LA MIRADA, CALIF. — The Biola University Center for Christian Thought will host its second annual conference on May 10–11, featuring presentations from several prominent Christian scholars on the theme of “Neuroscience and the Soul.”

The two-day event will explore what contemporary neuroscience has to do with Christian belief in the soul and is free and open to the public.

For thousands of years, the Christian tradition has affirmed belief in the existence of immaterial human souls, which have the capability to act freely in the world, finding rest with God beyond physical death.  Speakers will discuss if Christian belief in the existence of the soul, human freedom, and life after death is consistent with recent research in neuroscience.

Plenary speakers include influential Christian theologians and visiting scholars at the center John Cooper (Calvin Theological Seminary) and Joel Green (Fuller Theological Seminary), as well as physician and ethicist William Hurlburt (Stanford University), psychologist Brad Strawn (Fuller Theological Seminary), and philosophers Richard Swinburne (University of Oxford), William Hasker (Huntington University), Timothy O’Connor (Indiana University), Dean Zimmerman (Rutgers University), and Biola Research Fellow J.P. Moreland (Talbot School of Theology).

Launched in February 2012, the Biola University Center for Christian Thought is an ambitious academic initiative that aims to encourage first-rate Christian scholarship and produce valuable resources for the church and society. Through its innovative research fellowship program, the center welcomes leading Christian scholars from around the world to Biola University’s campus for up to a year at a time to research, collaborate and write about important issues facing Christianity in the 21st century. Together, participants produce books, videos, lectures and other materials for both academic and popular audiences. Each year concludes with a public conference where scholars share the results of their research on the year’s theme.

View additional presenters and speakers.

Learn more about Biola University’s Center for Christian Thought.

Register for the conference.

About Biola University

Biola University, named one of 19 “up and coming” national universities by U.S. News & World Report three years in a row, is a private Christian university located in Southern California. For more than 100 years, Biola has remained committed to its mission of biblically centered education, integrating biblical principles with every academic program. With a current record-high enrollment of 6,250 students, the university’s six schools offer 145 academic programs, ranging from the B.A. to the Ph.D. For more information, visit www.biola.edu.

For more information, contact Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Specialist, at 562.777.4061 or jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.