A Christian Cosmology

Invitation to a Landmark Initiative

A Christian Cosmology

Richard Pendergast S.J. undertook the development of a Christian cosmology based on reality as process, to replace the medieval static worldwiew.

This is the fascinating lifetime work of a Catholic priest-scientist, an original thinker who has opened pathways for generations to follow and explore.

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“In our age, science is revealing to us, even more, the true grandeur of God’s design.

Writing in the spirit of Pope St. John Paul II’s teaching on science, philosophy,and theology in a common quest for understanding, Richard Pendergast undertook the development of a Christian cosmology based on reality as process, to replace the medieval static worldview.

This is the fascinating lifetime work of a Catholic priest-scientist, an original thinker who has opened pathways for generations to follow and explore.

His work is a mustread for anyone who wishes to evangelize the scientifically literate generations now being formed.”

Msgr. Stuart W. Swetland, STD

President of Donnelly College, Kansas;

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The Ethics of Evidence Foundation invites you to a conference on its initiative of evangelization based on the work of physicist-theologian Richard J. Pendergast, S.J. The work of Father Pendergast shows that science combined with faith reveals a coherent picture of what we know about reality.
Conference program sponsored by Donnelly College and the Ethics of Evidence Foundation to be held on August 6, 2024 at the Catholic University of America.

Message of Bishop Asztrik Várszegi, OSB, Archabbot Emeritus, Pannonhalma, Hungary, Episcopal Patron.
Message of Dr. Valerie Miké, President, The Ethics of Evidence Foundation.

“Together at Oxford in the 1980s: The Search for Faith Then and Now”

A Conversation with Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program, Princeton University. J.D. and M.T.S., Harvard University; D.Phil, D.C.L., and D.Litt, University of Oxford.

“Faith and Science Today: The Challenge of Academia”

Dr. Jeffrey W. Herrmann, Professor, St. Abbo of Flury Chair in Engineering, CUA, Distingished work in mathematical modeling to improve public health as well as engineering design decision making processes and the planning of autonomous systems. B.S. Applied Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Ph.D., Industrial Systems Engineering, University of Florida.

“The Cosmic Hierarchy: Quantum Mechanics and Teleology”

Rev. Joseph Laracy, Associate Professor and Chairman of Systematic Theology, Seton Hall University. Also affiliated with the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science with publications in cybernetics, engineering systems, and informatics, as well as the intersection of theology and science. S.T.D., Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; S.M. (Engineering Systems); MIT, B.S. (Computer Engineering), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

WHEN: August 6, 2024 WHERE: Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Conference Chair: Monsignor Stuart Swetland, S.T.D.

To register for this conference, please visit https://www.donnelly.edu/academics/ethics-of-evidence-conference

“Ordinary Faith, Ordinary Science”

Dr. William Phillips, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1997, for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light. Ph.D, Physics, MIT.

“Evil, Original Sin, and Evolution”

Dr. Matthew Ramage, Professor of Theology, Benedictine College. Author of From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution (CUA Press, 2022) and five other monographs. Ph.D., Systematic Theology, Ave Maria University; M.A., Franciscan University of Steubenville; B.A., University of Illinois at U-C.

“Reading the Two Books of God: The Future of Humankind”

Msgr. Stuart Swetland, President of Donnelly College and Director of the Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Institute. S.T.D., Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Rhodes Scholar, M.A. and B.S. (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) University of Oxford; B.S., Physics, United States Naval Academy.

““I have examined the first and the sixth volume you have graciously sent me and I am happy that Professor Valerie Miké will be able to present them to the Holy Father. I believe this initiative will celebrate the efforts of Fr. Richard J. Pendergast, S.J. (1927-2012), a scientist and man of God, who genuinely and honestly tried to seek the integration of modern science and divine revelation.”

-GIANFRANCO CARDINAL RAVASI, President, Pontifical Council for Culture

“The relation between modern science and a modern Christian theology is one of the most important tasks for today’s theology. Following the inspiring paths of Teilhard de Chardin and working on a high academic level Richard J. Pendergast SJ gives an outstanding example with his significant contributions to this field.”

-CHRISTOPH CARDINAL SCHOENBORN, OP, Archbishop of Vienna, Austria

“The call of Benedict in the beginning in Europe is echoed as Richard Pendergast proclaims the light of Christ to the modern world.”

-BISHOP ASTRIC VARSZEGI, OSB, Historian, Archabbot Emeritus of Pannonhalma, Hungary

“These [books] are most impressive and I am delighted to have read them. I hope they do a great deal of good once they are formally published along with the other volumes.”

