placing special attention on questions that are suitable for laboratory investigation using an optical approach, which is the preferred methodology for such studies.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore how the grand reversal at the heart of the Christian Gospel, with its proclamation of life, and life in abundance, but life coming through death, is reflected in various disciplines in ways that might speak to contemporary issues.

The purpose of this symposium is to engage in an intensive conversation that will help finalize the selection of sub-topics for a possible research initiative dealing with quantification and measurement in the biological sciences.

The purpose of the discussion is to relate new insights from a range of sciences, including evolutionary psychology, cognitive neuroscience, neurology, genetics, archaeology, and anthropology, to the understanding of who we are, as well as to consider how traditional philosophical and theological understandings of human uniqueness may be affected by these insights.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore how the idea of incarnation coordinates very particular notions of divine self-revelation in the life story of Jesus with universal notions of the transformative presence of God’s Logos (Word) in the universe at large.

The purpose of this symposium is to address the questions of under what circumstances complexity will increase with time and whether it is possible to identify a general principle of increasing complexity.

The topical focus of the symposium has the potential to link scientific research with progress in philosophical and theological scholarship because of the fundamental importance of causation in daily living and in moral life

The purpose of this symposium is to reflect closely on the relation of religious faith, rationality, and the passions, to examine how this nexus of topics has been viewed by some of the great philosophers and theologians of the classical Western tradition, and to consider how the linked trio might be creatively reconsidered, both philosophically and theologically, in the light of recent developments in neuroscience, psychology, and the philosophy of the emotions.

The purpose of this symposium is to consider how Darwinian perspectives can inform our answers to Adam Smith’s still fundamental question: Why do we regard certain actions or intentions with approval and condemn others?

The purpose of this symposium is to explore contemporary scholarship in pneumatology and its application to other ways of understanding reality.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the physics and metaphysics of light. The conversation draws together scholars and scientists to share insights and research on a theme linked to core issues in theology and science.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the insights recent archaeological discoveries may offer us in developing theories about the origin and evolution of language, symbolic behavior, and the capacity for spiritual culture among the earliest humans.

The purpose of this symposium is to provide the John Templeton Foundation with strategic ideas for developing a research agenda on the culture, workings, dynamics, and effective structuring of exceptionally creative domains.

Music, the making and hearing of it, is found in all the world’s cultures and is seemingly ubiquitous in our own. From archaeology, anthropology, biology, neuroscience, psychology, and theology, a growing literature is taking account of its centrality to our quest to understand human nature.

Participants will address the next generation of questions, namely: In what senses can human action be free? How are free actions produced? What inner processes yield actions that are relatively freer than acts seen as less free? How might consciousness influence behavior? What are the beneficial functions and uses of consciousness? And how does consciousness produce these benefits?

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the many contributions that the eminent Polish philosopher and historian of philosophy Leszek Kolakowksi has made to our understanding of modernity, Marxism, secularism, and atheism.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the uses and limits of game theory in explaining ethical behavior and illuminating the nature and dynamics of moral order and even, perhaps, moral transformation.

The participants take an intellectual, experience-based approach to non-physical reality in their exploration of the significance of mathematics.

Philosophers have raised questions throughout history regarding the relationship between our intuitive sense of mental causation and agency and the physical world. Their inquiry has taken on new urgency since the discovery of brain signals that seem to precede an intended action.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the value of sharing one’s life with mentally or psychically handicapped people as a way to fulfill the vocation of a human being. Central to the discussion are the perspectives of those whose lives are enriched by their association with persons of all ages who are considered disabled by our societies.

The symposium focuses on creativity in the borderland between mathematics (computation), artificial intelligence, and neuroscience. In particular, the participants are investigating whether or not there are any intrinsic differences between creativity of the mind and “creativity” of artificial intelligence and whether or not the former can be captured or modeled fully by mathematical and/or mechanical processes.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the current understanding of the concept of matter from scientific, philosophical, and theological perspectives.

