Belief in God in an Age of Science

by John Polkinghorne

Overview

John Polkinghorne is a major figure in today’s debates over the compatibility of science and religion. Internationally known as both a theoretical physicist and a theologian—the only ordained member of the Royal Society—Polkinghorne brings unique qualifications to his inquiry into the possibilities of believing in God in an age of science. In this thought-provoking book, the author focuses on the collegiality between science and theology, contending that these "intellectual cousins" are both concerned with interpreted experience and with the quest for truth about reality. He argues eloquently that scientific and theological inquiries are parallel.

The book begins with a discussion of what belief in God can mean in our times. Polkinghorne explores a new natural theology and emphasizes the importance of moral and aesthetic experience and the human intuition of value and hope. In other chapters, he compares science’s struggle to understand the nature of light with Christian theology’s struggle to understand the nature of Christ. He addresses the question, Does God act in the physical world? And he extends his ideas about the role of chaos theory, surveys the prospects for future dialogue between scientific and theological thinkers, and defends a critical realist understanding of the activities of both disciplines. Polkinghorne concludes with a consideration of the nature of mathematical truths and the links between the complementary realities of physical and mental experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300174106
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/30/1998
Series:	Terry Lectures Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Polkinghorne, K.B.E., F.R.S., is past President and now Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and Canon Theologian of Liverpool, England. He is the winner of the 2002 Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities. Among his many other books are Faith, Science, and Understanding and The God of Hope and the End of the World, both published by Yale University Press.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgements	xv
Chapter 1	Belief in God in an Age of Science	1
Chapter 2	Finding Truth: Science and Religion Compared	25
Chapter 3	Does God Act in the Physical World?	48
Chapter 4	The Continuing Dialogue Between Science and Religion	76
Chapter 5	Critical Realism in Science and Religion	101
Chapter 6	Mathematical Postscript	125
	Index	131

Editorial Reviews

In medieval times, theology was known as "the queen of the sciences." Not so today. A new dialog between religion and science has begun, however, and in that conversation Polkinghorne, theoretical physicist and Canon Theologian of Liverpool Cathedral, holds a special place. This accessible little book grew from the Terry Lectures the author gave at Yale in October 1996. Polkinghorne discusses new developments in the theology of nature, inquiries into divine purpose and human destiny, and explanations of how God works in the world. He explores prospects for future dialog and the pursuit of truth in the company of both science and theology. The possible rapprochement of scientific thinking and belief in God has been probed in numerous books recently, including Richard Swinburne's Is There a God? (Oxford Univ., 1996). Lay readers may find this discussion exciting but heady; can it be grounded in experience? Recommended for public and academic libraries.John R. Leech, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Library Journal

"Polkinghorne [gives] us a polished and logically coherent argument." -- The New York Review of Books

Freeman J. Dyson

"Erudite and accessible....Polkinghorne has a clear, focused style, and offers much to the reader seeking a synthesis of science with the tenets of established religion." -- Boston Globe

Jerome Groopman

An elegant, brief foray into the intersections of theology and science. While God-and-science appears to be a bandwagon, with a recent spate of books on this topic, few scientists or theologians could address its ramifications as gracefully as Polkinghorne (Reason and Reality, 1991; Beyond Science, 1996). That rare fluidity stems from his mastery of both subjects: a theoretical physicist of some renown, he is also an ordained clergyman and past president of Queens College, Cambridge (England). This new book is based on a series of lectures he delivered at Yale in 1996 (past lecturers include such august thinkers as Paul Tillich, Hans Kung, and Carl Jung). A primary concern for Polkinghorne is finding the points of consonance between science and religion, but he differs from the apologists in that he seeks these conjunctions in methods of inquiry, not empirical results. In other words, his subtlety lies in his contention that religion and science both engage in a quest for truth, and that this truth is likely to be built on developmental consensus in both disciplines (the book's second chapter explores how Christological debates over the person and nature of Jesus evolved through the centuries, much the same way that 20th-century physicists have considered the nature of light). Toward the end of the book, Polkinghorne outlines future strategies for the cross-fertilization of science and religion. He'd like to see more biologists get involved (to this point, the scientists engaged in the discussion have been primarily physicists), and he maintains that theologians shouldn't shy away from contemplating the repercussions of scientific inquiry. This is a slim volume that raises morequestions than it answers, but it does so in a manner more intellectually satisfying than a dozen of the "mind-of-God" books now on the market. If you read one book on science and religion, this should be it.

