Religion in an Age of Science

by Ian G. Barbour

Book Overview

A comprehensive examination of the major issues between science and religion in today's world. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060603836
• ISBN13: 9780060603830
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 297 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful overview of complex issues

Barbour does a wonderful job in this book of explaining in layman's terms complex issues in both the fields of religion and science. He explores the overlap and conflict between different theories in each field and shows how the whole "religion versus science" issue is too simplified a summary of two such diverse fields. Barbour comes across as highly knowledgeable in both fields and not at all judgemental. A very good, informative read.

Review Continued

Part Three: Part three of this book is devoted to philosophical and theological reflections concerning human nature. (189) In discussing human nature, Barbour appreciates the evolutionary theory purported by contemporary biologists. He suggests that "in an evolutionary perspective we may view both the human and divine activity in Christ as a continuation of the intensification of what happened previously."(211) In light of this perspective, the goals for the future should include work toward justice, peace, environmental preservation, and empowering persons to understand that their participation in society is meaningful.At the outset of the book, Barbour revealed his appreciation for process thought as an aid for integrating religion and science. Chapter eight is devoted to a more detailed account of why he holds this appreciation. He begins the chapter by asserting that the twentieth-century view of nature is very different from the medieval or Newtonian views. It is evolutionary and includes a complex combination of law and chance. The twentieth century views nature as interdependent, holistic, multi-leveled, and community based. Process philosophy has a systematic metaphysics which most closely resembles the twentieth- century scientific view of nature. Whitehead saw his work as an attempt to construct "a system of ideas which bring aesthetic, moral and religious interests into relation with those concepts of the world which have their origin in natural science."(Process and Reality, vi) Barbour notes several elements which Whitehead emphasized: 1. The primacy of becoming over being; 2. The interconnection of events; 3. Reality as organism; 4. A measure of self-creative freedom for each entity. Barbour claims that in Whitehead's metaphysical system, causality for the entity is partly efficient, partly self-creative, and partly final. Each entity is the product of past causes, divine purposes, and the entity's own activity. The diverse levels of experienc! e described by Whitehead allow for a description of experiences ranging from the least complex (e.g., an electron) to the most complex (e.g., a person or culture). Each type of individual in this diverse spectrum enjoys subjective experience, a notion David Griffin describes as a doctrine of panexperientialism. The author notes that process thought is opposed to dualism and claims that both mental and physical poles exist in all entities.Barbour questions whether Whitehead's analysis adequately expresses the character of individuals at both extremes of complexity. He believes Whiteheadian categories are inadequate to express the continuing identity of the human self at the upper end. Secondly, the self-determination and novelty enjoyed by the inanimate world at the lower end of the range seem postulated by Whitehead only for the sake of metaphysical consistency. The author believes that a Whiteheadian system could be modified to correct these weaknesses without endangering

Help for the Christian sympathetic to science

This book explores the validity of Christianity in the face of modern science. It fully accepts the findings of modern physics, astronomy, and evolutionary science, and shows how a proper understanding of the Bible is not only not threatened by modern science but is illuminated by it. It should be required reading for the educated Christian who feels that Darwinism is an affront to his or her religion and incompatible with belief in the Christian God of Creation and Redemption. Barbour explores all of the principal modern lines of theological thinking and how they measure up to the findings of modern science. He finds Alfred North Whitehead's Process Philosophy most congenial both to the central Christian message and to the findings of modern science. Barbour finds that in order for this all to work, the prevailing Christian view of God as king and ruler---omnipotent and omniscient---must be modified. Barbour's God is more like a loving parent that guides its children (which includes all created entities, not just human beings) by exposing the Spirit to them and thereby influencing them with its goodness and beauty. Barbour's God does not and cannot coerce, and is incapable of miraculous intervention in the world in the sense of countervening natural law. No strong distinction is made between the human and the non-human world and all of nature is seen as a glorification of God, consistent with modern evolution and the biblical view, as Barbour shows

Interpreting Christianity in the Light of Modern Science

This book explores the validity of Christianity in the light of modern science. It fully accepts the findings of modern physics, astronomy, and evolutionary science, and shows how a proper understanding of the Bible is not only not threatened by modern science but is illuminated by it. It should be required reading for the educated Christian who feels that Darwinism is an affront to their religion and incompatible with belief in the Christian God of Creation and Redemption. Barbour explores all of the principal modern lines of theological thinking and how they measure up to the findings of modern science. He finds Alfred North Whitehead's Process Philosophy most congenial both to the central Christian message and to the findings of modern science. Barbour finds that in order for this all to work, the traditional Christian view of God as king and ruler---omnipotent and omniscient---must be modified. Barbour's God is more like a loving parent who guides his or her children (which includes all created entities, not just human beings) by exposing Himself (the masculine pronoun is used advisedly) to them and thereby influencing them with His goodness and beauty. Barbour's God does not and cannot coerce, and is incapable of miraculous intervention in the world in the sense of countervening natural law. Barbour shows how this concept of the Divine also solves the problem of evil, absolving God of all responsibility for it. No strong distinction is made between the human and the nonhuman world and all of nature is seen as a glorification of God, consistent with modern evolution and the biblical view, as he shows. In this way Barbour also recognizes the sinfulness of humanity's disregard for the environment