Theology and Modern Science

by James Wiseman and James A. Wiseman

Book Overview

Among the multitude of issues addressed by authors in the burgeoning field of science and theology the most fundamental is that of divine action in the world. How might believers best understand God as truly acting in the realms studied by the natural sciences? Several specific questions arise in this context: What implications do contemporary theories about the origins of the universe have for the doctrine of God as "Creator of heaven and earth"?...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826413811
• ISBN13: 9780826413819
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Intelligent Integration of Doctrine and Science

This is a wonderfully thoughtful book about key issues science raises for Christians. The first thing I like about the book is that it takes both science and Christian theology very seriously. I like particularly that the evidence for evolution and a very old universe is accepted as established scientific truth, as it is everywhere in science but all too rarely in Christian books about science. Instead of insisting that modern cosmology is false, Wisemen asks what it means for our doctrine of creation. Instead of rejecting evolution, he explores its implications for the doctrines of divine providence and of the human soul. The discussion of animal souls is delightfully rich and anti-Cartesian. I also appreciated his brief discussion of the findings of contemporary neuroscience and neuropsychology, my own field. He has also includes a fascinating discussion of divine action and natural causality. This book is technical philosophically and theologically. It addresses some issues specific to Catholicism. However, as a Protestant layperson, with only moderate training in philosophy, theology, and science, I found this book thought-provoking and enriching. I would especially recommend it to committed theists working in scientific fields.