Science and Christianity An Introduction to the Issues

• A philosophically orientated treatment that introduces the relationship of science to Christianity and explores to what extent the findings of science affect traditional Christian theology
• Addresses important theological topics in light of contemporary science, including divine action, the problem of natural evil, and eschatology
• Historically oriented chapters and chapters covering methodological principles for both science and theology provide the reader with a strong foundational understanding of the issues
• Includes feature boxes highlighting quotations, biographies of major scientists and theologians, key terms, and other helpful information
• Issues are presented as fairly and objectively as possible, with strengths and weaknesses of particular interpretations fully discussed

J.B. Stump (PhD, Boston University) is senior editor at BioLogos, where he oversees the development of new content and curates existing content for the BioLogos website and print materials. He has also been a philosophy professor and academic administrator. He is co-author of Christian Thought: A Historical Introduction (2010), and co-editor of The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity (Wiley-Blackwell 2012) and of How I Changed My Mind about Evolution (2016).

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction xi

1 Conflict and Independence 1

1. Ways that science and Christianity might be related 2

2. Conflict 3

3. Independence 8

4. Two Books 11

2 Christianity and the Origin of Modern Science 15

1. The handmaiden of theology 16

2. Christianity’s role in the rise of modern science: Twentieth-century views 19

3. Recent developments 24

3 Secularization 29

1. Scientists and religious belief 31

2. Broadening the definition 34

3. A secular age 36

4 Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design 42

1. Setting the stage for Young Earth Creationism 43

2. Today’s Young Earth Creationism 45

3. Intelligent Design 48

4. Irreducible complexity and information 50

5 The Bible 56

1. Two Books vs. sola scriptura 57

2. Interpretation 59

3. What kind of inspiration? 63

4. Science and the Bible 66

6 Methodological Naturalism 69

1. Defining methodological naturalism 70

2. Duhem and the aims of science 72

3. Methodological naturalism and the problem of demarcation 75

4. Reasons for abiding by methodological naturalism 77

7 Natural Theology 81

1. Classic arguments of natural theology 82

2. Objections to natural theology 86

3. Natural theology for the 21st century 90

8 Cosmology 94

1. Big Bang cosmology 94

2. Fine tuning 99

3. The multiverse 102

9 Evolution 108

1. Evolution and the Bible 109

2. Creation through randomness and death 112

3. The uniqueness of human beings 115

4. Consonance between evolution and Christianity 117

10 Divine Action 120

1. The development of deism 121

2. Miracles 122

3. Non-interventionist objective divine action 126

4. Alternatives for explaining divine action 129

11 Mind, Soul, and Brain 134

1. The Christian tradition of the soul 135

2. Descartes and dualism 137

3. Challenges to dualism 139

4. Cognitive dualism 142

12 The Problem of Natural Evil 147

1. Articulation of the problem 148

2. Some potential responses 150

3. A more robust theodicy 152

4. Eschatological fulfillment 155

Conclusion: The Last Things 159

Timeline of Historical Figures Discussed 164

Glossary 167

Index 174

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