He concludes his book with these searching words: We have cracked part of the cosmic code. Why this should be, just why Homo sapiens should carry the spark of rationality that provides the key to the universe, is a deep enigma. How we have become linked into this cosmic dimension is a mystery. Yet the linkage cannot be denied. What does it mean? What is Man that we might be party to such privilege? I cannot believe that our existence in this universe is a mere quirk of fate, an accident of history, an incidental blip in the great cosmic drama.
Our involvement is too intimate. Through conscious beings the universe has generated self-awareness. This can be no trivial detail, no minor byproduct of mindless, purposeless forces. We are truly meant to be here. How can these spiritual experiences, which are so valuable to the individuals involved, be extended to a much wider segment of society? Indeed, a strong move is currently under way in America to diversify medical treatment approaches to include a variety of previously excluded therapies, including spiritual ones.
Beginning in the John Templeton Foundation gave strong support to studies conducted by the late Dr. These studies demonstrated that religious variables are neglected in clinical research and in the practice of medicine. In most cases they demonstrated a strong positive relationship between spirituality and health. Progress has been slow but steady. Is Religion Good Medicine? In a lecture sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation for presentation at medical schools, Dr.
Dale Matthews, then of Georgetown University School of Medicine, explained that a wall of separation has gradually come between medicine and religion. Yet it was not always this way. Medicine and religion had worked hand in hand for thousands of years. Illness was perceived in ancient societies as primarily a spiritual problem and religious and medical authority was vested in the same person e.
A survey of adults in Richmond, Virginia, indicated that 14 percent reported physical healings such as recovery from viral infections, cancers, back problems, emotional problems, and fractures by means of prayer or divine intervention. And in another survey of adults, 30 percent reported praying regularly for healing and for health maintenance. Similar results have been found for family physicians in Vermont in a study. The irony in these situations is, of course, that while most patients expect religious values to be addressed by their doctor, the average physician is not prepared to address the real contribution spirituality may bring to the healing process.
Attitudes of Medical Scientists If we shift from medical practice to medical research, the same kind of neglect of religious variables was found by Dr. David Larson in an in-depth study of the clinical literature by a process called systematic review. It was found that only 2.
Seventy-two percent of these studies showed a positive effect for religious commitment. This has been especially important in the case of social policy literature reviews, which previously had been done in a much less systematic manner with frequently biased results. The John Templeton Foundation provided funding for a compilation of the current research conducted on spirituality and health. More than four hundred abstracts of published research articles were published over a three-year period —95 in three volumes with the title The Faith Factor: Dale Matthews was co-author with Dr.
Larson of the series. The chosen articles focused primarily on three areas of particular interest to Sir John: Matthews cites the results of the review as follows: The forgoing suggested strongly to Sir John that a major research effort should be mounted to study the effect of prayer and other spiritual interventions under the most rigorous empirical scientific conditions with diverse populations and religions. Certainly, this area of study holds great promise in reestablishing the place of religion in the healing process.
Also of great importance is the changing of attitudes among medical scientists and clinicians. Larry Dossey, another close associate of Sir John. History is also replete with examples of how scientists themselves can be part of the problem, just like anyone else. Lord Kelvin pronounced that X-rays would be a hoax.
Thomas Edison, reports Truzzi, said that he saw no commercial use for the light bulb. The history of medicine includes numerous instances in which physicians have rejected new ideas, even in the face of compelling data. A dramatic example took place in the nineteenth century on the obstetric wards of Allgemeines Krankenhaus, a famous hospital in Vienna. The struggle involved a technique that was heretical for the time: So high was the mortality rate from childbirth fever or puerperal sepsis at this hospital that women giving birth begged in tears not to be taken there.
The second ward, in contrast, was devoted to the instruction of midwives, who devoted much greater attention to hygiene and personal cleanliness. Noting these differences, Semmelweis theorized that the students were spreading the disease. He immediately instituted hygienic precautions: In spite of this sordid chapter in the history of unconventional medical practices, his contribution today speaks for itself.
He was attacked by some of the greatest obstetricians of his time. Like Semmelweis, Holmes persisted. For both errors, science can be an antidote. Science is a self-correcting system. A diversity of opinions and dialogue is extremely important. We cannot close the door to maverick claims. Indeed, it would be disastrous if medical science were an exercise in polite agreement.
