When Science Meets Religion
Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?
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1.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
For centuries, scientists, theologians, and the general public have debated the question: what impact should scientific discoveries have on religion? The argument has been so heated at times that some scientists, like Galileo, were forced to recant their conclusions by Church authorities.
In When Science Meets Religion, nuclear physicist and theologian Ian Barbour presents a clear, contemporary introduction to the essential issues, ideas, and solutions in the relationship between religion and science. Barbour, who was awarded the 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion for his pioneering role in advancing the study of religion and science, addresses creation and the Big Bang, quantum physics and ultimate reality, evolution and continuing creation, and many other fascinating topics that cross the boundary between laboratory and pulpit.
Ian Barbour is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Religion at Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. He was named the winner of 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion for his pioneering role in establishing the study of religion and science. He donated the $1.42 million prize to the Berkeley Center for the Study of Theology and Science and to Carleton College. He is the author of many books, including Religion and Science, Ethics in an Age of Technology, and Religion in an Age of Science.
“No surer and fairer guide to the proliferating literature on the relation of science and religion can be found than Ian Barbour.” - Arthur Peacocke, Oxford University, author of From DNA to Dean: Reflections & Explorations of a Priest-Scientist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This concise introduction to science-and-religion issues provides impressively well-balanced coverage of an increasingly complex family of topics in a single, accessible volume. As one of the better-known authors in the field, even prior to winning the 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, Barbour has shown an almost unique ability to coax a "field" out of an unruly bunch of theologians, philosophers and scientists whose arguments often resist summary and synthesis. But this is exactly Barbour's goal as he guides readers through a four-fold typology of the science/religion relationshipDConflict, Independence, Dialogue and IntegrationDthat will be familiar to readers of his Religion in an Age of Science. Barbour's own sympathies are markedly on the side of dialogue and integration, but he makes an unusually successful effort to represent other perspectives in a fair light. Although the book's overall focus is on questions of method, it also manages to introduce readers to most of the topics of current science/religion dialogues. These include four areas based in the religious implications of specific sciences (cosmology, quantum theory, biological evolution and the sciences of "human nature") as well as the more general question of the relationship between God and nature. Barbour navigates with confidence through what has become a very wide literature, balancing coverage of essential "classical" sources (from Augustine to Kuhn) with the background necessary for reading more recent contributions to the field.
