You Tube Theology

Over the past few centuries the pendulum has constantly swung between an emphasis on the role of either nature or nurture in shaping human destiny, a pendulum often energised by ideological considerations. In recent decades the flourishing of developmental biology, genomics, epigenetics, and our increased understanding of neuronal plasticity, have all helped to subvert such dichotomous notions. At the same time the field of behavioural genetics continues to extend its reach into the social sciences, reporting the heritability of such human traits as aggression, sexual orientation and religiosity. In parallel the human genome continues to be presented as the 'blueprint of life', encoding human destinies. There are therefore many continuing challenges today to notions of human freedom and moral responsibility with consequent theological implications. This lecture will critically discuss these challenges. Dr Denis Alexander is the Emeritus Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund's College, Cambridge, where he is a Fellow. He was previously Chair of the Immunology Programme and Head of the Laboratory of Lymphocyte Signalling and Development at The Babraham Institute, Cambridge. His Gifford Lectures are due to appear under the title Genes, Determinism and God in June 2017 [Cambridge University Press].