2009 Gifford Lectures, University of Aberdeen

 

The prestigious Gifford Lectureships were established by Adam Lord Gifford (1820–1887), a senator of the College of Justice in Scotland. The purpose of Lord Gifford's bequest to the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews and Aberdeen was to sponsor lectures to “promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term—in other words, the knowledge of God”.

Since the first lecture in 1888, Gifford Lecturers have been recognized as pre-eminent thinkers in their respective fields. Among the many gifted lecturers are Hannah Arendt, Niels Bohr, Etienne Gilson, Werner Heisenberg, William James, Max Mueller, Iris Murdoch, Reinhold Niebuhr, Albert Schweitzer and Alfred North Whitehead. For details of the Gifford Lectures, see this dedicated website.

Alister McGrath will deliver the six 2009 Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen on the followimg evenings in February 2009. The lectures will be given on Tuesday and Thursday evenings of three consecutive weeks, provisionally agreed as Tuesday 10 February; Thursday 12 February: Tuesday 17 February; Thursday 19 February; Tuesday 24 February; and Thursday 26 February. The theme of the lectures is "A fine-tuned universe? Natural theology and anthropic phenomena." Details of individual lectures will be provided later on this site.The full text of each lecture will be provided after delivery on this site, and on the University of Aberdeen site.

 

The University of Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest and the UK's fifth oldest university. It was founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone established King's College to train doctors, teachers and clergy for service in northern Scotland, and lawyers and administrators to serve the Scottish Crown.

Further details of the times, venues and subjects of these lectures will be confirmed in due course.

 

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