The truth is that medicine is, and always has been, in a continual state of ferment and remodeling.
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It is plagued by ignorance and therefore perpetually agitated by controversy. Controversy has in fact, always been an integral part of medicine, one of its most important and characteristic features. Science and controversy are inseparable companions. Modern medicine is not fully formed, and we believe researchers in unconventional areas have much to contribute. Indeed, they always have. As Oliver Wendell Holmes observed in in his Medical Essays albeit in language that today is considered insensitive: It borrowed acupuncture and the moxa from the Japanese heathen, and was taught the use of lebelia by the American savage.
Alternative Therapies will enter the ferment that is medical progress, with the hope of contributing to the remodeling that is incessantly occurring in the medical sciences. Our challenge to both the alternative and orthodox medical communities is the same: Sir John Templeton would be quick to point out that humility in theology and in science has as much to offer the medical scientist in terms of a challenge to prideful attitudes as it offers to theologians.
To create a positive impact on these negative attitudes, Sir John has supported the development of an independent study guide targeted at professionals and graduate students in medicine, social work, psychology, and pastoral counseling. Introductory sections detail the historical neglect of spiritual factors by the healthcare profession and also discuss the complexities of measuring variables such as spirituality and religious commitment In addition to this module series, there was also a NIHR-directed Faith and Medicine Program, including the lecture program mentioned previously, in which Dr.
In order to publicize the program, a mailing containing promotional materials on Dr. The second component of the Faith and Medicine Program included a competitive grant program funded by the John Templeton Foundation for the development of a curriculum that integrates religious components with medical care.
This competition was advertised and promoted in Dr. As a result of these promotional activities, NIHR received more than forty inquiries regarding the competition for curriculum development. By June , 80 medical schools out of were addressing religion, a situation reported with amazement in the November 10, issue of Newsweek, which reported that only 3 had offered such programs a decade ago.
In , the program became the responsibility of Dr. GWish is changing the face of health care through innovative programs for physicians and other members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team, including clergy and chaplains. A third component of the Faith and Medicine Program was a video exploring the relationship between religion and health. Produced by a public relations company, the video, Body, Mind and Spirit, contains interviews with Dr. Working in conjunction with a group of nationally recognized psychiatrists interested in encouraging clinical sensitivity to religious issues, NIHR completed the pioneering model curriculum and an accompanying study guide.
The curriculum was sorely needed because all accredited psychiatric residency programs were mandated to include courses on sensitivity to patient religious issues as of January New Research Opportunities The systematic review approach has proven very fruitful, and Sir John is eager to see it extended to other areas of health care.
Given the importance to clinicians, researchers, and policy makers of the dynamics of living longer, NIHR undertook a systematic review of the longevity research in order to determine whether the religiously committed actually live longer than the non-religious. This work was done in collaboration with three of its research fellows, Dr. Jeffrey Levin, and Dr. Sadly, less than a year later, on March 5, , the president and founder, Dr. David Larson, died suddenly while exercising in the gym. He leaves behind a long line of dedicated healthcare professionals, including his wife Susan with whom he published extensively.
Unfortunately, the new center closed its doors in August One component of the program is based at Duke University, where Dr. Koenig directs the Center for the Study of Religion and Spirituality. Religion, Aging and Healthcare in the 21st Century. Discussions highlighted situations where people are happier and healthier overall and are providers of care rather than users of care. Conference participants had the opportunity to hear from a distinguished faculty of experts who examined the current and future health of the population over 65 years of age and the demands of health care as the population continues to age; solutions for providing care for the elderly by making full use of community resources, that is, religious organizations and municipal programs; the theological position on health care of the aging population and others in need; and the importance of the relationship between health and religion in later life.
Recent books include Parish Nursing: Koenig has taken on a major responsibility for the Templeton Foundation as the editor-in-chief of an international newspaper entitled Science and Theology News formerly Research News and Opportunities in Theology and Science until December Begun in the summer of , with the able assistance of editor Karl Giberson, professor of physics at Eastern Nazarene College, the subscriber base for the thirty-six-page publication had reached 33, by March and had gained national media attention.
Another key player in this program of growth and recognition is Dr. This three-day course offered continuing medical education credit and has been repeated several times with large attendance. Finally, in the longer term, Sir John is looking for empirical studies of the impact of prayer, meditation, love, thankfulness, and many other characteristics of the spiritual life, all conducted under the most rigorous experimental protocols in a variety of cultural and religious settings.
