Science Symposium 2016

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To view the presentations, go to https://youtu.be/bcIeWUp_lbI?list=PLHAWeALNK3fCwPl86eMMVWv-JHQFg9FYg

By Joanne Strobel, Urantia Foundation, Illinois, United States

Thursday evening, June 2–Sunday morning, June 5

Over the first weekend of June, ten individuals with long-term interests in science will gather at Urantia Foundation in Chicago to convene a dedicated science symposium. Under the direction of Associate Trustee Emeritus Dr. Ralph Zehr and Trustee and Education Chairman Dr. Gard Jameson, a slate of scientifically minded readers of The Urantia Book were invited to accept the challenge of presenting a scientific paper—based on reliable data, defensible reasoning, and accepted scientific methodology—that establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the observed phenomena could not have evolved by mechanical means alone.

Do you love science? Would you like to watch the symposium?

Gaétan Charland has graciously offered to record the entire symposium. All presentations and discussions will be available to the public live via USTREAM video on your computer, tablet, or mobile device. The broadcasts will also be recorded for future viewing. The link is https://youtu.be/bcIeWUp_lbI?list=PLHAWeALNK3fCwPl86eMMVWv-JHQFg9FYg.

According to Ralph Zehr, the impetus for this symposium comes directly from Paper 195.

A new and fuller revelation of the religion of Jesus is destined to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism and to overthrow a world sway of mechanistic naturalism. Urantia is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment. 195:9.2 (2082.7)

Ralph went on to say, “There can be no denial that our world is ‘quivering on the very brink’ of a most phenomenal explosion of data leading to an unsurpassed rate of new discoveries. The doubling time for total world knowledge is now estimated to be less than one year! And nowhere is the ‘world sway of mechanistic naturalism’ more apparent than in academia.

“Our supervising midwayer friends offer us a challenging approach to counteract the materialistic-mechanistic philosophy permeating modern-day scientific thinking. They report that they have collected more than fifty thousand facts in the fields of chemistry and physics and more than one hundred thousand observable facts outside these disciplines that leave no doubt that there is intelligent planning and design directing the evolutionary processes on our planet. Could there be any reason for telling us this, other than to challenge us to develop the list ourselves?

“This approach carries the battle to the mechanistic scientist’s own turf. It completely bypasses the limitations associated with the so-called ‘God of the gaps’ approach. In contrast, the midwayers’ approach is proactive and is entirely based on positive data.”

“The symposium presents an opportunity to address some of the doubts about the scientific content in The Urantia Book, which is all too often considered irrelevant, outmoded, or incorrect. This content presents, in my opinion, the single greatest obstacle to a wider acceptance of the book’s soul-saving message by this ‘new age of scientific minds.’” ~ George Park

Accepting the challenge, ten individuals agreed to present papers based on subjects of their expertise.

Phil Calabrese:
“The Implications of Free Will in the Cosmos”

Marta Elders:
“The Spiritual Brain: Where Neuroscience Meets Revelation”

Gard Jameson:
“The Cosmogenetic Principle―How Unity, Diversity, and Autopoesis Form the Universe”

Bruce Johnson: “The Seven Adjutant Mind-Spirits—a Revelation for a Scientific Explanation of Mind”

Nigel Nunn:
“Revisionist Cosmology—from Segregata to Exploding Dark Islands”

George Park:
“Proving Divine Providence Is Responsible for Universe Evolution: Empirical Proof of the Revealed Plane of Creation”

Marjorie Ray:
“Crystallization of Water Vapor: What May We Discern from a Snowflake?”

Ralph Zehr:
“Molecular Cell Biology—How the Intracellular Nano-Robots Actually Work”

Neal Kendall:
“Is There Intelligent Planning and Design in the Universe? Is Materialism True?”

Dick Reim:
“The Atom and the Outer Atom Periodic Table”