September 14, 2020
4:00 - 6:00pm PDT
Zoom and Facebook Event
The Deep Water Initiative and the Graduate Program of Ecology, Spirituality and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies present an academic online panel on Genesis 1.
Genesis 1 has long been a collection of biblical verses that have inspired the human imagination. Filled with mythic imagery, and charged with cosmic language, the opening line – Bereshit bara Elohim [In the beginning of G-d’s creating] – is a statement that has invited us to question the role of our participation in the mystery of creation. For many centuries, Genesis 1 has been regarded (by some) as a text that issues a challenge: the creation of the world was an ordered, highly structured process, and it is our responsibility to harness those imbedded truths and wield them in the implementation of our own “dominion.” Other philosophies, and theories, argue that the doctrine of creation is an invitation into a reality much less fixed – our participation with the more-than-human-world can engender a fluid and spontaneous awareness of life that enhances our cooperation with the natural world. The purpose of this panel is to explore the various approaches, and positions, that can be considered on the thirty-one verses that have held a preeminent position in the human relationship to nature. Now, more than ever, the trajectory of the world depends on our ability to conceive of – and support theologically – a sustainable vision of the human role within creation. Zoom and Facebook video details will be sent to registered participants a week before the event.
Panelists include: Dr. Catherine Keller, Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, Pastor Norman Habel PhD, Dr. David Kishik, and Rabbi David Seidenberg PhD.
Q&A moderated by Professor Jacob Sherman.