Jack , former professor of pediatric surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and president of the John Templeton Foundation, is likewise deeply concerned for the spiritual dimensions in medicine. For many intelligent people, knowing more than others seems to be almost more impor- tant than the acquisition of knowledge itself. John Marks Templeton has observed that this tendency of the human ego has been especially destructive of progress in our knowledge of God. Disciples of the founding prophets of the great religions often took an exclusive view of their knowledge of God, and assumed that there was little new to be learned.
Research has often been backward looking, focusing on the ancient foundation instead of on the future. In an interview with the publication Second Opinion in July , Sir John was asked about his view that none of the great religions seem willing to experiment with openness. For countless ages various people have thought that the sun revolved around the earth, because it looks that way. For countless ages people have thought that their god was the only true God. The Jews were not the only ones to think they were the chosen people.
And the human ego has in effect said that God is understandable. I would like to see that happen in our knowledge of God. Based on his experience as a trustee of Princeton Theological Seminary, Sir John applied the same approach to a possible solution. The research in the Princeton budget is for archaeology and ancient scriptures, which is nice. I may not succeed.
The first step, twenty-one years ago, was to offer prizes for progress in religion. I hope that we can do research on many subjects in science and religion. Bob Herrmann and I published a book called The God Who Would Be Known with the idea that God is ready to reveal himself if we search with humility and in the right way.
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It never occurred to me to wonder where we should search — whether in astronomy or genetics or prayer or love. Maybe 10 percent of the ideas we try will work. With that humble approach, it really never occurred to me to search, say, in astronomy and not in genetics. In the past few decades, science has revealed a universe of awesome size and complexity, and now some scientists are speaking out about the theological implications of these revelations.
And coupling this new theological impulse with the power of the empirical approach so essential to science would seem to provide a new and fruitful avenue of discovery for the theological enterprise as well. What Sir John envisages is nothing less than a supplemental theology, born out of this progressive exploratory approach — a new experimental theology to add to the wonderful testimony of holy scriptures. And such a program would surely be worthy of support at something near the magnitude of our researches in the natural sciences. Again in The Second Opinion article, he says: We are terribly ignorant.
We should be anxious to learn, to experiment, to discover a little more about God. We should listen to anybody who thinks he knows something about God. If one-tenth of that were spent on research in spiritual subjects, that would be a hundred million dollars a day. That would be visionary. Prizes for Papers in Humility Theology 1 To promote this exciting vision, John Templeton began a program of prizes to encourage theologians and scientists to think and write and influence others in this new direction for progress in religion.
For the support of this endeavor, John Templeton went to his longtime friend and colleague Dr. McCord, former president of Princeton Seminary and at that time chairman of the Center. He also recruited Professor Harold Nebelsick of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, a pioneer in the dialogue between theologians and scientists, to assist him in editing the volume. Sadly, Harold Nebelsick died suddenly on March 26, , and the volume was eventually completed by John Webster, a Princeton Seminary student, and published in John Templeton provided funding to support this work.
A second publication in support of the program has been the newsletter of the Foundation, Progress in Theology, for which I have been editorial coordinator. Our major involvement has been the publication of abstracts of winning papers, some two dozen in the course of the last three years.
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During this period we have received numerous letters and some manuscripts from our readers, many accompanied by pleas to help in the publication of new ideas in the area of theology and science. In reviewing the nature of these requests and the character of the manuscripts, we have come to realize that scholarship and the normal structure of publication, with its attendant research into the ideas of others and required peer review, is an essential ingredient of publication in humility theology. In the editorial for the March issue of Progress in Theology, we outlined our philosophy about and commitment to the highest scholarship in encouraging the development of new ideas.
The editorial, albeit somewhat lengthy, is reprinted in full below because it carefully explains our position. The approach we have taken thus far in our program of publication is to invite material from recognized scholars, and particularly from those whose ideas and concepts have undergone editorial and peer scrutiny.
The subsequent submission of our best effort to a refereed journal is the most important step of all. Some have argued that there are no avenues of publication for papers with progressive ideas about religion, but our experience suggests that that is rarely the case for well-thought-out and thoroughly documented papers. The importance of publication has also been emphasized in another program of the Center, the Call for Papers on Humility Theology. A second avenue that potential authors should consider is the critical interaction with a group of interested scholarly individuals.
