The Bible and the Rise of Science

The University of Queensland's School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry invites you to attend the 2025 Ed Conrad Memorial Lecture titled 'The Bible and the Rise of Science' presented by Emeritus Professor Peter Harrison.

Biblical literalism is often associated with hostility to science. This association draws support from the Galileo affair and, more recently, religiously motivated opposition to evolution. In this lecture Professor Harrison suggests that, despite apparent tensions between the bible and science, new literal approaches to biblical interpretation characteristic of the Post-reformation period actually helped promote science, while particular biblical narratives also helped lend it social legitimacy.

The rise of modern science in the seventeenth century was thus facilitated by biblical literalism in surprising ways. This helps us see apparent episodes of science-religion conflict—such as the Galileo affair and evolutionary controversies—in a new light.

Emeritus Professor Peter Harrison
Peter Harrison is Emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy at The University of Queensland and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. From 2015-21 he was an Australian Laureate Fellow and before this held the Idreos Chair of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He has published extensively on the philosophical, scientific and religious thought of the early modern period and his recent work focuses on secularization. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Member of the International Academy for the History of Science. His twelve books include The Territories of Science and Religion (Chicago, 2015), based on his Gifford Lectures and, most recently, Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age (Cambridge, 2024).

Event details

Date: Wednesday 24 September 2025
Time: 5:15–7:15pm. The event will commence with a reception from 5:15–6:15pm (light refreshments, including non-alcoholic beverages provided), followed by the lecture 6:15–7:15pm.
Venue: Atrium, Global Change Institute (20), UQ St Lucia (view map)

This lecture is organised by the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry and is held in loving memory of Ed Conrad, who was an internationally recognised scholar in the Studies in Religion program at The University of Queensland for many years. His monograph “Reading Isaiah” was a ground breaker in thinking about the way biblical texts are read in the context of living communities. Ed always had a keen interest in the Bible and Contemporary culture. Linda Conrad, Ed’s widow and an accomplished scholar in her own right, sponsors this annual lecture in order to promote ongoing interest in this very important field.

Banner image: Cristiano Banti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons