Robert Russell, professor of theology and science from Berkeley, will speak in Sussman Theatre on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. His lecture, “Does ‘the God who acts’ really act? Special divine action via quantum mechanics that is objective but not miraculous,” is free to attend.

Russell will describe a new way to achieve a theory of divine action in which God’s action makes an objective difference in the processes of nature without in any way being a violation of, or intervention into, these processes: “NIODA” (non-interventionist objective divine action). He argues that quantum mechanics offers a promising approach for NIODA and may allow Christian theology to view God as acting in, with, and through the biological evolution of life.

Russell is founder and director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) and the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. He is a leading researcher and spokesperson for the growing international body of theologians and scientists committed to a positive dialogue and creative mutual interaction between these fields. He received a PhD in physics from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1978) and an MA in theology and an M.Div. from Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley (1972).

—Kayla Jenkins, College of Arts and Sciences