Rate My Professor Greg Dawes

Professor Greg Dawes holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Religion Programme at the University of Otago since 2010. He previously taught in Theology, Religion, and Philosophy. Dawes obtained his Bachelor of Theology (BTheol) in 1983 and Postgraduate Diploma in Theology with first-class honours (P.G.DipTheol Hons 1) in 1985 from the University of Otago. He earned a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture (SSL) from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 1988, followed by a PhD in Biblical Studies in 1995 and a PhD in Philosophy in 2007, both from the University of Otago.

His research examines the interaction between scientific modes of thought and those characteristic of religion, encompassing relations between science and religion, diverse cultural modes of thought, religious, scientific, and historical forms of explanation, 18th- to 21st-century theories of religion, and theories of textual interpretation in Christianity and Islam. Dawes has published several monographs with leading academic presses, including Galileo and the Conflict between Religion and Science (Routledge, 2016), Theism and Explanation (Routledge, 2009), Religion, Philosophy and Knowledge (Palgrave Pivot, 2016), Deprovincializing Science and Religion (Cambridge Elements, 2021), The Historical Jesus Question: The Challenge of History to Religious Authority (Westminster John Knox, 2001), and Introduction to the Bible (Liturgical Press, 2007). He has also edited books such as A New Science of Religion (Routledge, 2012) and contributed numerous chapters and refereed journal articles, including 'Experiment, Speculation, and Galileo’s Scientific Reasoning' in Perspectives on Science (2016) and 'In Defense of Naturalism' in International Journal for Philosophy of Religion (2011). In teaching, he offers PHIL 229/329 (Philosophy of Religion), RELS 217/317 (Religion, Science, and Magic), and RELS 225/325 (Science, Religion, and Knowledge). His scholarship defends positions such as the 'warfare thesis' between religion and science and explores topics like Renaissance magic and theistic explanations.