Understanding Religion and Science: Introducing the Debate

by Michael Horace Barnes

Overview

Most texts on religion and science rightly focus on the effect of modern cosmology and biology on views about God and on the place of humankind in the universe. Many analyze current disputes about Intelligent Design. Some add useful material about notions the soul and inner freedom. A few offer thoughts about miracles. Others devote time to differences in methods in religion and science. Understanding Religion and Science covers all those topics well and clearly.

This textbook also reviews relevant historical and philosophical background, showing, for example, that some ancient Christians speculated on how God might give order to history without having to intervene, or that the very earliest Christians did not believe in a naturally immortal soul.
Finally, the text asks why people differ in their basic commitments, some giving priority to a religiously meaningful life, others willing to face even the most uncomfortable conclusions. The author suggests this may be a divide not easily bridged..

This book will appeal to students of Religion and of Science and Religion Studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441118165
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/25/2010
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Horace Barnes is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton, USA. He is author of Stages of Thought: The Co-Evolution of Religious Thought and Science (Oxford, 2000), which won the College Theology Society's award for best book of the year.

Table of Contents

IntroductionSection One - Methods in Religion: Relations Between Faith and Reason1. Faith and Reason in Religion: Some Basics2. Modern Theologies about FaithSection Two - The Method of Science: How Does It Arrive at Its Conclusions? 3. The Method of Science4. The Limits of Science5. Criticisms of ScienceSection Three - God and Atheism6. The Reality and Nature of God in Western Religion7. Science-Based Atheism and Some Religious ResponsesSection Four - Miracles: Does God Intervene in Natural Processes? 8. Belief in Miracles Today9. A Brief History of Christian Thought on Miracles10. Skepticism and Modern Theologies about MiraclesSection Five - Cosmic Evolution: How Did We Get Here? 11. Varieties of Universes12.. Cosmic Order13. Religious Interpretations of the CosmosSection Six - Biological Evolution: How Did We Get Here? 14. Basic Theories of Evolution15. Evolution and Christianity16. The New Creationism: Intelligent DesignSection Seven - Human Nature: Who Are We? 17. The Soul Tradition18. Science on the Mind19. The Freedom of a Material SoulEpilogue20. Religion and Science: Conflicting Commitments Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

'Michael Barnes's introduction to the debate carefully and systematically lays out the self-understanding of many in the scientific and religious communities in ways that make them comprehensible to the layman but in a sophisticated manner that will satisfy many who have been thinking about these issues throughout their lives.'--Sanford Lakoff

"Understanding Religion and Science makes a significant contribution to the growing field of Science and a Religion by examining major questions about the relations of the two with attention to their respective goals and methods, and with exploration about where they might meet. Although Michael A. Barnes self-identifies as a theologian, the book would be a good choice not only for a Theology course but also for Religious Studies courses." - Anne M. Clifford, Msgr. James Supple Chair of Catholic Studies, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, USA

Barnes offers a very helpful analysis of contemporary interactions... The book is well-written, historically informed and presents multiple points of view fairly.--Sanford Lakoff

'[It] introduces the debate clearly and in detail (without forcing a view of either belief or atheism)' Church Times, 23rd July 2010

"This is a most impressive work by a recognized expert in science and religion. It is filled with genuine learning in natural science, Western theology, and world religions. Barnes work is informed by a vast amount of reading and research, but it is eminently readable and should appeal to a wide spectrum of potential readers, including not only students, scholars, and teachers, but also educated general readers. This innovative study is very well-written, comprehensive, and beautifully organized. From beginning to end it remains consistently interesting, provocative, and fair. I wish it had been available to me when I was teaching courses on science and religion." - John F. Haught, Woodstock Theological Center, USA

From the Publisher