Science and Religion: A Critical Survey

by Holmes Rolston III

Book Overview

An interdisciplinary approach to the central themes of scientific and religious thought.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877224374
• ISBN13: 9780877224372
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Length: 358 Pages

Customer Reviews

Re-publication of the original 1987 edition

This is a re-publication of the original 1987 edition of the same title, with a new 35-page introduction. The introduction focuses on the rising importance of information in the past twenty years and on the uniqueness of humans. Chapter 1 (Methods in Scientific and Religious Inquiry) focuses on the thesis that "in generic logical form science and religion, when done well, are more alike than is often supposed, especially at their cores . . . Science operates with the presumption that there are causes to things, religion with the presumption that there are meanings to things." Chapter 2 (Matter: Religion and the Physical Sciences) is a survey of explanations, from Aristotle's four causes to Newtonian mechanics to quantum mechanics and indeterminacy to relativity. Chapter 3 (Life: Religion and the Biological Sciences) draws an analogy between the creaturely suffering of evolution and the suffering of Christ, both of which were for the greater good. Chapter 4 (Mind: Religion and the Psychological Sciences) describes and critiques four schools of thought: Freudian pyschoanalysis, behaviorist psychology, humanistic psychology and cognitive psychology. Chapter 5 (Culture: Religion and the Social Sciences) focuses on various socialogical predictions of the end of religion and why each has gone wrong. Chapter 6 (Nature and History) discusses and distinguishes between "hard naturalism" and "soft naturalism." Chapter 7 (Nature, History and God) describes and discusses three options within theism for overarching or accommodating the place of the natural: scientific-existential theism, process theism, and transscientific theism. Rolston also discusses what room the sciences leave for religion. Rolston has accomplished a balanced survey of a very wide range of sciences and the room for religious belief after science in each area. Rolston's book is not an easy read. It assumes a broad knowledge of philosophy, theology and the sciences. Philosophical terms and names are mentioned without definition or identification, so it is best suited for readers who already have some familiarity with the field of science and religion. (NOTE: this review was originally written for the journal "Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith," Volume 59, Number 2 (June 2007) and is used here with permission.)

A thorough overview of the topic of science and religion.

Holmes Rolston provides a thorough overview of the vast topic of science and religion. The book is especially good at summarizing difficult issues for non-specialists and includes the social sciences as well as the natural sciences. A revised edition should be published.