– Darwinian Evolution is a hot potato topic. It generates a lot of public interest from theists and atheists about its implications for religious belief. To that end, iERA were invited to engage in a friendly dialogue with Dr Jeremy Pritchard, Professor of Life Sciences Education at the University of Birmingham. Professor Pritchard describes himself “as a card-carrying Darwinist […] involved in teaching evolution at all levels.”
The discussion was titled, “Does Evolution Undermine God?” and took place at the University of Birmingham in front of a full lecture theatre.
Subboor Ahmad, iERA Outreach Specialist, spoke at the discussion and has discussed and debated prominent academics on philosophy and science. He is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in philosophy. He also has a particular interest in the philosophy of biology and is specialising in this field.
Throughout the discussion, both speakers spoke eloquently about Evolution and God and how one does not undermine the other. They also spent some time discussing the Philosophy of science and contemporary issues in evolutionary biology.
Time was also allocated to engage with the audience with questions about why Atheism is associated with science, how to reconcile between Islam and human evolution etc being addressed.
The key takeaway was when the audience grasped the difference between the public and academic understanding of Darwinian evolution.
iERA would like to thank Professor Pritchard for taking time out of his schedule to sit down and have this discussion on evolution. We hope this will open the doors for future academic engagement.
iERA would also like to thank Beacons of Sanctity for helping to facilitate and organise the event.