Templeton Religion Trust grants £140,000 for new research

• Wednesday, July 10, 2019

A research project led by Professor Fiona Ellis and co-directed by Dr Clare Carlisle of KCL has been given funding worth £140,000 by the Templeton Religion Trust.

The project, called 'The Quest for God: Towards a Philosophically and Experimentally Grounded Theology of Desire' focuses on the role of loving desire in the spiritual quest for God. It will broach how we think about desire, specifically in the context of the spiritual life, and what it means to be human. The project operates at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and religion, and it seeks to make a case for moving beyond some prevalent ways of thinking about desire, and for taking seriously the question of God in this context.

The project's activities will include a one day workshop at the University of Virginia, a series of seminars, and a conference at the University of Roehampton as well as a school workshop, several visits to Douai Abbey, and a public lecture.

The Templeton Religion Trust is a global charitable trust that supports projects that seek to enrich the conversation about religion.

Professor Ellis says 'we hope this research will engage people to explore these exciting questions, and to think about desire and God in new and radical ways'.