-MICHAEL J. REISS, Professor of Science Education. UCL Institute of Education, London

“A hundred years ago Teilhard de Chardin had a Christian vision of the world in the light of evolution. Following him, Richard Pendergast began the task of systematic analysis to reflect the vision that he shared, in order to help show the way in humanity’s search for God.”

-BISHOP ATTILA MIKLOSHAZY, SJ, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Toronto School of Theology

“In our age, science is revealing to us, even more, the true grandeur of God’s design. Writing in the spirit of Pope St. John Paul II’s teaching on science, philosophy, and theology in a common quest for understanding, Richard Pendergast undertook the development of a Christian cosmology based on reality as process, to replace the medieval static worldview. This is the fascinating lifetime work of a Catholic priest-scientist, an original thinker who has opened pathways for generations to follow and explore.

While there may be other approaches, Fr. Pendergast’s desire to synthesize faith and reason, theology and science, to speak in a language intelligible to our technological age, is to be admired and emulated. His work is a must-read for anyone who wishes to evangelize the scientifically literate generations now being formed.”

– MSGR. STUART W. SWETLAND, STD, President of Donnelly College, Kansas, Commentator on religious issues on national radio and television. Academic degrees in theology (Pontifical Lateran University), physics (US Naval Academy), philosophy and economics (Oxford).

About the Author

Richard J. Pendergast, SJ

Richard J. Pendergast (1927–2012) was a Jesuit priest with a doctorate in physics and licentiates in philosophy and theology, who devoted his life to seeking the integration of modern science and divine revelation. His aim was to update the Christian synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas, based on the medieval static worldview, to reflect evolution, the view of cosmic reality as dynamic process.

A scholar of first rank whose research appeared in peer-reviewed professional journals, he yet preferred pastoral ministry to academic life. He deeply desired to address the general public, believers as well as nonbelievers, to offer insight into problems that may disturb the faith of the former or impede the latter’s search for God.

He wrote five books over thirty years, and these manuscripts are now being published in a series of five volumes, complemented by Volume 6, a trilingual reprint of his study on the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Richard Pendergast was a seminal thinker, whose work presents a bold Christian vision—a living universe of meaning and hope.

About the Author/Editor

Valerie Miké

A native of Budapest, Hungary, Valerie Miké obtained a liberal arts degree at Manhattanville College, worked at Bell Labs in systems engineering, and earned a doctorate in mathematics at the Courant Institute of New York University. She went on to participate in the introduction of mathematical techniques in medicine and pursued graduate studies in ethics and the philosophy of science. She is professor emerita of biostatistics at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and former head of the biostatistics department at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research.

Her study of ethical issues pertaining to uncertainty in biomedical science and technology led to the notion of an “ethics of evidence”—an approach to uncertainty widely applicable to decision-making in human affairs. She has established the Ethics of Evidence Foundation, with a mission that includes publishing the work of scholars in related fields.

About the books

Volume 1. THE COSMIC HIERARCHY:
God’s Plan for the Evolution of the Universe
Introduction to a Christian cosmology, the integration of modern science and divine revelation, with focus on the key scientific issues.

Volume 6. THE MASS ON THE WORLD:
A Modern Theory of Transubstantiation
Reprint in three languages (English, German, and Spanish) of the author’s study concerning the teaching of the Catholic Church on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Volume 2. THE COSMIC HIERARCHY:
The Universe and Its Many Irreducible Levels
A Christian cosmology, the integration of modern science and divine revelation. Analysis of scientific issues in the full context of insights offered by philosophy and theology.

Volume 3. A VISION FOR OUR TIMES:
In the Sadness of the Modern World
The present crisis and the need for a cosmology that incorporates modern science into a religious view of the world to provide meaning. A beginning is made with new concepts of physics (quantum mechanics) and philosophy (process thought).

Volume 4. THE LIVING UNIVERSE:
An Organic Theory of Mind and Matter
The author’s interpretation of quantum mechanics and the synthesis of Aristotelian and Whiteheadian concepts result in a process cosmology. The relationship of the cosmos to the transcendent reality of God.

Volume 5. CREATION, EVIL, AND THE TRINITY:
A Christian Process Theology
Integration of the new cosmology into a wider theological synthesis shows, even in these very brief analyses, that Christian revelation on a process basis illuminates the fundamental nature of reality in a fresh way.

Date for Volumes 1-5 indicates year of completion of the book manuscript.

From Information to Insight:
Toward a Consistent Reading of Science and Faith
Offers independent testimony for the compatibility of faith and reason, science and religion.

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Invitation to a Landmark Initiative