Full Book Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to the Debate Between Science and Religion
2. Truth and Reason in Science and Theology
3. Theology and the New Physics
4. Theology and Evolutionary Biology
5. Psychology and Theology
6. Models of God in an Ecological Age
7. A Test-Case - Divine Action
8. Science and Education
9. Islam and Science
10. Technology and Christianity
11. Biotechnology - A new Challenge to Theology and Ethics
12. A Look to the Future

1: An introduction to the Debate Between Science and Religion

Section A: Outlines of the debate (1.1-1.11)

1.1 Two views of the conversation between science and religion - 1.2 Important sources, figures and developments - 1.3 Typologies of the relationship - 1.3.1 Natural theology vs theology of nature - 1.4 Further typologies - 1.5 Two crucial points - 1.5.1 Science and religion, or science and theology? 1.6 The Metaphor of the Maps - 1.7 Critical realism in science - 1.8 Critical realism in theology - 1.9 The central role of model and metaphor - 1.10 Consonances - 1.11 Was religion necessary to the rise of science?

Section B: Three historical examples of tensions as science and theology developed (1.12-1.14)

1.12 Copernicanism and the Galileo Affair - 1.13 The Love Affair Gone Wrong: the eighteenth century - 1.14 Early Conflicts over Darwinism - 1.15 A contemporary instance of consonance and conflict (Big Bang cosmology)

Section C: Key principles for developing theology in the light of science (1.16-1.21)

1.16 Different types of causation and explanation - 1.17 Determinism, indeterminism and their implications - 1.18 Developing theology in the light of science - 1.18.1 The interdependence of different aspects of a model - 1.19 Three attributes of models of God, humanity and the cosmos - 1.20 Questions of value - 1.21 Conclusion.

2: Truth and Reason in Science and Theology

2.1 Introduction

Section A: Early twentieth century – the challenge of logical positivism (2.2-2.6)

2.2 The verificationist criterion of meaning - 2.3 Strict accommodation: non-cognitive accounts of religious belief - 2.4 Strict isolation: Christian existentialism - 2.5 Relative accommodation: on the possible verification of Christian faith - 2.6 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 (2.7-2.9)

2.7 The problem of induction and Popperian falsificationism - 2.8 Falsifiability, fallibility and theology - 2.9 The Duhem-Quine rejection of thesis fallibilism -

Section C: Latter part of the twentieth century – revolution, anarchy and resistance and the need for tempered post-foundationalist accounts of scientific and theological rationality (2.10-2.13)

2.10 Thomas Kuhn’s revolutionary account of scientific theory change - 2.11 Feyerabendian anarchism - 2.12 Imre Lakatos, and Nancey Murphy’s theological appropriation of Lakatos - 2.13 Rescher’s pragmatic-idealist account of human rationality and its theological significance - 2.14 Summary and conclusion

3: Theology and the New Physics

3.1 Introduction

Section A: Classical physics and the Newtonian world-view (3.2-3.4)

3.2 The scientific revolution - 3.3 From method to world-view - 3.4 Change and continuity in the physical sciences

Section B: The rediscovery of time (3.5-3.9)

3.5 Classical physics and the exorcism of time - 3.6 Relativity and the exorcism of time - 3.7 Relativity and the spatialisation of time - 3.8 Time and space - 3.8.1 Spacelike time and determinism - 3.8.2 Spacelike time and causality - 3.9 Space, time and theology

Section C: The rediscovery of the observer (3.10-3.14)

3.10 The observational basis of quantum theory - 3.10.1 The ultraviolet catastrophe - 3.10.2 The photoelectric effect - 3.10.3 Collapsing atoms and spectral lines - 3.10.4 When is a particle a wave? - 3.11 The Quantum Revolution - 3.12 Shaking the foundations - 3.13 Schrödinger’s Cat and the meaning of quantum theory - 3.14 Quantum consciousness

Section D: Modern cosmology and universal history (3.15-3.18)

3.15 The beginnings of scientific cosmology - 3.16 The Big Bang - 3.16.1 Evidence for a Big Bang? - 3.17 The shape of things to come - 3.18 Is the Big Bang the moment of creation?

Section E: Modern cosmology and the rediscovery of purpose? (3.19-3.23)

3.19 Some contemporary cosmological enigmas - 3.19.1 The chemical composition of the universe - 3.19.2 The uniformity of the universe - 3.20 Possible responses to the ‘anthropic coincidences’ - 3.21 The Weak Anthropic Principle - 3.22 The Strong Anthropic Principle - 3.22.1 Is it science? - 3.23 Anthropic design arguments

Section F: The rediscovery of complexity

3.24 ‘Newtonian’ limits to Newtonian physics - 3.25 Recognising chaos - 3.26 Coming to terms with chaos - 3.27 Implications for the philosophy of science - 3.28 Conclusion

4: Theology and Evolutionary Biology

4.1 Introduction

Section A: The impact of Darwinism

4.2 Early evolutionary ideas and the importance of Darwin - 4.2.1 Influences on Darwin - 4.3 The core of Darwin’s theory - 4.3.1 The word ‘evolution’ - 4.4 Darwin’s challenge to theological positions - 4.5 Theological responses

Section B: Developments in evolutionary theory to the present day

4.6 Mendelian genetics leading to neo-Darwinism - 4.7 The central characteristic of life - 4.7.1 How DNA codes for information - 4.7.2 Elegance in biology and physics - 4.7.3 DNA, the importance of mutation -

4.8 Some recent debates about evolution - 4.8.1 Punctuated equilibrium and radical contingency - 4.8.2 Self-organisation and the development of complexity - 4.8.3 The rhetoric of Darwinism - 4.8.4 Evolution as a science of the unrepeatable past

Section C: Can reductionist programmes rule out the truth of religion?

4.9 Conflict revived: defining our terms - 4.10 Conflict revived: Monod, Dawkins, and E.O.Wilson - 4.11 An examination of reductionism - 4.12 The particular case of genetic reductionism - 4.13 Cross-explanatory reductionism - 4.14 Value of a hard naturalism

Section D: Human evolution

4.15 The evolution of hominids - 4.15.1 The Neanderthals - 4.15.2 The paradox of the development of modern humans - 4.16 Relation of religious views to the scientific account - 4.16.1 ‘Made in the image of God’ - 4.16.2 The doctrine of the Fall - 4.17 The sociobiological critique of religion - 4.18 Conclusion

5: Psychology and Theology

5.1 Introduction

Section A: Human nature (5.2-5.7)

5.2 Perspectives on Human Nature - 5.3 Brain and Consciousness - 5.4 Theological Concerns about Neuroscience - 5.5 The Scope of Artificial Intelligence - 5.6 Theological Issues about Artificial Intelligence - 5.7 Immortality - 5.8 Psychological Approaches to Religion

Section B: Religion (5.8-5.12)

5.9 Freud’s Critique of Religion - 5.10 Alternative Psychoanalytic Approaches to Religion - 5.11 Complementary Approaches to Religious Experience - 5.12 Neurological Approaches to Religious Experience - 5.13 Conclusion

6: Models of God in an Ecological Age

Section A: Models of God within Christianity (6.1-6.6)

6.1 Introduction - 6.2 Process thought - 6.2.1 A ‘dipolar’ God - 6.3 Questions of theodicy - 6.4 The critique of patriarchy - 6.4.1 Ecological theology and the science-religion debate - 6.4.2 Realist and pragmatic approaches - 6.4.2.1 An evolutionary approach to realism vs pragmatism - 6.4.2.2 A theological approach to realism vs pragmatism - 6.4.3 The assessment of theological models - 6.5 Some models discussed: 6.5.1 David Pailin, 6.5.2 Jay McDaniel, 6.5.3 Criticisms of Process thought, 6.5.4 Sallie McFague, 6.5.5 Rosemary Radford Ruether, 6.5.6 Jürgen Moltmann, 6.5.7 Criticisms of Moltmann, 6.5.8 Paul Fiddes - 6.6 Recurrent Motifs: Panentheism and the Suffering of God - 6.6.1 Keith Ward

