There is a Lecture on Thursday, September 4, at 4:00 pm at Seton Hall University in Bethany Hall (400 S Orange Ave, South Orange Village, NJ 07079).

The speaker is Dr. William E. Carroll, and the title of the talk is “The Error of Beginnings and the Beginning of Errors: Creation and the Origin of the Universe.”

odern cosmological theories are often invoked to suggest that belief in God is an artifact from a less enlightened age. Yet most of the discussion about what cosmology tells us about creation suffers from a fundamental error about a necessary connection between a created universe and a temporal beginning. This is an error of beginnings, which is the beginning of many other errors. It was the genius of the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) to highlight this error and to offer a sophisticated discussion that can help to resolve confusion in contemporary discussions about cosmology, the origin of the universe and creation.

William E. Carroll, Ph.D., a European intellectual historian and historian of science, has recently retired from the Aquinas Institute, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. He currently serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of Philosophy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in China.

Carroll writes and speaks extensively on the ways in which medieval discussions of the natural sciences, philosophy and theology can be useful in questions arising from contemporary biology and cosmology.

Sponsored by the SHU Society of Catholic Scientists in collaboration with the Stanly Jaki Academy for Theology and Science, the Department of Physics, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, the Center for Catholic Studies, the Core Curriculum Program, and the Program in Catholic Studies.