Please join us on six consecutive Tuesday evenings, (January 20 – February 24), at Temple Beth El for the 18th Annual Comparative Religion Series . On each of the Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, we will explore whether religious belief does or should have anything to do with scientific reasoning. Temple Beth El’s Comparative Religion Committee invites the entire community to attend this Series that seeks to understand the religious perspectives on the question: “Religion and Science: Can They Coexist?”Guest speakers representing various faiths will address such questions as: How do your sacred texts align and conflict with scientific developments? How do scientific developments impact your day to day congregational lives? What are some of the current scientific developments or discoveries with which you are grappling, and what teachings or texts in your tradition will you employ to deal with those challenges? The final program of the Series, on February 24, will culminate with a panel discussion with Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, Temple Beth El, and Dr. Derek Raghavan, a cancer researcher and medical oncologist, who will address such questions as: Is God involved in science? Does science impact our views of God? Scheduled speakers include:
January 20: Rabbi Judy Schindler, Temple Beth El, Reform Jewish perspective and Introduction and Rabbi Chanoch Oppenheim, Charlotte Torah Center, Orthodox Jewish perspective
January 27: Ryusho Jeffus, Shonin, Myosho-Ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, Buddhist perspective
February 3: Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ (Society of Jesus), Vatican Observatory, Roman Catholic perspective
February 10: Dr. Syed Rizwan Zamir, Assistant Professor of Religion, Davidson College, Islamic perspective
February 17: Reverend Russ Dean, Co-Pastor, Park Road Baptist Church, Baptist perspective
February 24: Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, Temple Beth El, and Dr. Derek Raghavan, President of the Levine Cancer Institute, internationally-renowned cancer researcher and medical oncologist panel discussion in culmination of the Comparative Religion Series.
March 3: Snow date
As always, no RSVP's are necessary! This Series is free and open to the public. The format includes presentation at 7:00pm, followed by a break at 7:50pm, a question and answer period at 8:05 pm, and a conclusion of the program at 8:45 pm. We reserve March 3, 2015 as a snow date. Please check the Temple Beth El website in case of inclement weather. Rescheduling of a particular night of the Series will always be posted on the Temple Beth El website, www.beth-el.com.