God, Humanity and the Cosmos - 2nd edition A Companion to the Science-Religion Debate

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ISBN: 9780567030160 | 0567030164
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Copyright: 12/1/2005

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This fully revised and updated edition of God, Humanity and the Cosmos is an essential companion to the field, with exercises for the student, a comprehensive bibliography, and suggestions for further reading.

List of figures

xii

List of tables

xiii

List of exercises

xiv

List of contributors

How to use this book

xvii

Foreword

xix

J. Wentzel van Huyssteen

Editor's note and acknowledgements

xxiv

BOOK ONE

An introduction to the debate between science and religion

(36)

Christopher Southgate

Michael Poole

Section A: Outlines of the debate

Two views of the conversation between science and religion

Important sources, figures and developments

Typologies of the relationship

Natural theology vs theology of nature

Further typologies

Two crucial points

Science and religion, or science and theology?

The metaphor of the maps

Critical realism in science

Critical realism in theology

The central role of model and metaphor

Consonances

Was religion necessary to the rise of science?

Section B: Three historical examples of tensions as science and theology developed

Copernicanism and the Galileo Affair

The love affair gone wrong: the eighteenth century

A contemporary instance of interplay between consonance and conflict

The Big Bang and the beginning of the universe

Section C: Key principles for developing theology in the light of science

Different types of causation and explanation

Determinism, indeterminism and their implications

Developing theology in the light of science

The interdependence of different aspects of a model

Three attributes of models of God, humanity and the cosmos

Questions of value

Conclusion

The significance of the theology of creation within Christian tradition: systematic considerations

(24)

Paul D. Murray

David Wilkinson

What do we mean by the theology of creation?

Telling the story of creation

The creation narratives of Genesis

The sovereignty of God in creation

The place of human beings in creation

From Alpha to Omega: the theology of creation in the broader scriptural narrative

The development of the theology of creation within Christian tradition

Creatio ex nihilo

Aquinas, causes and design

The Reformation and the growth of science

The modern period

Conclusion

Learning from the past

(19)

John Hedley Brooke

Introduction

Why history?

Myths and misconceptions: the Galileo Affair

Myths and misconceptions: the Darwinian controversies

The concept of science, viewed historically

The problem of selectivity

Four master narratives

The thesis of conflict

The thesis of harmony

The thesis of secularization

The thesis that certain developments in twentieth-century science created new spaces for human spirituality

Mapping mutual relevance

Lessons from the past

Conclusion

Truth and reason in science and theology: points of tension, correlation and compatibility

(37)

Paul D. Murray

Introduction

Section A: Early twentieth century: the challenge of logical positivism

The verificationist criterion of meaning

Strict accommodation: non-cognitive accounts of religious belief

Strict isolation: Christian existentialism

Relative accommodation: on the possible verification of Christian faith

Relative isolation: the Barthian emphasis upon the primacy of God's self-revealed Word

Section B: Mid-twentieth century: the unravelling of the positivist agenda

The problem of induction and Popperian falsificationism

Falsifiability, fallibility and theology

The Duhem--Quine rejection of thesis fallibilism

Section C: Latter part of the twentieth century: revolution, anarchy and resistance in scientific theory change, and the need for tempered post-foundationalist accounts of scientific and theological rationality

Thomas Kuhn's revolutionary account of scientific theory change

Feyerabendian anarchism

Imre Lakatos and Nancey Murphy's theological appropriation of Lakatos

Nicholas Rescher's pragmatic-idealist account of human rationality and its theological significance

Summary and conclusion

BOOK TWO

Theology and the New Physics

119

(35)

Lawrence Osborn

Introduction

Section A: Classical physics and the Newtonian worldview

The scientific revolution

From method to worldview

Change and continuity in the physical sciences

Section B: The rediscovery of time

Classical physics and the exorcism of time

Relativity and the rediscovery of time

Relativity and the spatialization of time

Time and space

Spacelike time and determinism

Spacelike time and causality

Space, time and theology

Section C: The rediscovery of the observer

The observational basis of quantum theory

The ultraviolet catastrophe

The photoelectric effect

Collapsing atoms and spectral lines

When is a particle a wave?

The quantum revolution

Shaking the foundations

Schrodinger's cat and the meaning of quantum theory

Quantum consciousness

Section D: Modern cosmology and universal history

The beginnings of scientific cosmology

The Big Bang

Evidence for a Big Bang?

The shape of things to come

Is the Big Bang a moment of creation?

From Big Bang to inflation

Section E: Modern cosmology and the rediscovery of purpose?

Some contemporary cosmological enigmas

The chemical composition of the universe

'Anthropic features'

Possible responses to the 'anthropic coincidences'

The Weak Anthropic Principle

The Strong Anthropic Principle

Is it science?

