International Society for Science and Religion
Encyclopedia
The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is a learned society
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...

 established in 2001 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion conducted where possible in an international and multi-faith context. The Society took shape after a four-day conference in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

, Spain.

Membership

Membership is through nomination by existing members only. There were 97 founding members, including five Fellows of the Royal Society.

Varieties of faith tradition

Although many of the founders of the ISSR are Christians, the society actively welcomes members from other faith traditions. The book Why the Science and Religion Dialogue Matters produced by the society has major contributions from:
  • John Polkinghorne
    John Polkinghorne
    John Charlton Polkinghorne KBE FRS is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer, and Anglican priest. He was professor of Mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest...

    , George Ellis, Holmes Rolston III
    Holmes Rolston III
    Holmes Rolston III is University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. He is best known for his contributions to environmental ethics and science and religion. Among other honors, Rolston won the 2003 Templeton Prize, awarded by Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace...

     and Fraser Watts
    Fraser Watts
    David Fraser Watts is an English-born Scottish cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman. He began his cricket career playing for Carlton Cricket Club in Edinburgh. He demonstrated significant potential early on and when aged 16 won a sports scholarship to Durham School where he completed the last...

     (who are Christians), on why the science and religion dialogue matters
  • Carl Feit
    Carl Feit
    Carl Feit is a noted cancer research scientist and occupant of the Dr. Joseph and Rachel Ades Chair in Health Sciences at Yeshiva University. He has served as Chairman of the Science Division of Yeshiva College since 1985. Prior to that he was a research scientist at The Laboratory of...

     on Judaism
    Judaism
    Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

  • Munawar Anees on Islam
    Islam
    Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

  • B.V. Subbarayappa on Hinduism
    Hinduism
    Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

  • Trinh Xuan Thuan
    Trinh Xuan Thuan
    Trịnh Xuân Thuận is a Vietnamese-American astrophysicist.Thuận was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. He completed his B.S. at the California Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He has taught astronomy at the University of Virginia since 1976, and is a Research Associate at the...

     on Buddhism
    Buddhism
    Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

  • Heup Young Kim
    Heup Young Kim
    Heup Young Kim is a Korean Christian theologian and a scholar of East Asian religions , specialized in Asian constructive theology, interfaith dialogue, and religion and science...

     on Asian Christianity

Presidents

The President's of the ISSR have been:
  • John Polkinghorne
    John Polkinghorne
    John Charlton Polkinghorne KBE FRS is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer, and Anglican priest. He was professor of Mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest...

     (Founding President)
  • George Ellis
  • Sir Brian Heap
    Brian Heap
    Professor Sir Brian Heap CBE FRS is a biologist.He was born on 27 Feb. 1935 and educated at New Mills Grammar School and the University of Nottingham . He also has an MA and a DSc from Cambridge and Honorary DScs from Nottingham , York and St Andrews .-Career:* 1960 University Demonstrator,...

  • John Hedley Brooke
    John Hedley Brooke
    John Hedley Brooke is a British Historian of Science specialising in the relationship between science and religion.-Biography:...

     (Current President)

Secretariat

The society’s central office is based at St. Edmund's College at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. The Executive Secretary is Dr Christopher Knight.

Opposition to intelligent design

In 2008 the ISSR released a statement declaring "that intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...

is neither sound science nor good theology."
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