For academicians, another approach is to interact with students by developing a rather openended course in science and religion. Here the emphasis is placed on a balanced treatment of the two disciplines, again with an effort to promote good scholarship. The tension between the ideas of an individual and the collective views of a scholarly community will surely always be with us. Perhaps, as an example of humility theology, we need willingly to subject our most cherished ideas and convictions to the evidence of the past and the criticism of the current community of scholars.
Twelve papers were awarded prizes. In the third year, 65 papers were submitted and 35 prizes were awarded. The emphasis broadened to include a second area of humility theology, the constructive interaction of religion and the health sciences. The criteria for this enlarged program had the following domains of concern: In the winning papers were published in thirty-four different scholarly journals, and in , twenty-six different journals were represented.
Furthermore, the majority of papers came from theological faculty, indicating some attention by theology and religion departments to the possibilities of humility theology. His view of spirituality, however, goes well beyond Sunday school teaching or college classes in religion.
These laws, he believes, have been deeply embedded in human history, with a similar kind of permanence and given-ness as the physical laws that appear to govern our universe. Agreed on in the three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it is also proposed by all of the Eastern religions and philosophies. Many other spiritual laws have this same kind of acceptance, and they have been the mainstay of countless successful political, business, and professional leaders all over the world. The problem, as Sir John sees it, is that these spiritual laws have gradually lost prominence in our educational systems as societies have become more secular and programs to build character and moral strength have been seriously crowded out.
At a meeting of the Foundation advisory board, John talked about the background of this emphasis: Because America may be the only nation in the world that forbids teaching religion in the schools, we did not work through the schools. We just made it publicly known that teenage boys and girls could win cash by writing essays on how they planned to lead their future lives — the spiritual principles they were going to use in their lives. Two things made it work: We offered these twice a year. This idea just swept the county with three-quarters of the students of that age writing essays twice a year on the spiritual principles they expected to use in their lives.
But, in addition, the other working principle is this: We ask them to tell us! It also causes them to think. If they have to think it up for themselves, they understand it better than if they just read about it in a book. Following the writing period, the prize-winning essays are announced on the local radio and in the local newspapers. This program is having just a transforming effect on this county. Similar programs were started in Bradley County, Tennessee, and in Jackson, Mississippi, which have also been very successful. Some students not particularly distinguished in their academics and some who were even disruptive in their classes became focused on the idea that someone cared about what they had to say.
These students were often not those who were the most polished writers. Their grammar and punctuation may not have been perfect, but sometimes the content was so deep that often someone who was at best a C student could be a prize winner. Our real hope is that this will be like dropping pebbles in a pond; that there will be a big ripple effect so that with the help of a new managing director of the program we can take this idea to centers around the country. We will talk to individuals and organizations like the Rotary Club to undertake this with their county or their school district.
The Laws of Life Essay Contest program has continued to expand. Arthur Schwartz has been joined in this program by Ms. By December , over individual contests took place in 27 states and 54 countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, Uganda, New Zealand, and Russia.
The program has been endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, a forty-thousand-member organization of principals and vice-principals in sixty countries around the world and with affiliates in every state in the United States. Amy Butler, a Templeton Foundation member, pioneered the establishment of contests in Georgia. In September , 21 high schools with an enrollment of 33, students were participating. Of these, 15, students submitted essays. The events in Georgia suggest that the character education movement may represent a great opportunity for this program.
For example, in the farming community where John Templeton grew up, truthfulness was a law of life. Your word was your bond. People of character would never promise something and then go back on their word. Civilization, as many then perceived it, was a place where the handshake was sacred.
Sir John says that doors and windows in his hometown of Winchester were never locked. For that matter, any hardware store would sell skeleton keys that worked in almost 90 percent of the door locks. Every home had a Bible — sometimes as the only book. Prohibition precluded any home having alcoholic drinks under penalty of jail.
And in his seventeen years of growing up in Winchester, he remembers only one person who was a drug addict. As already mentioned, his mother was quite unusual, being very well educated for the time and for rural Tennessee. After college, she then tutored for two years for a wealthy Texas family before returning to Winchester to eventually marry Harvey Templeton. Physical healing, wealth, inner peace — Unity teaches that almost anything is possible if your mental processes are in tune with the great divine principles of the universe.