In a world ever more conditioned by science, the purpose of this symposium is to reconsider the perennial question formulated by David when he asked,“Yahweh, what is man, that you care for him?” (Ps. 144:3) Not that science provides the sole answer to the question, but we believe that an interdisciplinary dialogue is necessary for its deepest exploration

The first in a series of symposia on "Relational Ontology in Science and Theology," the conversation’s purpose is to begin a process of exploring the potentially wide-scale significance of developing relationality as an ontological concept.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the profound mystery of God's presence and absence. It arises from a core concern of the John Templeton Foundation—the possibility of learning more about "a God who would be known but dwells as non-being beyond the realm of our conception."

The concept of a multiplicity of possible or actual universes is a very ancient one. In recent years, however, advances in physics and cosmology have given the “multiverse” idea a plausible scientific basis. Sixteen researchers from several disciplines come together to explore the difficult and interlocking questions that are currently enlarging our cosmic perspective so dramatically.

Fourteen scholars and scientists gather to explore the most pressing questions in pneumatology that have to be dealt with by contemporary Pentecostal theologians, as well as the revision of basic pneumatological concepts and ideas in classic theology and the quest for a realistic pneumatology that will be related to lived experience and our evolving understanding of creation.

The purpose of this symposium is not to dispute the orthodox model, but to inquire whether it is sufficient and, if it is not, to consider what we need to know and ultimately how we might discover the requisite information with one or more research programs.

Religious ideas often seem to develop in interaction with material culture. Thirteen scientists and theologians gather to explore conjectured relationships between innovations in material and spiritual cultures.

The purpose for which thirteen medical and social scientists, philosophers, and theologians meet is to consider the broader issues raised by the possibility of a spiritual aspect to healing within the context of conventional medicine, in particular its impact on our worldview and the perception we have of our place in nature.

The concept of a multiplicity of possible or actual universes is a very ancient one and raises deep scientific, philosophical, and theological questions. Fourteen scientists and philosophers gather to examine the conjectures that are so dramatically enlarging our cosmic perspective.

Thirteen scientists, theologians, and philosophers come together to explore the implications of quantum nonlocality for the character of physical reality, as well as the uses of the concept of complementarity in understanding the relationship between parts and wholes, the fundamental unity of creation from Eastern perspectives, and the search for meaning in modern science and mystical traditions.

To consider what general frameworks for conceiving of the God-world relation may be consistent both with biblical data and modern philosophical and scientific contexts is the purpose of the conversation among leading thinkers from disparate disciplines.

Scientists, theologians, and philosophers gather to explore questions related to our sense of divinity, particularly how, in the light of increasing knowledge of psycho-pathology, including its neural substrates, we should evaluate claims made down through the centuries, as well as today, of the recurrence of visions and other mystical experiences.

The current theoretical prejudice is that our universe will still be expanding 100 billion years from now. But it is not clear whether it will be speeding up or slowing down. Scientists and theologians come together to explore eschatology from a cosmic perspective.

Thirteen scholars explore the subject of gratitude from the perspectives of anthropology, biology, moral philosophy, psychology, and theology, and examine the evidence for the conclusions reached by wise people through the ages that, as Sir John Marks Templeton put it, "an attitude of gratitude creates blessings."

Ten scholars, scientists, and writers gather to consider the broader issues raised by science fiction and to explore, in particular, the relation of the genre to science and to theology.

With perspectives shaped by their experience and knowledge of varied Eastern, Western, and indigenous faith traditions, eighteen scholars probe the mystery of a Deus velatus by examining God’s chosen modes of revelation of God’s self to believing hearts and questing minds throughout the world.

Natural scientists, social scientists, a writer, a philosopher, and a theologian gather to consider the subject of purpose in relation to biological evolution, cultural evolution, and human psychology, and to ponder the meaning of the apparent arrow of life moving toward greater and greater complexity.

Eleven scientists, theologians, and philosophers meet to explore the broader issues raised by recent research into complex systems, in particular their impact on our world view and the perception we have of our place in nature.

Fourteen distinguished scientists and social scientists and an eminent theologian reflect on the implications for science and religion of research that broadly links a faith factor with a range of other factors that promote longevity and physical well-being.

To consider questions about the origin of life, about evolution, and about the theological implications of extraterrestrial intelligence as interconnected matters, bridging diverse efforts to break the cosmic code, is the purpose of the conversation.

To consider what divine restraint may mean for us, as truly free creatures, and what it signifies for natural history, the evolving structure of space, and our cosmic destiny is the purpose of the conversation among the leading thinkers from disparate disciplines.