"The Darwin debate continues", an evening organised for next week by the Bishop of Derby, Dr Alastair Redfern, is attracting interest from across the region.

Bishop Alastair and the Dean of Derby, Dr Jeff Cuttell, will consider the nature of the vigorous contemporary debate in science and religion at the Cathedral Centre, Derby, on Tuesday 30th June (7.30pm) before opening it to general discussion.

2009 is the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Darwin and there has been a significant amount of reflection and analysis on his impact on theology over the course of the year so far.

June 30th is the anniversary of the famous 1860 debate in Oxford about Darwin's theories between Thomas Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce which was to have a huge influence on the developing relationship between science and religion in the 19th century.

"We have opened the evening up to everyone so that, hopefully, we will have an informed debate about issues which always get people talking. It is an opportunity for us to discuss a subject which is close to the heart of many Christians as well as those who don't believe," said Bishop Alastair today.

More details about the 1860 debate in previous press release