Section B: Some resources for theological thinking on God and the world from outside the Christian tradition (6.7-6.15)

6.7 Introduction to non-Christian models - 6.8 The Gaia Hypothesis - 6.9 The Contributions of Eastern Thought - 6.10 Hindu Metaphysics - 6.11 Taoism - 6.12 The Contribution of Buddhism - 6.12.1 Buddhist spirituality - 6.13 Deep ecology - 6.14 ‘New Paradigm’ Thinking - 6.15 Conclusion

7: A Test-Case - Divine Action

7.1 Introduction - 7.2 General Comments - 7.3 God ‘edged out’? - 7.3.1 Law and Chance - 7.4 How to think about providential agency - 7.4.1 Relation to the mind-body problem

Section A: What God is doing – providence and miracle (7.4-7.9)

7.5 A classification of views on divine action - 7.6 The causal joint - 7.7 Peacocke and Polkinghorne compared - 7.8 Process schemes and double agency - 7.9 Conclusions on providence

Section B: What God has done – the history of the universe (7.10-7.15)

7.10 The Big Bang and ‘before’ - 7.11 Anthropic considerations - 7.12 The early universe - 7.13 The origin of life - 7.14 The evolutionary development of life - 7.15 Questions of theodicy in  respect of evolution - 7.15 The probability of human beings - 7.16 Two possible evolutionary theodicies

Section C: What God will do (7.17)

7.17 Eschatology - 7.18 Conclusion

8: Science and Education

8.1 Introduction to Section D on science in society - 8.2 Science education: mapping the ground - 8.3 Meeting points - 8.3.2 The nature of science - 8.3.3 The applications of science - 8.3.4 How science operates as a social activity - 8.4 Some educational questions: 8.4.1 Primary education, 8.4.2 Secondary education, 8.4.3 Tertiary education  - 8.5 Values and the curriculum - the way forward? - 8.6 Resources - 8.7 Postscript

9: Islam and Science

9.0 Introduction - 9.1 The Concept of God - 9.2 The Religious Dimensions of Islam - 9.3 The Universe and its Creator - 9.4 The Golden Age of Islam - 9.5 The Islamic Paradigm of the Universe - 9.6 Islam and Modern Science - 9.7 Identifying Problems and Recognising Points of Agreement - 9.8 Proposals for the Regulation and Islamisation of Science - 9.9 Islam and Darwinism - 9.10 Conclusion

10: Technology and Christianity

10.1 Introduction - 10.2 What is technology? - 10.3 Is technology good or bad? - 10.4 Technology and Christianity in the history of Western Europe - 10.5 The technical ideal - does technology have inherent values? - 10.6 The ‘defining’ rôle of technology - 10.7 Does the origin of a technology have implications for its effects? - 10.8 Relation to religious values: Mumford, Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr - 10.9 Ends and Means -  Ellul and William Temple - 10.10 - Current issues: technology and the information revolution - 10.11 Current issues:  theologians’ responses - Barbour and Susan White - 10.12 One technologist’s reflection - 10.13 Conclusions

11: Biotechnology - A new Challenge to Theology and Ethics

11.1 What is biotechnology? - 11.2 An appraisal of genetic engineering: the benefits 11.3 The dangers - 11.4 Some hidden agendas - 11.5 Public responses to genetic engineering - 11.5.1 Religious dimensions to the public response - 11.6 The possibility of human cloning - 11.7 Theological issues - 11.8 Ethical questions - 11.9 A rediscovery of wisdom: some lessons from biotechnology - 11.9.1 Wisdom in theology - 11.9.2 Wisdom in practice - 11.10 Conclusion

12: A Look to the Future

12.1 Introduction - 12.2 One-way traffic - 12.3 Looking to the future - 12.3.1 Exploration across a range of religions - 12.3.2 The implications of the new genetics - 12.3.3 The status of animals - 12.3.4 The science and theology of consciousness - 12.3.5 Physics - 12.4 The integration of science, technology, religion and ethics 

Appendix: A Note for Teachers

References and Bibliography

Index