Center for Research in Science

In this lecture, Dr. Endara proposes that Matthew 15:18-20 (as well as other biblical passages) seems to prohibit sex outside of marriage. He believes that God wisely and benevolently gave us these and other prohibitions for our own good. In fact, God's entire moral law exists for our benefit, for our flourishing as human beings. If this idea is true, then Christians ought to be able to argue for God's moral laws independent of Scripture. In this lecture Endara presents a moral argument against extra-marital sex, grounded on reason and on features of our common humanity.

About the Speaker:  A scholar in philosophy, theology, and bioethics, Miguel Endara frequently addresses bioethical issues such as cloning, stem cell research, abortion, and more.. He has taught in several  Southern California universities, as well as internationally, and has lectured on various topics in ethics at conferences around the world.

Endara earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from St. Louis University, a Master's in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Master's in Christian Apologetics from Trinity International University. He is a co-author of Una introduccion a la Bioetica, to be released in late 2009, in Quito, Ecuador, as well as numerous book chapters and magazine articles.

Roy Clouser, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Philosophy and Religion, College of New Jersey

Dr. Clouser enjoyed a distinguished career as a college professor in the disciplines of philosophy and religion. He earned the Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. At Harvard Graduate School, he studied history and philosophy of religion with Tillich, Obermann, E. Wright, A. Wilder, and R.R. Niebuhr.

He is the author of several important books, full-length articles, and continues his writing as professor emeritus with additional books in progress.

Amos Yong, Ph.D., J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology; Regent University School of Divinity

Dr. Yong's graduate education includes degrees in theology, history, and religious studies from Western Evangelical Seminary and Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, and Boston University, Boston Massachusetts. He has published six books --on theology of religions, theological method, pneumatological theology, Pentecostal theology, and theology and disability, and is presently completing two manuscripts on Pentecostalism and political theology.

Yong edited a recently published book (2009), The Spirit Renews the Face of the Earth: Pentecostal Forays in Science and Theology of Creation, and authored and/or edited several other books, as well as numerous published chapters and journal articles.

Tim Morris, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Covenant College; Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

 After graduating from Covenant College in 1983, Tim Morris did graduate work at the University of Flordia (Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology, 1989), and post-doctoral research at the University of Georgia (molecular virology). He joined faculty at Covenant in 1995, serves as chair of the biology department, and teaches a variety of courses in the Biology major program and in the college's Core program as well.

In addition to his love for the biological aspects of God's world, he has a special interest in helping Christians better understand the relationship between contemporary science and Christianity. He was a participant in the Templeton/Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity held during the summers of 1999, 2000, and 2001 at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, England. His book, Science and Grace, co-authored with physicist Don Petcher, was released by Crossway Books in March 2006.

Matt Rindge, Ph.D., Professor of Religion, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington.

Matthew S. Rindge (Ph.D., Emory University) joined the religious studies faculty at Gonzaga University in 2008. Previous studies include Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.), University of Notre Dame (M.A.), and University of California at Santa Barbara (B.A.). He has taught at Emory University, Candler School of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, and in Asia and Latin America. At Gonzaga he teaches courses both in New Testament and in the intersection of Bible, Ethics, and Popular Culture

An active participant in the Society of Biblical Literature, he has presented several papers on Parables and Wealth in Luke, and Bible and Film, and is also on the Steering Committee for the Bible and American Popular Culture section. He is currently co-editing The History of Biblical Interpretation to 1835: A Reader (Westminster John Knox Press).

Robert Kane, Ph.D.; University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, University of Texas Austin

Robert Kane is author of seven books and sixty articles on the philosophy of mind and action, ethical theory and social ethics, the theory of value and philosophy of religion, including Free Will and Values (1985), Through the Moral Maze (1994), The Significance of Free Will (1996), A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will (2005), editor of The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (2002), among other anthologies, and a multiple contirbutor to the Cambridge Dictionary of Philsophy. His lecture series, The Quest for Meaning: Values Ethics, and the Modern Experience, appears in The Great Courses on Tape Series (The Teaching Company, Chantilly, Virginia).

He is generally regarded as one of the world's leading defenders of an incompatibilist and libertarian view of free will. He has been the recipient of fiteen major teaching awards at the University of Texas and was named in 1995 as one of the first twelve members of the university's Academy of Distinguished Teachers. His latest work on wisdom, values and ethics entitled Ethics and the Quest for Wisdom, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press.

James Miser, M.D., pediatric cancer specialist, with  recent positions  as the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Executive Officer at the City of Hope National Medical Center.