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Richard Randolph has a fascinating discussion with John Grim, a historian of religions focusing on Indigenous Traditions. During their conversation, John shares his experiences learning from indigenous peoples, including being adopted by Crow people from Montana and invited to participate in their Sun Dance ceremonials. He reflects on what people from other faiths and spiritualities can learn from Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.
Links:

• To financially support this podcast series, go to www.scienceandspirituality.org/support
• Richard’s new Substack reflections, https://scienceandspiritualityblog.substack.com
• John Grim is Co-Director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, for more information go to https://fore.yale.edu/; the Yale Forum current “Living Earth Community” can be found here, https://livingearthcommunity.com/

Suggestions for Further Reading
John Grim, The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians, University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.
John Grim, editor, Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Divinity School Center for the Study of World Religions, 2001.
Robin Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed, 2013.
N Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn
Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine
Leslie Harmon Silko, Ceremony
James Welch, Winter in the Blood
Janet Campbell Hale, The Jailing of Cecilia Capture
Susan Power, The Grass Dancer
Eddie Chocolate, Cheyenne Madonna
Gerald Vizenor, Bearheart
Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun
Joy Harjo (poet), An American Sunrise
Linda Hogan (poet and novelist), A History of Kindness
Simon Ortiz (poet), From Sand Creek
John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks

To financially support this podcast series, go to www.scienceandspirituality.org/support

To access Richard’s new Substack reflections, https://scienceandspiritualityblog.substack.com

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Richard examines one of the most profound questions in the Christian faith: Can science explain—or prove—the Resurrection? Drawing on conversation with physicist-theologian Robert Russell, this episode explores whether scientific cosmology can inform—and deepen—our understanding of resurrection.

Contents

1. This episode begins by noting that there has always been doubt about the Resurrection, going all the way back to Jesus’ disciples. The disciple Thomas earned the nickname, “doubting Thomas,” because he initially doubted the Resurrection of Christ, while the Gospel of Matthew records that some disciples worshipped the risen Messiah, while “others doubted,” Later, in 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul asserts that the Resurrection is central to the Christian faith.
2. Robert Russell believes that the Resurrection must be viewed within the context of God’s work as Creator. He suggests that God’s work as Creator takes on three different forms. The third form of God’s creative active occurs at the End-Times, when God renews and heals existing creation, rather than replacing it. This is the “New Creation” described in the Book of Revelation 21, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
3. Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter morning is a promissory note, confirming the resurrection as part of God’s plan for the New Creation at the End-Times.
4. The New Creation is both continuous and dis-continuous with reality as we currently experience it. On the one hand, the New Creation will be dis-continuous with present reality. For example, the Resurrection currently appears to be in direct conflict with the laws of nature. However, scientific cosmology allows for the possibility that the laws of nature as we know them are not set in stone. One possibility in scientific cosmology is that there is not one, single universe. Rather, there are multiple universes, creating a “multiverse.” These different universes could have radically different laws of nature. This suggests that the laws of nature could be transformed in the New Creation, so that Resurrection would no longer violate them. Instead, resurrection would be a consistent with those different laws of nature.
5. On the other hand, in some ways, the New Creation would be continuous with reality as we know it. An example of continuity would be that our personal identity continues in the New Creation.
6. Since Robert Russell situates the New Creation within the overarching creative framework of God, it has been part of God’s creative plan all along. That is to say, the New Creation is not an afterthought—nor a corrective for some mistake. It has been part of God’s intention from the beginning.
7. To conclude, while science cannot “explain” the Resurrection, science does not rule out the possibility of resurrection, either. What science can do is suggest potential frameworks that may make resurrection more intelligible to persons of faith.

To financially support this podcast series, go to www.scienceandspirituality.org/support

To access Richard’s new Substack reflections, https://scienceandspiritualityblog.substack.com

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John Grimm, and his spouse Mary Evelyn Tucker, are co-founders of the Yale Forum on Ecology and Religion. Previously they also organized a series of conferences at Harvard University, resulting in a multi-volume series on Religions and Ecology.

Contents:

1. The conversation begins with John describing the process he and Mary Evelyn used to create the multi-volume collection of essays examining the relationship between Ecology and various religions and spiritualities. John explains the process of retrieval🡪 re-evaluation 🡪 re-construction that various authors adopted in their examination of how sacred texts could contribute meaningfully to healing the environment.
2. John provides background on the founding of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. Then, he discusses the many resources available on the Yale Forum’s websites.
3. John and Richard also discuss the emergence of “eco-anxiety” and “eco-grief.” John shares how Yale Divinity School has begun offering its students instruction on providing pastoral care for those suffering from eco-anxiety and eco-grief.

For further exploration:

The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology has multiple websites:

• For the Forum homepage, click here: https://fore.yale.edu/
• For a brief listing of various resources on the Forum, click here: https://fore.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Forum_flyer_2024.pdf
• For the video Journey of the Universe website: https://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/ To watch the video, go here: Journey of the Universe | Videos & Movies on Vimeo. The password is whowouldyoube619.
• For the new Living Earth Community project, click here: https://livingearthcommunity.com/
• For resources on eco-anxiety and eco-grief, go here: https://fore.yale.edu/Resources/Eco-anxiety-Resources
  
  To check out Science and Spirituality’s new Substack page, click here:
  https://scienceandspiritualityblog.substack.com.

To financially support this podcast series, go to www.scienceandspirituality.org/support

To access Richard’s new Substack reflections, https://scienceandspiritualityblog.substack.com