A NEW series of lectures will launch on next week on the about the wonders of science from a theological perspective.

This year’s Ebor lectures at York St John University will take the theme of ‘Science: Wonder, Gift and Challenge'.

Now in their thirteenth year, the Ebor lectures, aim to promote a conversation between theology and public issues providing people with an opportunity to engage with topics such as politics, economics, contemporary culture, religion, spirituality and globalisation.

Dr Valerie Shrimplin will launch the series on Wednesday 3 April at York St John University, looking at how the beginning and end of the universe have been portrayed in art. She will draw on examples from ancient times, ranging from Michelangelo’s depiction of the Creation and Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, up to the present day.

Dr Shrimplin has lectured on Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance Art and Architecture and published widely on the influence of astronomy and cosmology on art and architecture.

Other speakers in the series include physicist, professor of natural philosophy and Anglican lay reader Tom McLeish, who will propose how the church can get on the front foot with science. Dame Ottoline Leyser, Professor of Plant Development and Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, will discuss the importance of dismantling the wall that has been built up between science and society.

Brother Guy Consolmagno will also perform and Director of the Vatican Observatory, who will look at the correlation between astronomy and God in an evening lecture, and also run a special family event where he will describe his role as a planetary scientist at the Vatican, how he collects meteorites in Rome and his work in Arizona using the Vatican telescope. Reverend Professor David Wilkinson, who trained first as a scientist and then as a theologian, will close the 2019 series in November.

To find out more, visit https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/events-calendar/events/ebor-lecture-series/.