Tim Middleton wins ESSSAT Student Prize

Many congratulations to Tim Middleton, Research Assistant at the LSRI, whose essay has been chosen as winner of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT) Student Prize 2022.

In his essay “Christology and the Temporal Trauma of the Anthropocene”, Tim suggests that the irreversible scarring of our current Anthropocene epoch constitutes a temporal trauma for the Earth and proposes that a consideration of Christ’s role in deep time might be fruitful for articulating Christian theology’s response to its ongoing and unavoidable repercussions. Christ’s permanently scarred body then bears witness to our permanently scarred Earth.

The student prize jury found Tim’s essay to be of highest quality and originality and most relevant in our time. On this achievement, Tim says: “I’m very grateful indeed to the judges for their kind words, and to all at the LSRI who have generously supported my work over the last few years. I’m convinced that Christian theology has an important contribution to make on this issue, both in mitigating the impact of our current ecological crisis, and in helping us to mourn that which has already been lost.”

The award will be presented at the next European Conference on Science and Theology held in Ålesund, Norway in May 2022, during which Tim will also have the opportunity to present his paper.

The ESSSAT is a scholarly, non-confessional organisation, based in Europe, which aims to promote the study of relationships between the natural sciences and theological views. For more information about the ESSSAT Prize, see here.