Kirkus Reviews

"Polkinghorne articulates a faith strengthened, not threatened, by the latest scientific research. Whether puzzling over the curious fit between the laws of physics and the requirements for life or tracing the similarities between the methods of the scientist and those of the theologian, Polkinghorne reasons with rare sophistication. . . . This book . . . holds rare promise for healing the secular-religious fissures in our fractured culture."—Bryce Christensen, Booklist 

"[This book is] short, accessible and authoritative. . . . It’s richly stimulating stuff."—Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer 

"Polkinghorne is sound and scholarly."—The Globe and Mail 

"Polkinghorne is clear that, by projecting on science his belief in God, he is following just one possible path in the human quest for meaning. This gives his book a feeling of mutual exploration that drew me in as a reader."—David K. Nartonis, Christian Science Monitor 

"This book will certainly be of interest to theologians and scientists."—Publisher’s Weekly 

"A new dialog between religion and science has begun, . . . and in that conversation Polkinghorne holds a special place."—Library Journal 

"A few major authors have helped convince readers that science and religion might have more in common than meets the eye, John Polkinghorne perhaps foremost among them."—Publishers Weekly 

"An elegant, brief foray into the intersections of theology and science. While God-and-science appears to be a bandwagon, with a recent spate of books on this topic, few scientists or theologians could address its ramifications as gracefully as Polkinghorne of both subjects: a theoretical physicist of some renown, he is also an ordained clergyman and past president of Queens College. If you read one book on science and religion, this should be it."—Kirkus Reviews 

"Polkinghorne finds faith strengthened by means of open dialogue between it and science, in which, for instance, chaos theory invites reflection on divine providence."—Booklist (From Booklist's Top 10 Books in Religion) 

"A sophisticated, scientifically informed outlook, which is nonetheless animated by a firm, rationally supported religious faith. . . . Theologians and scientists alike will find food for thought here, and philosophers should take heed—for John Polkinghorne's intermarriage of scientific and theological insight may well presage a new 'post-secular' stage in Western thought."—Patrick Glynn, National Review 

"Polkinghorne has a clear, focused style, and offers much to the reader seeking a synthesis of science with the tenets of established religion."—Jerome Groopman, Spirit and Science 

"This book . . . presents many interesting arguments on the topics of theology and science . . . the book presents an interesting and thought provoking discussion of the relationship between religion and science."—Virginia Quarterly Review 

"Belief in God in an Age of Science offers a scholarly presentation that should nevertheless have broad appeal, as Polkinghorne wields technical, scientific and theological terms with alacrity and eloquence without losing sight of the larger lay audience he clearly hopes to reach."—Edward B. Davis, American Scientist 

"Polkinghorne’s mastery of science and theology makes for some startlingly original and arresting insights and analogies. . . . Polkinghorne’s book is full of . . . startling insights and observations. . . . The reader who invests the time and effort will find Belief in God in an Age of Science intellectually exciting and profoundly rewarding on the spiritual level."—James C. Roberts, Human Events 

"This book represents a concise reformulation of [Polkinghorne's] most recent Terry Lectures and provides a much-needed summation to his work as a whole. . . . Its prose is dense and its arguments intellectually challenging. . . . Polkinghorne's analysis is welcome. . . . [His] work offers an important reminder, . . . that underlying all scientific endeavor is the inescapable presence of social values."—Steven W. Hook, Crisis 

"In this lucid and honest work, John Polkinghorne states clearly where and why he agrees or disagrees with other contemporary writers. He presents a serious defense of a world view that must be considered seriously even by atheists."—Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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