The capacity for greatness is within, where God is ever present. Acting on these principles, Harvey and Vella Templeton gave young John almost total freedom to do what he thought best. He was never given advice about ethics, religion, or conduct, though he was active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and had ready access to the literature of the Unity Movement and to a set of the Book of Knowledge Encyclopedia.
Not a single grade lower than an A. John Templeton understood the virtues of promptness and perseverance at a tender age. His father was very pleased and said that he would like to set up a contest. Each time there was a grade lower than A, however, John would have to give his father a bale of cotton. The theory was that the son would wind up owing his father many, many bales of cotton, which would be a lesson to John.
He worked hard at his lessons, he was always prompt with them, and he went through grammar school and high school without a single grade below an A. Eleven years later his father owed him twenty-two bales of cotton. One summer, for example, when John was 12, his mother loaded him, his 15year-old brother, and a couple of cousins in the car and took them on an extensive two-month trip throughout the Northeast.
They traveled about one hundred miles a day, camped out, and did their own cooking. But this was not a parent-controlled vacation. Even though they had a lot of fun, the trip was by no means merely a relaxed, carefree sort of affair. Every moment was scheduled, and myriads of stimulating sights and experiences were packed into each day. And that trip served to set the stage for still another summer adventure a few years later. When John was 16, his mother loaded up the car again — this time with John, Harvey Jr.
Again, they were gone about two months, and they camped out every night. It not only instilled self-confidence in him, but also inspired a love for travel and an outward look, which in later years gave him an advantage in international investing. It is not surprising that he covets this self-discovery for the young people of today. Noteworthy, too, is his avoidance of television or radio entertainment. His idea was to select approximately one hundred schools whose educational programs and campus activities showed the greatest commitment to the personal growth and moral development of their students.
For example, the U. Programs are often outlined for community involvement, overseas missions, and campus ministries for the handicapped and those with pressing personal problems. The Foundation received applications from institutions.
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However, these nonreligious schools had a higher proportion of courses or programs in personal and applied ethics. In , schools made the Honor Roll. Character Building and Spiritual Development A full-scale program to encourage courses in character formation and spiritual development is underway.
This program, under the direction of Dr. Schwartz reports that the rigorous selection process for inclusion in the book has evolved into a highly competitive process, garnering high interest among college administrators. In fall , Dr. Schwartz published an article on the resurgence of interest in spirituality and religious values on college campuses. This change suggests that there are new opportunities on the campus for an emphasis on character education. The workshop had three goals. To explore the relationship between the adolescent spirit and the Creator Spirit. To explore whether prayer serves as an effective motivational resource during adolescence.
The Foundation recently awarded a major grant to Professor William Damon, director of the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University, to research the development of purpose in the lives of young people. The Foundation also awarded a grant to Dr. Another major grant was awarded in to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA to design and implement a national survey on the religiosity and spirituality of college students.
The hope is that other foundations interested in education will follow the lead of the Templeton Foundation in emphasizing spiritual values on the campus. Over the past century most of our universities and colleges have gradually shifted their allegiance from a religious worldview to a scientific one. The scientific view most generally presented the world as a clock-like structure ruled by natural laws. Everything that happened seemed resolvable into cause and effect. There seemed no need for God. Objective science became the supreme arbiter of truth, the source of progress, the frontier subject.
Religion came to be viewed as looking backward, almost irrelevant to the modern age. To Sir John, this was a sad and largely unrealistic state of affairs. The nine judges for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion awarded that prize on several occasions to university theology professors. This highlights the fact that there still were forward-looking pioneers in academic religion departments.
In his book The Humble Approach, Sir John talked about the enormous creative opportunities that lie before us and placed the blame for the present narrow outlook of most religious people squarely on human egotism. By contrast, he said, many or most natural scientists have displayed an openminded, exploratory, tolerant, and searching attitude, and he strongly recommended that theologians could benefit from their example. In the introduction he writes: We are perched on the frontier of future knowledge. To a large extent, the future lies before us like a vast wilderness of unexplored reality.
The God who created and sustained His evolving universe through eons of progress and development has not placed our generation at the tag end of the creative process. He has placed us at a new beginning. We are here for the future. Our role is crucial. As human beings we are endowed with mind and spirit. We can think, imagine, and dream. We can search for future trends through the rich diversity of human thought. God permits us in some ways to be co-creators with Him in His continuing act of creation. There is, however, a stumbling block: The closedminded attitude of those who think they know it all inhibits future progress.
