Become a Member Support Our Work Apply to GTU

CTNS News

September 16, 2024

CTNS Public forum with Dr. Cyrus Olsen

CTNS Public Forum with Dr. Cyrus Olsen: Virtuous AI?: Perspectives on Prudential Judgement in Medicine from the US and Uganda

From collaboration on GTU's "Virtuous AI?" Conference, Dr. Olsen presents research on the promises and perils of AI in healthcare settings in the USA and Uganda. The virtue of prudence receives special attention in light of AI/ML augmentation for medical decision-making.

 

January 30, 2024

CTNS Public forum with Dr. Philip Clayton

CTNS Public Forum with Philip Clayton: Can we Update Religion for the Anthropocene?

The scientific case for the Anthropocene has recently been established: humans are now the dominant geological force on the planet. One might expect the world’s religions (and their theologians) to be the most vocal in calling for action. Instead, in many countries they are at the forefront of climate change denial. This talk explores how theology and spirituality can be updated to guide our thought and action through the Anthropocene. The resources are there in our traditions; it’s not hard to update and...

October 30, 2023

AI and the Church Seminar

AI and the Church Seminar: An Introduction

Wednesday, November 8, 2023
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church, 687 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94306

October 16, 2023

Announcing 2023-24 Russell Family Fellowship Events

CTNS Announces the Annual Russell Family Research Fellowship in Religion and Science November 9-10, 2023

The annual CTNS Russell Family Research Fellowship in Religion and Science brings internationally distinguished scholars in religion and science, and now in ethics and technology, to the GTU. 

We are delighted to announce that the Fellow for 2023-2024 is Brian Patrick Green.

September 06, 2022

JTF awards CTNS three-year project on Virtue and AI

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce that the John Templeton Foundation (JTF) has awarded the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) a $445,000, three-year grant beginning in July 2022 to take forward critical research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its ethical implications. The project, titled “Virtuous AI? Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Evolution, and Virtue,” seeks to explore several core questions: How and to what extent will AI influence the evolution of human culture and virtue? Can AI assist humans in the acquisition of virtue? Is AI itself...

May 23, 2022

Robert John Russell: In Celebration

May 19, 2022 marks a threshold in the history of the field of Science and Religion. This is the date my colleague and friend, Robert John Russell, retired after four decades of leading the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California.

April 22, 2022

CTNS Public forum with Dr. Levi Checketts

Levi Checketts is an associate professor of religion and philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. A 2018 graduate of the GTU and recipient of the Charles H. Townes Fellowship, his research focuses on Catholic social ethics and new technologies. He leads a committee on AI concerns from an Asian perspective for the Pontifical Council for Culture and serves as Networking Fellow for AI and Faith. He has a forthcoming two-volume edited work, Theology and Technology, from Wipf and Stock and is currently writing a book on AI epistemology and the preferential option for the poor.

This event is...

February 23, 2022

CTNS Public forum with Dr. Carolin Frueh

Time and its associated properties are an integral part of any physics calculation. Differentiability enables equations of motion and therefore quantitative predictions in the first place. Time also has an ontological dimension and is intimately linked to human existence. A third understanding of time is the one in theology, contrasting human time with divine eternity. In this talk the property of time in physics is contrasted with an understanding of time following Heidegger and a theological time dimension from Pannenberg.

 

Dr. Carolin Frueh is a MDiv student with CDSP. She holds a PhD...

January 21, 2022

CTNS Celebrates Dr. Robert Russell's 40-Years of Leadership

The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to celebrate 40 years of visionary leadership from Dr. Robert Russell, who recently announced his retirement as Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS). Dr. Russell will conclude his tenure on June 30, 2022. 

“Over the past 40 years, Dr. Russell has paved the way for scholars around the world working at the intersection of science and theology. By establishing CTNS and growing it into what it is today, Dr. Russell leaves a living legacy, which will, no doubt, continue to...