Princeton, NJ, May 9, 2012–Dr. J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, Princeton Theological Seminary’s James I. McCord Professor of Theology and Science, and codirector of the Science for Ministry Institute, will give a public lecture at Princeton Seminary on Wednesday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. titled “The Evolution of Religion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Emergence of Self.” The lecture, part of the Science for Ministry Institute, will take place in Stuart Hall, Room 6, on the Seminary’s campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Van Huyssteen’s area of special interest is interdisciplinary theology, including religious and scientific epistemology. He teaches courses on the role of worldviews in theological reflection, theology and the problem of rationality, theology and cosmology, and theology and evolution.

He is the author of Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), for which he was named the first recipient of the Andrew Murray-Desmond Tutu Prize, The Shaping of Rationality: Toward Interdisciplinarity in Theology and Science (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), and Duet or Duel? Theology and Science in a Postmodern World (SCM/Trinity Press, 1998). He coedited with Roger Trigg as part of the Ashgate Science and Religion Series: Anna Case-Winters, Reconstructing a Christian Theology of Nature: Down to Earth (Adlershot: Ashgate Press, 2007), and edited two volumes of The Encyclopedia of Science and Religion (Macmillan Publishers, 2003).

He delivered the Gifford Lectures—one of the most prestigious honors in Scottish academia—in 2004, titled “Alone in the World? Science and Theology on Human Uniqueness.”

Ordained in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa and a native of that country, van Huyssteen holds an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, and a Ph.D. in philosophical theology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Metanexus Institute of Science and Religion, an advisor for The Centre of Christian Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a life member of the American Theological Society, and of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England, and of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, a founding member of the International Society of Science and Religion, and a life member of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies. He serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, the Nederduits Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, and the Journal of Theology and Science. He is a member of the editorial board of the Templeton Foundation Press, and coeditor (with Roger Trigg) of Ashgate Press’ Science and Religion Series. Van Huyssteen is also coeditor, with Moroccan astrophysicist Kahlil Cham-Cham, of the new Templeton Science and Religion Series.     

The Science for Ministry Institute is sponsored by the School of Christian Vocation and Mission and is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. It is a unique program that brings together pastor-scientist pairs from churches and other ministry contexts for educational experiences designed to promote productive theological engagement with the sciences at the local level. In its final year, the program is now open and accepting applications from individuals, in addition to participant pairs. Click here for more information about the Science for Ministry Institute, call 609.497.7990, or email.

Princeton Seminary was established in 1812 by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church as a post-graduate professional school of theology. Currently celebrating its Bicentennial, Princeton is the largest Presbyterian seminary in the country, with more than 500 students in six graduate degree programs.