Natural scientists, by and large, have overcome this hurdle. They are more open-minded. They research the natural wonders of the universe, devising new hypotheses, testing them, challenging old assumptions, competing with each other in professional rivalry. The physical future of human civilization is in their professional hands, guided by relatively tolerant and open minds. This is not equally true concerning our spiritual future.
Many are not even aware that the spiritual future could, or should, be different from anything that has ever been before. Many do not realize that spiritual reality can be researched in ways similar to those used by natural scientists. Some do not want even to consider the possibilities of a future of progressively unfolding spiritual discoveries.
Many devoutly religious people are not devoutly humble. They do not admit their worldview is limited. They are not open to suggestions that their personal theology might be incomplete. They do not entertain the notion that other religions have valuable insights to contribute to an understanding of God and His creation.
The past few decades have brought most scientists to a sense of awe and to a new humility. More than this, he sees the opportunity for the revitalization of religion, theology, and science departments. Given the new world that science has brought to us, these disciplines should, he says, be the most exciting focus for new ideas and concepts in the university.
But, Sir John asks, what if there is no Omega Point, but other spheres and other worlds instead. The twentieth century after Christ may very well represent a new renaissance in human culture, a new embarkation into future cultures.
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Do old scriptures need reinterpreting to accommodate an expanded notion of the universe? More important for theology is the expanded concept of history. When all the scriptures of all major religions were written, the history of the universe was conceived as only a few thousand years. Now geologists and paleontologists who think in hundreds of millions of years read history in visible form sometimes more reliable than history books or scriptures. And cosmologists think in billions of years. Because light travels a hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a second, we can see the sun not as it is now, but as it was some eight minutes ago.
We see some stars as they were when Christ was born. Such a revolution in our conceptions of time and history is beginning to shape our theology. What existed before this universe began? What will exist after the sun has grown cold? After minerals there emerged plants, and after plants, animals, and after animals there emerged minds; and minds began to participate in the creative process.
Is there evidence that minds are developing into even more miraculous spirits and souls? These are not only questions of science but also of theology — a new type of theology not yet taught in seminaries. Consider the cold, inert world of minerals, the throbbing world of life, the curious, searching realm of the intellect. This may be the most important question facing us at the end of the twentieth century. Robert Sollod, at Cleveland State University, published an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education calling for a reconsideration of religion and spirituality as integral parts of college curricula in this era of curriculum reform.
Values can and should be taught at the university. He has proposed a number of ways that this might be encouraged by the Templeton Foundation. One of the most fruitful so far is a program to encourage the development of new and improved courses joining science and religion. Sir John chose the broad-sweep approach, surveying all catalog offerings in colleges, universities, and seminaries in the United States and Canada. The search team found science and religion courses. Questionnaires were sent to the course managers, department heads, or deans, requesting syllabi and additional information about the courses.
Descriptions of the model course winners and their courses were published in the science-religion journal Zygon. The article was written by freelance science writer Margaret Wertheim and appeared in the September issue. Then, in September, Sir John decided that we should add an additional workshop, this time for applicants who might be new to this interdisciplinary area but interested enough to travel at their own expense.
Surely institutions would support the travel expense if it represented an investment toward the award. And of course he was right! More than faculty members inquired and nearly 80 attended the workshop. By every criterion, the workshop was a success. There was excellent leadership by Robert Russell and John Albright, superb facilities, and an atmosphere of excitement as like-minded faculty who thought they were alone in their interest in religion and science found each other. Furthermore, they gave every indication of being teachable — even the few who had been involved with a science-religion course for many years.
And perhaps of most importance, more than half the attendees were from secular schools, and more than half had never taught a formal science-religion course. The response to the second phase of the award program was equally enthusiastic. A total of applications were received and were reviewed for an award. The largest number of courses, 72, came from faculty in religion and theology departments, amounting to 42 percent of the total. Science departments accounted for 18 percent and philosophy departments 16 percent of the total. Of the remainder, the largest percentage originated in various interdisciplinary programs.
More revealing, perhaps, the percentage of applications from secular institutions was greatest for interdisciplinary programs, suggesting that faculty in secular institutions intending to initiate courses in science and religion may find good possibilities in the great variety of interdisciplinary programs that were then being developed at secular institutions. Overall, 43 percent of the applications came from secular institutions. In part they say: Broadening the impact of the course program by bringing it to faculty in 25 of the leading research universities and 15 of the leading divinity schools and seminaries in the United States, Canada and England.
Strengthening the program where it has been most successful so far. More than course award winners have been enabled to participate more fully in the dialogue, teaching an estimated 12, students in courses on science and religion. With a vast range of courses now being offered in colleges, universities, and seminaries on every continent except Antarctica, this has truly become a global conversation.
The fundamental objective of the course program remains what it was at its inception: What began largely as a Judeo-Christian discussion — or at least a discussion conducted within a monotheistic context — has now been broadened to include scholars from many theological traditions.
While cosmology and evolutionary biology retain their places in the discussion, fascinating questions are now being raised by genetics, neuroscience and cognitive science, and other disciplines. Many projects are in development. By June , the course program had awarded over grants for establishment of academic courses. It was the beginning of two days of travel down memory lane — to recount for me some of his experiences growing up in a small town in middle Tennessee. Templeton had received one year of medical training in Nashville, and had been a regimental surgeon in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
After the war he practiced general medicine for some forty years in Wartrace, Tennessee, and then retired to live in Winchester. The first stop in our trip was almost immediate: Harvey Templeton and Vella Handly had begun their married life living with the older Templetons, and when she moved to the new house, she made the most of it.
At the next corner we turned right again and soon reached the town cemetery. The Handlys were also prominent politically. John can even boast of a Revolutionary War-hero ancestor, Virginia-born Samuel Handly, whose parents emigrated from northern Ireland in Several of these were built by his father with the lumber he purchased when the old courthouse was torn down. Uncle Jess was several times judge of the county court. Accordingly, the old courthouse was put up for demolition and auction and was bought by my father, who used the materials to build rental houses on the edge of Winchester.
The location was referred to locally as Gin Bottom, and it was here that some one hundred local farmers brought their cotton to be ginned for two dollars per bale. As many as two thousand bales were ginned there in a single season in the s. These enterprises, along with his practice as a self-educated lawyer, allowed Harvey Templeton to provide a quite adequate standard of living for his family. Continuing our journey, we turned right and climbed the hill from Gin Bottom into the center of Winchester.
There was still the old theater on one corner and a few restaurants, jewelers, and banks interspersed with a number of vacant storefronts. Just a block from the center of town we passed the Knies hardware store. John tells the story of meeting Dinah many years later, in , at a special county homecoming celebration. Just after turning onto the boulevard, John pointed out the old jailhouse, now a museum, and just below it the pond that was part of Boiling Fork Creek, where he went frog hunting as a kid.
All of that is changed, John said, because of the damming of the Elk River and its tributaries as part of the huge Tennessee Valley Authority project. He sees religion as many do, as judgmental and austere, and sees himself as something of a free spirit. Back in the house are racing pictures — in one Harvey is arm in arm with Paul Newman with their cars behind them — and quite a few cups commemorating successful races at Daytona Beach and elsewhere. The two Templeton families have kept close ties over the years.
Travel from Tennessee to Florida was something of an expedition in those days; plans had to be laid carefully and preparations for the unexpected had to be thorough. In it were detailed directions for travel throughout the country. Because there were virtually no road signs on the seven hundred-mile route from Chattanooga to St.
Petersburg part of the Dixie Highway from Chicago to Miami , a guide book was of equal importance to the very essential spare tubes, patches, and tire irons needed to keep the wheels turning. The directions were fascinating in their detail, and made it quite evident that the Blue Book had to be frequently updated. John read the section for leaving Winchester: Jasper courthouse on the left.
But farmers along the well-traveled routes were quick to help with mules for towing for a fee, and often allowed camping on their property overnight. Food was less of a problem, especially if you were as resourceful as the Templeton boys. John and Harvey often took turns perching on the running board of the moving car and shooting rabbits that had strayed onto the road! All of this might seem a rather adventurous and risky undertaking for the parents of two small children, but it turns out to be perfectly consistent with the style of upbringing employed by Harvey and Vella Templeton.
He and his brother were also extended unlimited credit in all the local stores, although John is quick to point out that they were very careful to buy very little. John says of his early training: Of course my multitudes of questions as a child were answered thoughtfully; but after age 12 rarely did I ask.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken to the soul. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. As a high school freshman, I decided to try to go to Yale, but this required taking examinations by the College Entrance Examination Board, which no one from my high school had ever taken.
From the Board I bought copies of the old examinations for the four years past. Entrance to Yale required a minimum of four years of Latin, four years of English, and four years of mathematics. Central High School offered only three years of math, so the principal agreed to offer solid geometry and trigonometry as a fourth-year class, provided I would teach the class and recruit at least eight friends so that the class would meet state requirements. The principal set the examinations for us, and graded them, and all of my students passed.
But the old saying about all work and no play making Jack a dull boy could not be said about the blossoming John Templeton. Upon entering high school, he also discovered girls, and with the help of one pretty high school junior, he learned to dance. Subsequently he began to invite a small group of students to his home for dances. John also attended dances at the University of the South in Sewanee, and joined the Sigma Phi Omega fraternity at Sewanee Military Academy, preparatory to starting a chapter in Winchester. There we saw the Templeton mausoleum.
John and his three children were living in Englewood, New Jersey, on the same street as Irene Butler and her two children. Four years earlier, John lost his wife, Judith Dudley Folk, through a tragic accident. Irene was divorced at the time. When my Christopher was 6, I had been a widower four years.
Sir John Templeton: Supporting Scientific Research for Spiritual Discoveries
His favorite playmate was Malcolm, who lived with his sister and devoted mother Mrs. Irene Butler, also on Chestnut Street in Englewood. With no room for much luggage inside our bus, we bought a roof rack plus tarpaulin to keep the bags dry. We knew our children were peculiar in the fact that each child wanted his own way. So we made each child the total boss of some activity. Although that July and August were the busiest Europe ever had, he wanted to make no reservations.
To our great surprise, only thrice did he fail. Irene felt panic at the thought of not having windows but we all were good sports. Harvey, age 17, was boss of the timetable, maps, and guidebooks. Wendy, age 15, was boss of everything relating to food. Handly, age 14, was boss of the bus and drivers. Before the complainer could continue, he or she had to say two pleasant things. After that only rarely did anyone want to continue his or her complaint. Irene and I kept for ourselves only the hardest job, which was to keep our mouths shut while witnessing hundreds of childish mistakes.
Each morning we would pack our single bag and sit on the back seat of the bus while the youngsters made all the usual mistakes about bills, maps, tips, etc. However, I made the only serious mistake. From that moment, they would not let us rent a room with bath and we bought food at grocery stores. When I paid extra for Irene to have a room with bath during our two days climbing Gross Glockner mountain in Austria, all eight children lined up to use her bathtub. At the end of the trip, we sold the bus for a hundred dollars more than we paid for it in Germany.
Anne took the photos and her thirty adventure stories to make for each of us an illustrated history of the eight weeks, which welded our family together. When Vella was a girl, her father sold the mill in Boiling Fork Creek and built a one-story home here on a half-block of land. Turning back into town, we passed the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, where the Handlys were longtime members.
Sometimes the church could not afford a minister, so services depended on students from the School of Theology at the University of the South in nearby Sewanee. But Vella also earned enough money to pay half the cost of supporting a missionary in China named Gam Sen Qua. Vella and her sister Leila also provided much of the leadership of the church, as the following letter from the daughter of one of the ministers attests: The article about you in the December 30, issue of the Nashville Tennessean brought back some wonderful memories.
Spraker, when he became their pastor at the Winchester Presbyterian Church in However, it did not take long for him to realize and appreciate their worth and faithfulness. Their prayers, coupled with their hard work, held that little church together for many years. I wish I could tell you of the many happy memories I have of her. This I am sure of.
My very best wishes for your continued usefulness and happiness. At the age of 15, he was elected Sunday school superintendent, though he felt a bit uneasy about the post. As he expressed it: My thoughts were too often about girls, sports, and possessions. One aspect of humility was reflected in the way Vella dressed her two young boys. Only on Sunday did John wear good clothes. The rest of the week the two youngsters wandered around town in overalls. When it was warm, they went barefoot. On at least one occasion this lead to some embarrassment.
When a government social worker came to town to evaluate the needs of the poor in the community, she and Vella happened to meet in the town drugstore, and discussed how to clean up the poor children. To illustrate the need, she pointed out the window at two small boys in overalls and bare feet. One sometimes pays a price for humility! Motion pictures were wholesome. Television did not yet exist.
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