John Haught: the New Cosmic Story

For a long time I have been a fan of John Haught's work. He is a Catholic theologian, invested in the conversation between religion and science, who brings together two of my favorite thinkers - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Alfred North Whitehead. His recent award winning book, The New Cosmic Story: Inside Our Awakening Universe, Haught's mature theological voice is at work in a serious way. There he argues that an adequate understanding of cosmic history requires attention to the emergence of interiority, including religious aspiration.  We discuss that and a number of other topics in this conversation including... Big History and its inside story the relationship of religion and science Layered Explanations of reality and meaning 3-fold pattern of growth: Divergence, Convergence, and Emergence the cosmological literalism of the New Atheists - a modernist form of fundamentalism the narrative shape of the cosmos Teilhard, Lonergan, Whitehead, Polyani the nature of religion in the evolution of homo sapiens ethical predicaments from the ecological crisis to abortion the role of beauty in the cosmos His article, Trashing Teilhard: How Not to Read a Great Religious Thinker John F. Haught is Senior Fellow, Science & Religion, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University. He was formerly Professor in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University (1970-2005) and Chair (1990-95). His area of specialization is systematic theology, with a particular interest in issues pertaining to science, cosmology, evolution, ecology, and religion. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices