Panentheism: God in Nature and Nature in God

Panentheism: God in Nature and Nature in God

Talk
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 19:00 to 20:30
Science
Spiritual
Alternatives says: 
Rupert Sheldrake LIVE at St James's
Description: 

Materialists assume that there is no God in Nature,and so do dualistic theists, who restrict God to a supernatural, non-physical realm. Pantheists assume that God is not only in nature, but actually is Nature and there is nothing beyond.

Panentheism is a relatively new name for a very traditional view, found in different cultures and religions: we live in a living world permeated and sustained by the divine spirit, but the spirit is not confined to the natural world, but transcends and includes it. Panentheism is compatible not only with mystical experiences but also with a deeper scientific understanding of Nature.

About the speaker, Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert Sheldrake PhD is a biologist best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. He is author of more than a hundred technical papers and nine books, including Science and Spiritual Practices, Ways to Go Beyond, and The Science Delusion (called Science Set Free in the US).

He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and the History and Philosophy of Science at Harvard. As a fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, he was Director of Studies in Cell Biology, and was also a research fellow of the Royal Society. He worked at the University of Malaya on tropical ferns, and in Hyderabad, India, as Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). In India, he also lived for two years in the ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths in Tamil Nadu. From 2005-2010, he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for the study of unexplained human and animal abilities, funded fromTrinity College, Cambridge.

He is currently a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, of Schumacher College in Dartington, England and of the Temenos Academy in London. He lives in London and is married to Jill Purce, with whom he has two sons, Merlin, a mycologist and author of the bestselling book Entangled Life, and Cosmo, a musician.

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Timetable: 
7pm
Talk starts
8.30pm
Talk ends
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