Do You Believe in Miracles?
Lecture Series: Science and Faith in Judaism and Islam (video recording available)
Jewish and Muslim Scripture describe many extraordinary events that contradict human experience and the laws of nature. Each religion considers these to be historical and objective accounts of the facts and attributes them to divine interventions in history.
People with naturalistic worldviews are skeptical of such miraculous tales or reject them outright. They allege that these narratives were rooted in a mythological view of the world that has long ago been replaced by a scientific approach. Yet the belief in miracles and the belief that God intervenes in world events are central articles of faith and of fundamental significance for both religions.
recording available
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)
Could both religions express the belief in miracles in a way that withstands the challenges posed by science? Or is it impossible to believe in miracles in this day and age?
Video recording of the lecture Do You Believe in Miracles? from 13 June 2019; Jewish Museum Berlin 2019
A discussion between James A. Diamond and Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu. Moderator: Dr. Kathrin Klausing (Institute for Islamic Theology, Osnabrück University).
James A. Diamond
James A. Diamond is a Professor in Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. His focus areas include biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, and Medieval Jewish philosophy. He has written numerous publications about the major Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides.
Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu
Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu is a Professor in Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s University in Philidelphia, United States, where she studies the philosophy of science and the relationship between the Quran and the sciences. She is the author of Understanding the Qur’anic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age.
About the Lecture Series
Scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, and biology over the past centuries have called into question the centrality of humans as the “crown of creation.” Today, religious and scientific positions are often seen as irreconcilable. While some present religions as incompatible with a modern worldview, others demand that creationism be giving equal billing in school as an alternative to the theory of evolution. In the past, this conflicting relationship between religion and science was hardly the rule. Many theologists were also scientists and made significant contributions to our understanding of humanity and the surrounding world.
This lecture series sets out to explore the tensions and affinities between Judaism, Islam, and the sciences. It aims to supplement the narrative of conflict with other narratives. To that end, the lecture series delves into subjects such as evolution and creation, belief in miracles, biological determinism and free will, historicist critical analysis of sacred texts, and how Jewish and Muslim religious educators approach the sciences.
Lecture Series 2018/19: Science and Faith in Judaism and Islam (5)
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Science and Faith in Judaism and Islam
Scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, and biology over the past centuries have called into question the centrality of humans as the “crown of creation.”
Today, religious and scientific positions are often seen as irreconcilable. This lecture series sets out to explore the tensions and affinities between Judaism, Islam, and the sciences.
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Do You Believe in Miracles?
With James A. Diamond (Professor in Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada) and Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu (Professor in Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s University in Philidelphia, United States)
Video Recording
13 Jun 2019 -
Humanity: Between Destiny and Free Will
With Alan Mittleman (Jewish Theological Seminary of America) and Martin Mahmud Kellner (Institute of Islamic Theology, Osnabrück)
Video Recording
30 Apr 2019 -
How Much God Is in the Holy Scriptures?
With Benjamin Sommer (expert in modern Jewish theology) and Ghassan el Masri (researcher on the Koran in the context of the Arabic literature of his time), in German and English
Video Recording
5 Mar 2019 -
God, Darwin, and Evolution
With Natan Slifkin (Biblical Museum of Natural History, Beit Shemesh, Israel) and Fatimah Jackson (Howard University, USA)
Video Recording
31 Jan 2019 -
Science in the Light of Faith
With Geoffrey A. Mitelman (Sinai and Synapses) and Ahmad S. Dallal (Georgetown University, Qatar)
Video Recording
20 Nov 2018
