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The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is pleased to present the 2024 ISSR Boyle Lecture Discussion with the Lecturer (David Fergusson) and Respondent (Fiona Ellis), joined by Dr Joanna Leidenhag, Dr Russell Re Manning, and ISSR Prof President Niels Gregersen as chair. These Discussions aim to go beyond the Lecture and push the Lecturer to reflect on and engage with thoughts on or related to their Lecture with thoughts and reflections from the panel.

What you are about to watch (or listen to) was recorded live after the YouTube Premiere of the Boyle Lecture on 06 March 2024, with the Boyle Lecture recorded on 12 February 2024 at St Mary-le-Bow Church in London. The Lecturer for 2024 was The Very Revd Professor David Fergusson, OBE, FRSE, FBA, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland and Dean of the Order of the Thistle, on “Is religion natural?” This year's Response was from Professor Fiona Ellis, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Practical Philosophy, Theology, and Religion at the University of Roehampton, London.

If you haven’t yet watched the 2024 ISSR Boyle Lecture, I would recommend you watch that first. You can click the link on the screen, follow the link in the "playlist," or this link here:

https://youtu.be/LLbDObghLvk?si=UObd2...

The Boyle Lectures and other ISSR content are available on your favourite podcast app:

https://issrpodcast.buzzsprout.com

The original Boyle Lectures were given as a series of sermons at several churches in London and Westminster following their establishment in 1692. The ‘original Boyles’ lasted until about 1730, although sporadic later ‘Boyle Lectures’ continued to be given in the centuries since then. The lecture series was revived in 2004 at one of its original locations, the Wren church of St Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside in the City of London, where it continues to be hosted each year. We thank St Mary-le-Bow, the Parish Council, and the Boyle Lecture Trustees for their continued support and guidance.

The first Live Discussion occurred in 2021 after the late Tom McLeish’s Boyle Lecture had to be put online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Attracting a large audience, Tom’s Lecture and Discussion helped cement the Lecture and this post-lecture discussion as an annual online feature of the Boyle Lectures and ISSR’s commitment to offering the public stimulating discussions on academic topics at the intersection of science and religion.

Prior Boyle Lectures before 2021 can be found on St Mary-le-Bow’s YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/stmarylebow

The International Society for Science and Religion was founded in 2002 to promote education through interdisciplinary learning and research in the field of science and religion, conducted in an international and multi-faith context. To find out more about ISSR, please visit our website here: