Paths from Science Towards God

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 1 OCT 2001

After four decades of leadership in science-and-religion dialogues, biochemist/theologian Peacocke expresses and embodies a deep weariness with bridge-building between science and religion. Peacocke's rhetorical powers shine undiminished, but this volume is not among his best works. Evocative imagery is insufficient to enliven the dated atmosphere of the book, in which Peacocke advocates for a "radical" and "global" theology while defending quasi-reactionary views of scientific progress. Concerned with the problem of God's action in the world, Peacocke labors to rehabilitate a concept of providence, without introducing God into the causal story of particular events a familiar notion of divine intervention that Peacocke deems inconsistent with science. Instead, he proposes a "whole-part influence" in which God's action trickles down through the entire universe (itself seen as part of God's being) to individual phenomena, yet without any interruption of the natural order. Peacocke's sketchy explanation will leave readers struggling, as well as skeptical about whether his alternative is as scientifically licit or theologically satisfying as he claims. Similar problems accompany his heavy reliance on the method of "inference to the best explanation" to establish theological principles as "public truth" to the extent that dogmatic claims based on divine revelation or religious tradition are discarded as outdated and unnecessary. Nonbelievers will likely be unimpressed with Peacocke's inferences about God's existence and attributes, and many believers will be puzzled by his dismissal of what many regard as the foundations of faith.