God & Science
Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science
The Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science, under the direction of Dr. Richard Schaeffer, Professor of Chemistry, sponsors a variety of events, all intended to help promote better understanding of religion and science-including medicine and social science-in this region. We continue the university's established tradition of hosting speakers who represent diverse religious and disciplinary perspectives. Most events take place on our campus, but some are held in other locations.
All of our events are announced here. PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS PAGE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. Information about each event is also sent by email upon request. To add your name to our list, or to update your email address, contact Dr. Schaeffer at rschaeff@messiah.edu.
All of our events are open to the public-indeed, it is the people of Central Pennsylvania whom we seek to serve. Most events are free; any exceptions will be clearly announced. Our budget comes mostly from contributions. If you wish to donate to the Forum, please contact Dr. Schaeffer.
Events for Spring 2026
Jim Stump Lecture
Monday, March 16 at 7:00 pm in Hostetter Chapel
Please join us as the Central Pa Forum for Religion and Science at Messiah University welcomes Jim Stump, Vice President at BioLogos and host of the podcast Language of God, to deliver a talk entitled “The Spiritual Journey of Homo Sapiens.”
Abstract: In this talk I’ll give an accessible overview of my forthcoming book, The Spiritual Journey of Homo Sapiens, which asks the question: what does it mean to be human, once we take evolution seriously? Instead of treating “human uniqueness” as a set of trivia facts (thumbs! chins! arches in our feet!), the book follows an evolutionary arc across seven capacities that became decisive in the human context: seeing, walking, thinking, talking, feeling, choosing, and loving. For each of these I make two claims: 1) our capacities have an evolutionary history; they didn't pop into existence from nowhere, and so we see real continuities with other animals. But then 2) in the human context those inherited capacities were stretched and combined into something qualitatively new: art, cumulative culture, storytelling, moral responsibility, and (at our best) an expanding circle of loving concern. The goal is not to deny our animal nature nor to baptize human superiority, but to tell a more hopeful story about how creatures like us came to exist, and why God created us this way.
Jim Stump is the Vice President at BioLogos and hosts the podcast, Language of God.
Jim also writes and speaks on behalf of BioLogos. He has a PhD in philosophy and was formerly a professor and academic administrator. His earlier books include Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design (Zondervan, 2017); Science and Christianity: An Introduction to the Issues (Blackwell, 2016); and How I Changed My Mind about Evolution (InterVarsity, 2016). Most recently he has published, The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to Deeper Faith (HarperOne, 2024).