Anthropic design arguments

Section F: The rediscovery of complexity

'Newtonian' limits to Newtonian physics

Recognizing chaos

Coming to terms with chaos

Implications for the philosophy of science

Conclusion

Theology and evolutionary biology

154

(39)

Christopher Southgate

Michael Robert Negus

Andrew Robinson

Introduction

Section A: Human evolution

The discovery of pre-history

Human evolution and the Genesis accounts of creation

Made in the image of God

The Fall

The timescale of evolution

Section B: Darwin and Darwinism

Evolutionary ideas before Darwin

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection

Scientific and theological responses to Darwin's theory

Section C: Darwinism evolving

Genetic Darwinism: the neo-Darwinian synthesis

DNA and the molecular revolution in biology

Hard neo-Darwinism and expanded neo-Darwinism

The Darwinian research programme

Gradualism, punctuated equilibrium and radical contingency

Adaptation, self-organization and complexity

The rhetoric of Darwinism

A note on natural theology and design

Intelligent Design Theory

Section D: Reduction, reductionism and religion

An analysis of reduction and reductionism

Notes on methodological issues

Genetic reductionism

New prophets of conflict

Francis Crick and the 'ultimate aim' of biology

Jacques Monod and the problems of cross-explanatory reductionism

E.O. Wilson and sociobiology

Richard Dawkins and the selfish gene

Religion, evolution and naturalism

Conclusion

Psychology and theology

193

(20)

Fraser Watts

Introduction

Section A: Human nature

Perspectives on human nature

Brain and consciousness

Theological concerns about neuroscience

The scope of artificial intelligence

Theological issues about artificial intelligence

Immortality

Section B: Religion

Psychological approaches to religion

Freud's critique of religion

Alternative psychoanalytic approaches to religion

Complementary approaches to religious experience

Neurological approaches to religious experience

Conclusion

BOOK THREE

Some resources for Christian theology in an ecological age

213

(29)

Christopher Southgate

Introduction

Process thought

A 'dipolar' God

Questions of theodicy

The critique of patriarchy

Ecological theology and the science-religion debate

'Realist' and 'pragmatist' approaches

An evolutionary approach to 'realism vs pragmatism'

A theological approach to 'realism vs pragmatism'

The development and assessment of theological models

Some models discussed

David Pailin

Jay McDaniel

Criticisms of process thought

Sallie McFague

Rosemary Radford Ruether

Jurgen Moltmann

Criticisms of Moltmann

Paul Fiddes

Fallenness and resistance in creation

Keith Ward

Recurrent motifs

Perspectives on panentheism

Perspectives on divine kenosis and divine suffering

Some recent contributions from evangelical theology

Conclusion

Some resources for theological thinking on God and the world from outside the Christian tradition

242

(18)

Michael Robert Negus

Christopher Southgate

Introduction

Two Jewish philosophers

The contributions of Eastern thought

Hindu metaphysics

Taoism

The contribution of Buddhism

Buddhist spirituality

The Gaia Hypothesis

Deep ecology

'New paradigm' thinking

Conclusion

A test case: divine action

260

(43)

Christopher Southgate

Introduction

General comments

God 'edged out'?

Law and chance

Section A: What God is doing: providence and miracle

How to think about providential agency

Theodicy

Determinism, compatibilism and the nature of physical law

Personal agency

The mind and the brain

The mind-brain debate

Views of God's action

The causal joint

Peacocke and Polkinghorne compared

Process schemes and double agency

Conclusion to the debate on special divine action

The contribution of Robert J. Russell

Section B: What God has done: the history of the universe

The Big Bang and 'before'

Anthropic considerations

The early universe

The origin of life

The evolutionary development of life

Questions of theodicy in respect of evolution

The probability of self-conscious beings

Possible theologies of divine action in respect of evolution

Section C: What God will do

Eschatology

Conclusion

BOOK FOUR

Science and education

303

(18)

Michael Poole

Introduction to Book Four

Science education and the science--religion debate

Meeting-points

The content of science

The nature of science

The applications of science

How science operates as a social activity

Some educational questions

A modus operandi

One way for science education to make a contribution

A second way

A third way

Recent developments in England

Primary education

Secondary education

Tertiary education

Islam and science

321

(19)

Michael Robert Negus

Introduction

The concept of God

The religious dimensions of Islam

The universe and its Creator

The Golden Age of Islam

The Islamic paradigm of the universe

Islam and modern science

Identifying problems and recognizing points of agreement

Proposals for the regulation and Islamization of science

Islam and Darwinism

Conclusion

Technology and Christianity

340

(21)

Jacqui Stewart

Introduction

What is technology?

Is technology good or bad?

Technology and Christianity in the history of Western Europe

The technical ideal: does technology have inherent values?

The 'defining' role of technology

Does the origin of a technology have implications for its effects?

Relation to religious values: Mumford, Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr

Ends and means: Ellul and William Temple

Current issues: technology and the information revolution

Two contemporary theologians' responses: Barbour and Susan White

Technosapiens

One technologist's reflection

Conclusion

Biotechnology: a new challenge to theology and ethics

361

(32)

Celia Deane-Drummond

What is biotechnology?

Genetic engineering in medicine

Genetic engineering and screening in humans

Genetic engineering in the production of food

What are the dangers?

Some hidden agendas

Public responses to genetic engineering

Religious dimensions to the public response

The possibility of human cloning

Theological issues

Ethical questions

A rediscovery of wisdom: some lessons from biotechnology

Wisdom in theology

Wisdom in practice

Conclusion

BOOK FIVE

A look to the future

393

(8)

Christopher Southgate

Introduction

One-way traffic

Looking to the future

Exploration across a range of religions

Three key areas of scientific advance

The implications of the new genetics

The status of animals and the uniqueness of Homo sapiens

The science and theology of consciousness

Three theological projects

Eschatology in conversation with science

Further investigations of theological anthropology

The role of wonder

Physics

The integration of science, technology, religion and ethics

Appendix: A note for teachers

401

(2)

References and bibliography

403

(30)

Index

433

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God, Humanity and the Cosmos - 2nd edition A Companion to the Science-Religion Debate

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials