Religion and science Books

Book SynopsisThis book provides a cutting-edge survey of the central ideas at play at the intersection of science and Christianity through 54 original articles by world-leading scholars and rising stars in the discipline.Trade Review“The Blackwell Companions are a well-known and prestigious series that always form an up-to-date and high-quality entry to a certain academic domain ... My appreciation prevails and I believe this book really offers a most worthy introduction to the issue of science-Christianity relations. Congratulations to Stump and Padgett for putting together this valu­able collection of well-written essays.” (Philosophia Reformata, 1 November 2015) “As I said at the outset, this Blackwell Companion has proved itself to be an indispensable companion to me as I try to set out the current shape of the field for the third generation, but I cannot help but wonder how different such a volume will look in their time.” (Modern Believing, 1 January 2014) “The result is a fascinating, rich collection of fifty-four essays grouped into eleven major sections . . . To sum up, this volume nicely complements other recent works in the ongoing interaction between science and religion. Students and teachers in the field will find this volume an accessible, reliable, and up-to-date resource for the contemporary discourse between science and Christianity.” (Themelios, 1 April 2013) “For those who have such a background, this book will be a valuable asset for orienting themselves in the broader conversation.” (Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 1 March 2013) “Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.” (Choice, 1 December 2012)Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Notes on Contributors x Introduction xviiiJ. B. Stump and Alan G. Padgett Part I Historical Episodes 1 1 Early Christian Belief in Creation and the Beliefs Sustaining the Modern Scientific Endeavor 3Christopher B. Kaiser 2 The Copernican Revolution and the Galileo Affair 14Maurice A. Finocchiaro 3 Women, Mechanical Science, and God in the Early Modern Period 26Jacqueline Broad 4 Christian Responses to Darwinism in the Late Nineteenth Century 37Peter J. Bowler 5 Science Falsely So Called: Fundamentalism and Science 48Edward B. Davis Part II Methodology 61 6 How to Relate Christian Faith and Science 63Mikael Stenmark 7 Authority 74Nicholas Rescher 8 Feminist Philosophies of Science: Towards a Prophetic Epistemology 82Lisa L. Stenmark 9 Practical Objectivity: Keeping Natural Science Natural 93Alan G. Padgett 10 The Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism 103Alvin Plantinga Part III Natural Theology 117 11 Arguments to God from the Observable Universe 119Richard Swinburne 12 “God of the Gaps” Arguments 130Gregory E. Ganssle 13 Natural Theology after Modernism 140J. B. Stump 14 Religious Epistemology Personified: God without Natural Theology 151Paul K. Moser 15 Problems for Christian Natural Theology 162Alexander R. Pruss and Richard M. Gale Part IV Cosmology and Physics 173 16 Modern Cosmology and Christian Theology 175Stephen M. Barr 17 Does the Universe Need God? 185Sean Carroll 18 Does God Love the Multiverse? 198Don N. Page 19 The Fine-Tuning of the Cosmos: A Fresh Look at its Implications 207Robin Collins 20 Quantum Theory and Theology 220Rodney D. Holder Part V Evolution 231 21 Creation and Evolution 233Denis R. Alexander 22 Darwinism and Atheism: A Marriage Made in Heaven? 246Michael Ruse 23 Creation and Evolutionary Convergence 258Simon Conway Morris 24 Signature in the Cell: Intelligent Design and the DNA Enigma 270Stephen C. Meyer 25 Darwin and Intelligent Design 283Francisco J. Ayala 26 Christianity and Human Evolution 295John F. Haught 27 Christian Theism and Life on Earth 306Paul Draper Part VI The Human Sciences 317 28 Toward a Cognitive Science of Christianity 319Justin L. Barrett 29 The Third Wound: Has Psychology Banished the Ghost from the Machine? 335Dylan Evans 30 Sociology and Christianity 344John H. Evans and Michael S. Evans 31 Economics and Christian Faith 356Robin J. Klay Part VII Christian Bioethics 369 32 Shaping Human Life at the Molecular Level 371James C. Peterson 33 An Inclusive Framework for Stem Cell Research 381John F. Kilner 34 The Problem of Transhumanism in the Light of Philosophy and Theology 393Philippe Gagnon 35 Ecology and the Environment 406Lisa H. Sideris Part VIII Metaphysical Implications 419 36 Free Will and Rational Choice 421E. J. Lowe 37 Science, Religion, and Infinity 430Graham Oppy 38 God and Abstract Objects 441William Lane Craig 39 Laws of Nature 453Lydia Jaeger Part IX The Mind 465 40 Christianity, Neuroscience, and Dualism 467J. P. Moreland 41 The Emergence of Persons 480William Hasker 42 Christianity and the Extended-Mind Thesis 491Lynne Rudder Baker 43 In Whose Image? Artificial Intelligence and the Imago Dei 500Noreen Herzfeld 44 How Science Lost its Soul, and Religion Handed it Back 510Julian Baggini Part X Theology 521 45 The Trinity and Scientific Reality 523John Polkinghorne 46 God and Miracle in an Age of Science 533Alan G. Padgett 47 Eschatology in Science and Theology 543Robert John Russell 48 The Quest for Transcendence in Theology and Cosmology 554Alexei V. Nesteruk Part XI Significant Figures of the Twentieth Century in Science and Christianity 565 49 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 567James F. Salmon 50 Thomas F. Torrance 578Tapio Luoma 51 Arthur Peacocke 589Taede A. Smedes 52 Ian G. Barbour 600Nathan J. Hallanger 53 Wolfhart Pannenberg 611Hans Schwarz 54 John Polkinghorne 622Christopher C. Knight Index 632

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamining the reception of evolutionary biology, the 1925 Scopes Trial, and the New Atheist movement of the 2000s, Donovan O. Schaefer theorizes the relationship between thinking and feeling by challenging the conventional wisdom that they are separate.Trade Review"Inaugurate[s] a project of secular theorization that adds a distinctive and needed methodological angle to studies of the secular in North America. . . . A must-read for scholars of American religions. . . ." -- Valeria Vergani * American Religion *"Wild Experiment is an indispensable addition to any course syllabus on race, religion, affect theory, and any interdisciplinary topic on the intersections between feeling and thinking." -- Abdulrahman Bindamnan * Material Religion *"Through Schaefer’s endeavor to expand the conversation between secularism studies and STS, the field of STS has an illuminating new vantage from which to look at knowledge, feeling, and belief. And it feels right." * Society for the Social Studies of Science Ludwik Fleck Prize Committee *"This fascinating book is a valuable contribution to the field of affect studies and secularism studies, as it starts a first conversation between these previously somewhat unconnected fields." -- Nur Yasemin Ural * Politics, Religion & Ideology *"Perhaps humanities scholars such as Schaefer can be useful in the climate crisis. They can help scientists pay attention to how knowledge feels—and thus how to be more effective in communicating it." -- Amy Frykholm * Christian Century *Table of ContentsIntroduction. Cogency Theory: An Essay on Our Intellectual Affects 1 Part I. Cogency Theory 1. The Longing to Believe: Philosophers on Conspiracy Theory and the Sense of Science 33 2. Sensualized Epistemology: Affect Theory on How Reason Gets Racialized 57 3. Science as an Intoxication: Secularism Studies on Enchantment and Critique 80 4. Feeling is Believing: The Triune Brain, Mere Exposure, and Cogency 107 Part II. Feeling Science and Secularism 5. Only Better Beasts: Darwin, Huxley, and the Sense of Science 137 6. The Secular Circus: Science and Racialized Reason in the Scopes Trial 169 7. The Four Horsemen: New Atheism as Secular Conspiracy Theory 200 Epilogue. From Creationism to Climate Denialism 230 Acknowledgments 239 Notes 243 Bibliography 281 Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisReveals biases within scientific PhD training programs against emerging scientists who embrace a religious faith and the ramifications for scienceScience is often viewed as antithetical to religion, and it is true that scientists, particularly those who work at universities, are generally much less religious than the average American adult. So what is it like to be a religious individual pursuing an advanced education and career in science? Featuring engaging interviews and survey data from over 1,300 PhD students in the natural and social sciences, The Faithful Scientist shows that the core challenge is not contending with contradictions between faith-based beliefs and scientific knowledge. Instead, it is the bias budding scientific practitioners face from their colleagues if they are religious. These dynamics are important for science as a field, and ultimately for those who engage with or benefit from the results of scientific research. There are real benefits to fostering diversiTrade ReviewThis accessible and well-researched study of those who are both scientists and people of faith will be a vital resource for specialists who study religion and science. -- John H. Evans, Tata Chancellor’s Chair of Social Science, University of California, San DiegoCompellingly illustrates how religion and science are sources of social identity that shape aspiring scientists’ career paths in numerous ways. Scheitle deftly shows how graduate students reconcile religious belief with the supposed radical secularism of organized science. -- Timothy O’Brien, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the Christian Right's fierce opposition to science, explaining how and why its leaders came to see scientific truths as their enemyFor decades, the Christian Right's high-profile clashes with science have made national headlines. From attempts to insert intelligent design creationism into public schools to climate change denial, efforts to cure gay people through conversion therapy, and opposition to stem cell research, the Christian Right has battled against science. How did this hostility begin and, more importantly, why has it endured?Antony Alumkal provides a comprehensive background on the war on sciencehow it developed and why it will continue to endure. Drawing upon Richard Hofstadter's influential 1965 essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, Antony Alumkal argues that the Christian Right adopts a similar paranoid style in their approach to science. Alumkal demonstrates that Christian Right leaders see conspiracies within the scientific establishment, with scientTrade Review"This is a volume for those who seek a better understanding of the USs contemporary cultural conflict." * Choice *"Particularly in today's America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkal's calm voice of reason has much to offer." * Catholic Library World *"Particularly in todays America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkals calm voice of reason has much to offer. Recommended for all libraries." * Catholic Library World *"Alumkals book is troubling and eye-opening." * Church & State *"Paranoid Science is a reliable and insightful guide to the fever swamps of evangelical science denial. A gripping, disturbing, and important contribution." -- Glenn Branch, Deputy Director, National Center for Science Education""A small but highly organized network of conservative Christians maintains a successful pseudo-scientific campaign to challenge established scientific topics including evolution, sexual orientation, bioethics, and climatology that they find threatening to their worldview. Alumkals unflinching critical analysis of their popular writings and educational media provides an excellent window into the political culture and theological motivations, mindsets and machinations within this movement. Fit for the times, Paranoid Science is engaging reading that elucidates the extent to which religious motivations can distort scientific inquiry for political ends. " -- Jerry Z. Park, Associate Professor of Sociology, Baylor University"Alumkal shows that hostility toward science -- including a kind of fearful contempt toward scientists -- is fairly palpable." * Inside Higher Ed *"Through extensive research, Alumkal provides a rich, nuanced, and detailed view of mid-20th-century American evangelicalisms right-wing political expression and its often dangerous impact on science in the service of the common good. His conclusions indicate that when such a powerful paranoia cannot be deescalated, it must be contained. Education and persuasion are the tools for change, and Alumkals book succeeds in both respects." * Publishers Weekly *"Paranoid Scienceoffers valuable insights about the ability of religious and scientific interests to rally public support and potentially influence public policy. It will be of interestto sociologist who study religion, science, social movements and to those interested in any of the four historical episodes that organize the books empirical chapters." * Sociology of Religion *"Alumkal pulls no punches here… Alumkal’s book deserves a place in the book collections of scholars of the Christian Right... There is much here that furthers our knowledge of a complicated and controversial political movement" -- American Journal of Sociology"An important and timely book." * Nova Religio *"Alumkal’s text is about the beliefs, politics, and propaganda of the Evangelical Right in American Christianity [...] Paranoia is the leitmotif that links the 4 chapters of this book." * IEEE Technology and Society Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisNew stories about religiously motivated progressive activism challenge common understandings of the American political landscape.To many mainstream-media saturated Americans, the terms progressive and religious may not seem to go hand-in-hand. As religion is usually tied to conservatism, an important way in which religion and politics intersect is being overlooked. Religion and Progressive Activism focuses on this significant intersection, revealing that progressive religious activists are a driving force in American public life, involved in almost every political issue or area of public concern. This volume brings together leading experts who dissect and analyze the inner worlds and public strategies of progressive religious activists from the local to the transnational level. It provides insight into documented trends, reviews overlooked case studies, and assesses the varied ways in which progressive religion forces us to deconstruct common political binaries suTrade ReviewConsisted of helpful introductory and concluding essays as well as 15 wide-ranging and engagingly written contributions from knowledgeable scholars, this volume greatly enhances our understanding of progressive religion’s role in American politics today… I know of no book—in terms of topic, breath, and acuity of analysis—quite like this one. At seemingly every turn, I learned something new. -- Journal for the Scientific Study of ReligionOn its main premise, the book is successful: readers will be convinced of the existence of a religious Left. Pockets of progressive religion and its carriers sit in churches, on the border, in suburbia, on buses, in campaigns, and more. But the books longest-lasting success may resound even more so from contributors efforts to expose the undergirdingstructuresof modern religion in action. * Sociology of Religion *In this edited volume, the authors do a great service to scholars of religion and social change by bringing needed attention to the often invisible religious underpinnings of progressive civic and political engagement. In response to the media’s commonplace portrayal of religious politics as that of the Religious Right, which is often shown in contrast to the secular Left, these authors showcase various examples of religiously influenced progressive activism. They map out key contours of this often unrecognized field, showing how progressive religious activism is influenced both by the secular Left and religious Right, yet distinctive from each of these groups in pursuing change through religiously inspired activism to address stratification and inequality in American society. -- Review of Religious ResearchAn edited volume by two rising stars in the sociology of religion, Ruth Braunstein and Todd Fuist, and an eminent scholar in the same field, Rhys Williams, Religion and Progressive Activism does not disappoint with its exploration of the role progressive religion has played in past and contemporary social movements. Many of its contributors are among the top scholars in the sub-discipline. As a whole, the volume assesses the political and intellectual conditions under which progressive religious activism has abated as a socio-political force. It attempts to come to terms with what exactly is progressive religious activism. It identifies the causal factors behind progressive religious mobilization. The book also explores a variety of contemporary cases in an effort to understand the factors that potentially facilitate and impede its political constancy and expression. -- Critical Research on ReligionThis commendable collection, centered on sociological analyses of left-liberal Christians, makes a timely intervention into debates about religion in the United States. Its strongest takeaway arguments are: (1) to remind anyone who may need reminding that left-of-center Christian activism has not lost its salience and potential, however much it is discounted by the media or scholarly fashions; (2) to critique culture war analyses in which religion is mainly on the right and progressives are mainly non-religious—and by extension to revise sociological frames that approach religious activism in ways that make more sense for the right than the left; and (3) to document activism, especially in the two forms most valorized here: Faith Based Community Organizations (FBCOs) in Saul Alinsky’s tradition, and work related to immigrant rights. -- Reading ReligionMuch of our current understanding of religion and politics is based on studies of the activism of conservative, even extremist forms of religious practice. But historically that is not necessarily the most important connection. In the 19th Century progressive religious groups were instrumental to abolitionist and woman's suffrage movements. And in the current context religious groups have a leading role in many struggles for justice. Braunstein, Fuist, and Williams' volume brings together some leading scholars of religion to look at some of the most important cases and theorize what they mean for our understanding of religion and social activism. -- David Smilde,Charles A and Leo M Favrot Professor of Social Relations, Tulane UniversitySocial scientists have invested a great deal of energy in trying to understand the religious right, but not nearly enough time and effort has been devoted to the crucial role, in our past and present, of the religious left. This book is thus an enormous contribution and a groundbreaking work. This timely volume shatters the myth of the religious rights monopoly on faith-based political activism. While acknowledging the difficulties confronted by religious liberals in organizing for social justice, the authors provide a wealth of new evidence-based insights about how to strengthen the progressive religious movement at a time when its witness is badly needed. -- E.J. Dionne Jr.,Author of Why the Right Went Wrong

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the Christian Right's fierce opposition to science, explaining how and why its leaders came to see scientific truths as their enemyFor decades, the Christian Right's high-profile clashes with science have made national headlines. From attempts to insert intelligent design creationism into public schools to climate change denial, efforts to cure gay people through conversion therapy, and opposition to stem cell research, the Christian Right has battled against science. How did this hostility begin and, more importantly, why has it endured?Antony Alumkal provides a comprehensive background on the war on sciencehow it developed and why it will continue to endure. Drawing upon Richard Hofstadter's influential 1965 essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, Antony Alumkal argues that the Christian Right adopts a similar paranoid style in their approach to science. Alumkal demonstrates that Christian Right leaders see conspiracies within the scientific establishment, with scientTrade Review"This is a volume for those who seek a better understanding of the USs contemporary cultural conflict." * Choice *"Particularly in today's America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkal's calm voice of reason has much to offer." * Catholic Library World *"Particularly in todays America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkals calm voice of reason has much to offer. Recommended for all libraries." * Catholic Library World *"Alumkals book is troubling and eye-opening." * Church & State *"Paranoid Science is a reliable and insightful guide to the fever swamps of evangelical science denial. A gripping, disturbing, and important contribution." -- Glenn Branch, Deputy Director, National Center for Science Education""A small but highly organized network of conservative Christians maintains a successful pseudo-scientific campaign to challenge established scientific topics including evolution, sexual orientation, bioethics, and climatology that they find threatening to their worldview. Alumkals unflinching critical analysis of their popular writings and educational media provides an excellent window into the political culture and theological motivations, mindsets and machinations within this movement. Fit for the times, Paranoid Science is engaging reading that elucidates the extent to which religious motivations can distort scientific inquiry for political ends. " -- Jerry Z. Park, Associate Professor of Sociology, Baylor University"Alumkal shows that hostility toward science -- including a kind of fearful contempt toward scientists -- is fairly palpable." * Inside Higher Ed *"Through extensive research, Alumkal provides a rich, nuanced, and detailed view of mid-20th-century American evangelicalisms right-wing political expression and its often dangerous impact on science in the service of the common good. His conclusions indicate that when such a powerful paranoia cannot be deescalated, it must be contained. Education and persuasion are the tools for change, and Alumkals book succeeds in both respects." * Publishers Weekly *"Paranoid Scienceoffers valuable insights about the ability of religious and scientific interests to rally public support and potentially influence public policy. It will be of interestto sociologist who study religion, science, social movements and to those interested in any of the four historical episodes that organize the books empirical chapters." * Sociology of Religion *"Alumkal pulls no punches here… Alumkal’s book deserves a place in the book collections of scholars of the Christian Right... There is much here that furthers our knowledge of a complicated and controversial political movement" -- American Journal of Sociology"An important and timely book." * Nova Religio *"Alumkal’s text is about the beliefs, politics, and propaganda of the Evangelical Right in American Christianity [...] Paranoia is the leitmotif that links the 4 chapters of this book." * IEEE Technology and Society Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA venture into the art and science of measuring religion in everyday life In an era of rapid technological advances, the measures and methods used to generate data about religion have undergone remarkably little change. Faithful Measures pushes the study of religion into the 21st century by evaluating new and existing measures of religion and introducing new methods for tapping into religious behaviors and beliefs. This book offers a global and innovative approach, with chapters on the intersection of religion and new technology, such as smart phone apps, Google Ngrams, crowdsourcing data, and Amazon buying networks. It also shows how old methods can be improved by using new technology to create online surveys with experimental designs and by developing new ways of mining data from existing information. Chapter contributors thoroughly explain how to employ these new techniques, and offer fresh insights into understanding the complex topic of religion in modern life. Beyond its quantitaTrade ReviewThis volume stands by itself as a unique social scientists guide to researching religion. An additional virtue of this volume is it provides many examples of how creativity can be deployed new methods for studying religion. Perhaps the most valuable thing readers may take from this volume is inspiration for the new and creative methods they might develop in their own areas of inquiry. * Sociology of Religion *The editors have brought together a useful collection of original chapters addressing various methodological matters that prompt its readers to think more carefully and innovatively about the measures we use to study religion and the means by which we do so. -- Review of Religious ResearchWhile seeming simple at first glance, measuring religion well in social science is exceedingly difficult, especially when comparing different societies and religious traditions. Serious efforts to improve and diversify measures of religion have, with few exceptions, been woefully lacking. Faithful Measures offers a decisive intervention in that situation, which both contributes and points the way to further advances. It is well worth the read for all scholars in the field. -- Christian Smith,Wm. R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology, University of Notre DameFew scholars have done more than Finke and Bader to teach us how to measure religion. In Faithful Measures they and their collaborators show readers the best surveys on religion have to offer as well as the newest innovations for understanding religion. Their book should be read by anyone concerned about how religion is changing across the globe and how we might better measure those changes. -- Elaine Howard Ecklund,Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, Rice UniversityWith contributions from established and emerging scholars and practitioners across the social sciences as well as data and computer scientists, Faithful Measures aims to bring the study of religion into step with the technological advances of the twenty-first century. * Religious Studies Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA venture into the art and science of measuring religion in everyday life In an era of rapid technological advances, the measures and methods used to generate data about religion have undergone remarkably little change. Faithful Measures pushes the study of religion into the 21st century by evaluating new and existing measures of religion and introducing new methods for tapping into religious behaviors and beliefs. This book offers a global and innovative approach, with chapters on the intersection of religion and new technology, such as smart phone apps, Google Ngrams, crowdsourcing data, and Amazon buying networks. It also shows how old methods can be improved by using new technology to create online surveys with experimental designs and by developing new ways of mining data from existing information. Chapter contributors thoroughly explain how to employ these new techniques, and offer fresh insights into understanding the complex topic of religion in modern life. Beyond its quantitaTrade ReviewThis volume stands by itself as a unique social scientists guide to researching religion. An additional virtue of this volume is it provides many examples of how creativity can be deployed new methods for studying religion. Perhaps the most valuable thing readers may take from this volume is inspiration for the new and creative methods they might develop in their own areas of inquiry. * Sociology of Religion *The editors have brought together a useful collection of original chapters addressing various methodological matters that prompt its readers to think more carefully and innovatively about the measures we use to study religion and the means by which we do so. -- Review of Religious ResearchWhile seeming simple at first glance, measuring religion well in social science is exceedingly difficult, especially when comparing different societies and religious traditions. Serious efforts to improve and diversify measures of religion have, with few exceptions, been woefully lacking. Faithful Measures offers a decisive intervention in that situation, which both contributes and points the way to further advances. It is well worth the read for all scholars in the field. -- Christian Smith,Wm. R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology, University of Notre DameFew scholars have done more than Finke and Bader to teach us how to measure religion. In Faithful Measures they and their collaborators show readers the best surveys on religion have to offer as well as the newest innovations for understanding religion. Their book should be read by anyone concerned about how religion is changing across the globe and how we might better measure those changes. -- Elaine Howard Ecklund,Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, Rice UniversityWith contributions from established and emerging scholars and practitioners across the social sciences as well as data and computer scientists, Faithful Measures aims to bring the study of religion into step with the technological advances of the twenty-first century. * Religious Studies Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDivine Variations offers a new account of the development of scientific ideas about race. Focusing on the production of scientific knowledge over the last three centuries, Terence Keel uncovers the persistent links between pre-modern Christian thought and contemporary scientific perceptions of human difference. He argues that, instead of a rupture between religion and modern biology on the question of human origins, modern scientific theories of race are, in fact, an extension of Christian intellectual history. Keel's study draws on ancient and early modern theological texts and biblical commentaries, works in Christian natural philosophy, seminal studies in ethnology and early social science, debates within twentieth-century public health research, and recent genetic analysis of population differences and ancient human DNA. From these sources, Keel demonstrates that Christian ideas about creation, ancestry, and universalism helped form the basis of modern scientific accounts of human diversity—despite the ostensible shift in modern biology towards scientific naturalism, objectivity, and value neutrality. By showing the connections between Christian thought and scientific racial thinking, this book calls into question the notion that science and religion are mutually exclusive intellectual domains and proposes that the advance of modern science did not follow a linear process of secularization. Trade Review"Divine Variations brilliantly traces the roots of modern racial science to Christian intellectual history and ideology. Despite the efforts of genomic researchers to portray current biological concepts of race as purely scientific, Keel shows that these scientists are secular creationists retelling religious folklore about the origins of human life. This book is a crucial contribution to the history of racial science." -- Dorothy Roberts * author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century *"At a moment when some evolutionary theorists have become quasi-theologians, offering universal stories of existence that are as imperialistic as their eighteenth- and nineteenth- century versions, and when popular DNA speculations about racial heritage and legacy have brought us back to the door of eugenics, Keel's book reminds us of the theological trajectories from which these concepts arise. This is not an anti-science text, but one that shows us the interrelationship of theology and science and tacit assumptions behind the scientific will to universalize. We will never be able to defeat racial reasoning so long as it is concealed and nurtured in certain kinds of scientific reasoning. Keel's book greatly aids us in separating the two." -- Willie James Jennings * author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race *"The brilliance of Terence Keel's book is to show that when it comes to race, there was no war between science and religion. Instead, this engaging and penetrating study shows how Christian ideas helped create scientific approaches to and explanations of race. Divine Variations is a must-read for all scholars of race, religion, and science." -- Edward J. Blum * co-author of The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America *"In this brilliantly argued and fascinating account of the development of scientific racial theory, Keel convincingly demonstrates that the modern biological sciences still bear the deep imprint of their religious origins. Divine Variations offers us insightful new ways of thinking about the historical relations between science and religion." -- Peter Harrison * author of The Territories of Science and Religion *"Terence Keel's book brings needed nuance to the cultural and scientific history of the study of human diversity. He explores the connections between the theology and science of what eventually became human microevolution, and follows the various threads down to the present day. This is an important body of scholarship, with which anyone interested in the scientific origins of human racial theory must engage." -- Jonathan Marks * author of What it Means to be 98% Chimpanzee: Apes, People and Their Genes *"Terence Keel's Divine Variations points us to the materials, the old patterns and the stitches that built our modern notion of race.... Keel's work offers us a warning that there is no panacea, no easy ideology or system that is free from the colonial theologies or so called "enlightened" philosophies. But in the face of this, and in the midst of a world where we are confronted by ever more differences and unknowns, perhaps our hope is best oriented towards theologies and scientific modes of thought that do not try to avoid the mystery, that do not wash out or totalize exceptions. Perhaps we no longer need "theories of everything" but rather theologies and science that help us to see variation, difference, and change as possibilities rather than as dangers. Keel's work is a vital step toward this endeavor." -- Brian Bantum * Reading Religion *"This volume is a critical contribution to study of the concept of race and a formidable challenge to many commonplace assumptions. Equally important, it compels the reader to reevaluate the extent to which science and religion are clearly distinct realms of thought, and offers new ways of thinking about their relationship....Summing up: Essential." -- S.C. Peterson * CHOICE *"Our longing to know where we came from and what lies ahead is fierce. But what if neither science nor religion can offer those comforts?...What I find most gripping about Keel's argument is that he does not denigrate either discipline so much as he goads us to acknowledge their shared problematic epistemological impulse." -- Michelle Wolff * The Journal of Religion *"[Divine Variations] offers an original and ambitious interpretation of science and religion, one that largely avoids framing these interactions in terms of conflict or compatibility, to address a very timely subject: race." -- Ernie Hamm * Zygon *"It is widely appreciated that current struggles over race and racism are crucially shaped by the history of racism....Terence Keel masterfully demonstrates how this is true not only with respect to the legacy of historical racism on ongoing racialized inequality; it is also manifest in how modern scientific approaches to race have been informed by religious conceptions." -- Bruce Baum * American Historical Review *"[Keel] overturns assumptions of an inherent conflict between religion and science by showing that modern Western science borrows ideas and questions from Christianity." -- Sabrina Danielsen * Sociology of Religion *"[It] is de rigueur to speak of the modern concept of 'race' as solely a product of enlightenment-era scientific thought....It is here that Terence Keel enters the fray and forcefully disrupts the narrative....While the cult of racial essentialism continues to attract new acolytes, Keel's apocrypha certainly threatens its newfound articles of faith." -- Matthew W. Hughey * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"Divine Variations shows that Christianity represents a dominant paradigm for many ways of knowing, and thus its presence in racial science is not unusual but actually expected." -- Ayah Nuriddin * Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences *"Keel's framework opens up a new way of looking at the problem of race, and a way to account for the role of both Western science and Christian supremacy in the global work of enslavement, the creation of plantation economies, and the violence of settler colonialism....Divine Variations is a pioneering effort in the historical study of race and racism, as well as science and religion." -- Myrna Perez Sheldon * Religious Studies Review *"Keel provides strong historical evidence for the view that science and religion are to be seen as two cultural efforts that need to be related in much more diverse and complicated ways than is usually accepted....Divine Variations is a book that must be considered by historians, philosophers and scientists alike." -- Juan Manuel Rodriguez-Caso * Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThe Introduction lays out the theoretical stakes of the work as a whole. It opens with a critical evaluation of the work of acclaimed geneticist Spencer Wells, whose 2002 publication The Journey of Man has helped frame the now-standard interpretation of human evolution and migration from a single set of ancestors out of Africa. Wells's account of human evolution reveals the epistemic authority that modern genetics has obtained on the question of race and human beginnings. It is argued that contemporary biologists inherited this authority, however, from their Christian intellectual ancestors, who provided modern scientists with a cache of interpretive tools and assumptions that proved useful for narrating the development of human life and constructing theories of racial difference believed to supersede all previous accounts of human origins. After laying out the theoretical ground to be covered, this introductory chapter provides an overview of the chapters that follow. 1Impure Thoughts: Johann Blumenbach and the Birth of Racial Science chapter abstractChapter 1 examines the thought of the eighteenth-century ethnologist Johann F. Blumenbach, whose 1775 work On the Natural Variety of Mankind is often represented as precipitating the secular turn in the modern study of race. The chapter offers an alternative account of the intellectual ancestry alive in Blumenbach's racial theories by recovering the Christian sources of his thinking. Political and philosophical anti-Judaism prevalent in late eighteenth-century Germany, the transformation of the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther into a pioneer of German national identity, and the anti-Jewish writings of Johann David Michaelis in the emergent field of biblical geography at Göttingen University were all crucial political, religious, and intellectual influences during the time Blumenbach developed his racial theories. Drawing on the notion that the epistemological origins of racial science are fundamentally mongrel, this chapter argues that Blumenbach's racial theories were not an expression of pure, untainted, secular rationality. 2Superseding Christian Truth: The Quiet Revolution of Nineteenth-Century American Science of Race chapter abstractChapter 2 analyzes scientific criticism leveled against the theory of common human descent beginning in the 1830s. It focuses on the thought of Josiah C. Nott, a southern physician, early epidemiologist, and major figure of the so-called American School of Ethnology. Nott claimed that humanity's common origin, or monogenesis, was an unscientific belief and a mere carryover from when natural historians were indebted to Christian ideas about nature and human life. Thus, he attempted to establish an account of the history of human racial groups that moved beyond the constraints of the narrative recorded by Moses in the Bible. Despite these secular aspirations Nott ultimately failed to offer an account of race that stood independent of Christian thought. The case of American polygenism illustrates the degree to which modern racial science is indebted to a religious intellectual history it has attempted to deny and supersede. 3The Ghost of Christian Creationism: Racial Dispositions and Progressive Era Public Health Research chapter abstractChapter 3 explores how polygenist carryovers emerged in early twentieth-century medical and public health studies on the links between race and disease. This persistence further embedded ideas about race derived from Christian intellectual history into the methods and reasoning of modern scientists and public health researchers. In the early twentieth century, the concept of biological determinism—the idea that the fixed biological makeup of a racial group determines its members' health, behavior, and intelligence—reoccupies the epistemic space once filled explicitly by a theological view of nature. This chapter also introduces the work of the African American physician, ethicist, and social hygienist Charles V. Roman, who departed from the racial logic of his time. Roman stressed instead that the idea of common human ancestry should push public health researchers to think more critically about the social and environmental factors shaping health outcomes and black susceptibility to disease. 4Noah's Mongrel Children: Ancient DNA and the Persistence of Christian Forms in Modern Biology chapter abstractChapter 4 examines how concepts about racial ancestry and the ontological uniqueness of human life from Christian intellectual history have historically informed scientific research on the Neanderthal. These Christian forms are at play in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the unanticipated discovery that mating occurred between this hominid group and modern humans around forty thousand years ago. Geneticists claim that evidence of this encounter is found almost exclusively in the genomes of Europeans and Asians. This chapter also shows how scientists in both the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries deployed notions of distinct continental groups and fixed racial traits to draw conclusions about human-Neanderthal relatedness. In both centuries, concepts and reasoning strategies implicitly divinize nature while also framing human ancestry into three original groups that represent the reoccupation of the story of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, into contemporary algorithmic representations of human genetic ancestry. 5Beyond the Religious Pursuit of Race chapter abstractChapter 5 provides a summary of the major claims of the book. It also explains how the conflict thesis for representing the relationship between science and religion fails to capture how Christian intellectual history has been key to the formation of the race concept in modern science. Citing recent data from a 2015 Pew Research Survey, this chapter argues that the conflict thesis remains a fixture in the minds of Americans, which has consequences for shifting public perceptions about the assumed secularity of the scientific study of race. It closes with a call for recognizing that the scientific study of race is involved in providing a solution to the existential dilemma of defining what it means to be human. This solution is neither value-free nor detached from the cultural and religious inheritance that has fastened itself to the work of Euro-American scientists who study race.

Read more less

Book SynopsisToday we hear renewed calls for a dialogue between science and religion: why has the old question of the relations between science and religion now returned to the public domain and what is at stake in this debate? To answer these questions, historian and sociologist of science Yves Gingras retraces the long history of the troubled relationship between science and religion, from the condemnation of Galileo for heresy in 1633 until his rehabilitation by John Paul II in 1992. He reconstructs the process of the gradual separation of science from theology and religion, showing how God and natural theology became marginalized in the scientific field in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In contrast to the dominant trend among historians of science, Gingras argues that science and religion are social institutions that give rise to incompatible ways of knowing, rooted in different methodologies and forms of knowledge, and that there never was, and cannot be, a genuine dialogue between them. Wide-ranging and authoritative, this new book on one of the fundamental questions of Western thought will be of great interest to students and scholars of the history of science and of religion as well as to general readers who are intrigued by the new and much-publicized conversations about the alleged links between science and religion.Trade Review‘In this forceful and fascinating polemic, a leading historian and sociologist of the sciences takes up arms against recent calls for dialogue between science and religion. In a survey of past centuries of conflict, censorship and apologetics, and a telling analysis of modern initiatives to establish new kinds of relations between science and religion, Gingras argues that the sciences have achieved autonomous status by building social organizations not to be reconciled with the claims of faith. This book represents an important and provocative intervention in a debate of great contemporary significance.’Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science, University of Cambridge ‘Yves Gingras’ gripping account of four centuries of conflict between religion and science provides a wonderful antidote to the insistent calls for “dialogue”.’Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University"Science and Religion is a useful corrective to simplistic accounts of the relations between science and religion in the past."William R. Shea in Fides et Historia “The science–religion issue will intrigue us for a long time to come. It is interesting in its own right, but it is also of prime concern to any civilization struggling to get things right. Yves Gingras’s Science and Religion: An Impossible Dialogue has contributed a great deal to a better historical understanding."Metascience Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The Theological Limits of the Autonomy of Science2 Copernicus and Galileo: Thorns in the Sides of Popes3 God: From the Center to the Periphery of Science4 Science Censored5 From Conflict to Dialogue?6 What Is a "Dialogue" Between Science and Religion?7 Belief Versus ScienceConclusion: Betting on ReasonNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisToday we hear renewed calls for a dialogue between science and religion: why has the old question of the relations between science and religion now returned to the public domain and what is at stake in this debate? To answer these questions, historian and sociologist of science Yves Gingras retraces the long history of the troubled relationship between science and religion, from the condemnation of Galileo for heresy in 1633 until his rehabilitation by John Paul II in 1992. He reconstructs the process of the gradual separation of science from theology and religion, showing how God and natural theology became marginalized in the scientific field in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In contrast to the dominant trend among historians of science, Gingras argues that science and religion are social institutions that give rise to incompatible ways of knowing, rooted in different methodologies and forms of knowledge, and that there never was, and cannot be, a genuine dialogue between them. Wide-ranging and authoritative, this new book on one of the fundamental questions of Western thought will be of great interest to students and scholars of the history of science and of religion as well as to general readers who are intrigued by the new and much-publicized conversations about the alleged links between science and religion.Trade Review‘In this forceful and fascinating polemic, a leading historian and sociologist of the sciences takes up arms against recent calls for dialogue between science and religion. In a survey of past centuries of conflict, censorship and apologetics, and a telling analysis of modern initiatives to establish new kinds of relations between science and religion, Gingras argues that the sciences have achieved autonomous status by building social organizations not to be reconciled with the claims of faith. This book represents an important and provocative intervention in a debate of great contemporary significance.’Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science, University of Cambridge ‘Yves Gingras’ gripping account of four centuries of conflict between religion and science provides a wonderful antidote to the insistent calls for “dialogue”.’Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University“The science–religion issue will intrigue us for a long time to come. It is interesting in its own right, but it is also of prime concern to any civilization struggling to get things right. Yves Gingras’s Science and Religion: An Impossible Dialogue has contributed a great deal to a better historical understanding."MetascienceTable of Contents Contents Introduction 1 The Theological Limits of the Autonomy of Science 2 Copernicus and Galileo: Thorns in the Sides of Popes 3 God: From the Center to the Periphery of Science 4 Science Censored 5 From Conflict to Dialogue? 6 What Is a "Dialogue" Between Science and Religion? 7 Belief Versus Science Conclusion: Betting on Reason Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe relationship between science and belief has been a prominent subject of public debate for many years, one that has relevance to everything from science communication, health and education to immigration and national values. Yet, sociological analysis of these subjects remains surprisingly scarce. This wide-ranging book critically reviews the ways in which religious and non-religious belief systems interact with scientific theories and practices. Contributors explore how, for some secularists, ‘science’ forms an important part of social identity. Others examine how many contemporary religious movements justify their beliefs by making a claim upon science. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the United States, the book shows how debates about science and belief are firmly embedded in political conflict, class, community and culture.Trade Review"This timely and rich volume engages sociological considerations of science and belief and extends our understanding of how different groups across the world reconcile or reject diverse aspects of these two ways of knowing." Shiri Noy, Denison UniversityTable of ContentsForeword ~ Grace Davie Editor’s Introduction: Science, Belief and the Sociological Tradition ~ Stephen H. Jones, Tom Kaden and Rebecca Catto Part I: Methodological Challenges in the Study of Science and Belief The Sociological Study of Science and Religion in Context ~ Fern Elsdon-Baker and Will Mason-Wilkes Survey-based Research on Science and Religion: A Review and Critique ~ Jonathan P. Hill Language, Labels and Lived Identity in Debates about Science, Religion and Belief ~ Tom Kaden, Stephen H. Jones and Rebecca Catto Researching Clergy Attitudes towards Science: A Reflective Account of Key Methodological Challenges ~ Lydia Reid PART II: Belief in the Study of Science and Technology From ‘Science and Religion’ to ‘Transcendence in Science’, or: What We Can Learn from the (History of) Science and Technology Studies ~ Silke Gülker Rational Believers: Religion, Tradition and Spirituality among Indian Scientists ~ Renny Thomas Muslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research ~ Jessica Carlisle, Salman Hameed and Fern Elsdon-Baker PART III: Science, Culture and Non-religion Feeling Rational: Affinity and Affinity Narratives in British Science–Non-religion Relations ~ Lois Lee Avoiding the ‘Anti-intellectual Abyss’: How Secular Humanists in Sweden try to Define the Boundaries between Science, Religion, Pseudoscience and Postmodernism ~ Susanne Kind Atheism and the Social Sciences ~ Stephen LeDrew PART IV: Religion, Conflict and Moderation Science and the Unearned Virtues of the ‘Really Religious People’: Exploring the Association between Perceived Religiosity and Science Rejection among Students in the Midwestern United States ~ David E. Long Discourses on Science and Islam: A View from Britain ~ Amy Unsworth Conclusion: Future Directions in the Sociological Study of Science and Belief ~ Stephen H. Jones, Rebecca Catto and Tom Kaden

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe live in God's world, and today this world is continually experiencing the impact of science, scientific ideas, and technological fruits of science. So if this is God's world, then how does God relate to science?

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a time when the relation of theology to science is in question, due in part to the unwitting fideism of religious fundamentalists and, conversely, as a result of the equally fundamentalist diatribes of the so-called “New Atheists,” How Science Enriches Theology provides a much-needed demonstration of the possibility and necessity for dialogue and integration between the two perspectives or fields of inquiry. Far from being in the unhappy throes of divorce, theology and science must renew their common commitment to the use of reason! This work is written by two formidable thinkers who have each written extensively on the foundations of natural science and related issues – including the inherently evolutionary nature and development of the cosmos. Now they team up to show the fruitful impact of science on theology as a use of reason in the service of Christian faith. In its philosophical or ‘cenoscopic’ foundations, science can support the truths of monotheistic faith and provide a corrective to both materialist and spiritualist forms of monism. Meanwhile, with the advance of science in the modern sense, the special sciences as ‘ideoscopic,’ we can see not only the traces of God’s existence, but of the Trinitarian nature of God, the Divine Persons of the Godhead, as proposed in Christian faith. Make no mistake, the authors are sure to uphold the indemonstrability of Christian-specific doctrines, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation; but, with Augustine and Aquinas, they affirm that creation is rife with traces of the divine. The validity of theology does not reduce to the deliverances of the modern sciences, but the latter can undoubtedly aid the person of faith in the “evolution” of his or her theological understanding and embrace of faith as beyond – but not contrary to – reason properly exercised. For example, the immensity and depth of our universe, as indicated alike by relativity theory and quantum theory, along with the biological, chemical, and physical diversity and dynamic stability contained within the universe’s vast limits, enrich our understanding of God the Father. Our universe’s order, uniqueness, and intelligibility suggest how we may better understand the Divine Logos, Jesus Christ. While further the evolution, freedom, and plenitude of the cosmos reveal the character of God the Holy Spirit. In How Science Enriches Theology, Ashley and Deely present a veritably “theosemiotic picture” of the universe, and one which avoids the naïve reductionisms of mind to matter, culture to society, biology to physics, and cenoscopic to ideoscopic science. But not only do the authors of this stellar book explore the diverse riches of creation’s many nooks and crannies; they do not balk at concluding with the speculative but inevitable question, Where is creation headed?, while also providing a tentative answer to how we might reconcile the inevitable consequences of the Second Law of Thermodynamics with the Book of Revelation’s eschatological promise of a New Heavens and a New Earth.

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Endlessly absorbing and informative. It would be hard to imagine a better introduction to this most important and fascinating field.”—Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly EverythingPaleontology: A Brief History of Life is the fifth title published in the Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this volume, Ian Tattersall, a highly esteemed figure in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology, leads a fascinating tour of the history of life and the evolution of human beings. Starting at the very beginning, Tattersall examines patterns of change in the biosphere over time, and the correlations of biological events with physical changes in the Earth’s environment. He introduces the complex of evolutionary processes, situates human beings in the luxuriant diversity of Life (demonstrating that however remarkable we may legitimately find ourselves to be, we are the product of the same basic forces and processes that have driven the evolutionary histories of all other creatures), and he places the origin of our extraordinary spiritual sensibilities in the context of the exaptational and emergent acquisition of symbolic cognition and thought. Concise and yet comprehensive, historically penetrating and yet up-to-date, responsibly factual and yet engaging, Paleontology serves as the perfect entrée to science's greatest story.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJews and Science examines the complicated relationship between Jewish identities and the evolving meanings of science throughout the history of Western academic culture. Jews have been not only the agents for study of things Jewish, but also the subject of examination by "scientists" across a range of disciplines, from biology and bioethics to anthropology and genetics. Even the most recent iteration of Jewish studies as an academic discipline—Israel studies—stresses the global cultural, economic, and social impact of Israeli science and medicine.The 2022 volume of the Casden Institute's Jewish Role in American Life series tackles a range of issues that have evolved with the rise of Jewish studies, throughout its evolution from interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary, and now finally as a discipline itself with its own degrees and departments in universities across the world. This book gathers contributions by scholars from various disciplines to discuss the complexity in defining "science" across multiple fields within Jewish studies. The scholars examine the role of the self-defined "Jewish" scholar, discerning if their identification with the object of study (whether that study be economics, criminology, medicine, or another field entirely) changes their perception or status as scientists. They interrogate whether the myriad ways to study Jews and their relationship to science—including the role of Jews in science and scientific training, the science of the Jews (however defined), and Jews as objects of scientific study—alter our understanding of science itself. The contributors of Jews and Science take on the challenge to confront these central problems.Table of Contents FOREWORD EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION DEFINING SCIENCE; DEFINING JEWS Science, Imperialism, and Heteromasculinity in the Wissenschaft des Judentums, by Susannah Heschel Philosophers of Catastrophe: Early Twentieth-Century Jewish Proponents and Opponents of Objectivity in Science, by Steven Gimbel and Stephen Stern Medical History: A Blank Spot in Jewish Studies?, by Robert Jütte Jewish Scientists and Scholars at the University of Vienna from the Late Habsburg Period until the Early Post-War Years, by Mitchell G. Ash HUMAN BIOLOGY: GENETICS IN THE NOW "Questions Remain": Racialism, Geneticism, and the Continuing Lure of Jewish Essentialism, by Mitchell B. Hart Science, Sovereignty, and Diaspora: Alternative Genealogies and DNA Research on Jewish Populations, by Yulia Egorova ISRAEL STUDIES AND SCIENCE The Fusion of Zionism and Science: The First Two Decades—and the Present Day?, by Amos Morris-Reich and Danny Trom Israel as a Laboratory in the Time of COVID-19, by Sander L. Gilman JEWS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Environmental History and Jewish Studies: Methodological Intersections and Opportunities, by Dean Phillip Bell Changing Climates: Zionist Medical Climatology in Palestine, 1897–1948, by Netta Cohen ISRAEL STUDIES AND SCIENCE Jews and Science: A Note, by David A. Hollinger Science and Judaism, by Roald Hoffmann ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS ABOUT THE USC CASDEN INSTITUTE

Read more less

Book SynopsisJews and Science examines the complicated relationship between Jewish identities and the evolving meanings of science throughout the history of Western academic culture. Jews have been not only the agents for study of things Jewish, but also the subject of examination by "scientists" across a range of disciplines, from biology and bioethics to anthropology and genetics. Even the most recent iteration of Jewish studies as an academic discipline—Israel studies—stresses the global cultural, economic, and social impact of Israeli science and medicine.The 2022 volume of the Casden Institute's Jewish Role in American Life series tackles a range of issues that have evolved with the rise of Jewish studies, throughout its evolution from interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary, and now finally as a discipline itself with its own degrees and departments in universities across the world. This book gathers contributions by scholars from various disciplines to discuss the complexity in defining "science" across multiple fields within Jewish studies. The scholars examine the role of the self-defined "Jewish" scholar, discerning if their identification with the object of study (whether that study be economics, criminology, medicine, or another field entirely) changes their perception or status as scientists. They interrogate whether the myriad ways to study Jews and their relationship to science—including the role of Jews in science and scientific training, the science of the Jews (however defined), and Jews as objects of scientific study—alter our understanding of science itself. The contributors of Jews and Science take on the challenge to confront these central problems.Table of Contents FOREWORD EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION DEFINING SCIENCE; DEFINING JEWS Science, Imperialism, and Heteromasculinity in the Wissenschaft des Judentums, by Susannah Heschel Philosophers of Catastrophe: Early Twentieth-Century Jewish Proponents and Opponents of Objectivity in Science, by Steven Gimbel and Stephen Stern Medical History: A Blank Spot in Jewish Studies?, by Robert Jütte Jewish Scientists and Scholars at the University of Vienna from the Late Habsburg Period until the Early Post-War Years, by Mitchell G. Ash HUMAN BIOLOGY: GENETICS IN THE NOW "Questions Remain": Racialism, Geneticism, and the Continuing Lure of Jewish Essentialism, by Mitchell B. Hart Science, Sovereignty, and Diaspora: Alternative Genealogies and DNA Research on Jewish Populations, by Yulia Egorova ISRAEL STUDIES AND SCIENCE The Fusion of Zionism and Science: The First Two Decades—and the Present Day?, by Amos Morris-Reich and Danny Trom Israel as a Laboratory in the Time of COVID-19, by Sander L. Gilman JEWS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Environmental History and Jewish Studies: Methodological Intersections and Opportunities, by Dean Phillip Bell Changing Climates: Zionist Medical Climatology in Palestine, 1897–1948, by Netta Cohen ISRAEL STUDIES AND SCIENCE Jews and Science: A Note, by David A. Hollinger Science and Judaism, by Roald Hoffmann ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS ABOUT THE USC CASDEN INSTITUTE

Read more less

Book SynopsisFew topics have generated as much heat amongst evangelicals as the age of the earth and the doctrine of creation. Three camps have emerged to offer solutions: young-earth creationists (Answers in Genesis), old-earth creationists (Reasons to Believe), and evolutionary creationists (BioLogos). Controversy of the Ages carefully analyzes the debate by giving it perspective. Rather than offering arguments for or against a particular viewpoint on the age of the earth, the authors take a step back to put the debate in historical and theological context. The authors of this book demonstrate from the history of theology and science controversy that believers are entitled to differ over this issue, while still taking a stand against theistic evolution. But by carefully and constructively breaking down the controversy bit by bit, they show why the age issue is the wrong place to draw a line in the sand. Readers will find the content stimulating, the tone charitable, and the documentation impressive. The goal of this book is to bring unity and charity to a complicated and contentious debate.

Read more less

Book SynopsisGod and religion come in for bad press these days. Is religion worth keeping? Are militant atheists misguided? Do religion and spirituality need each other? Is it possible to build tolerance and respect in a divided world? And can science play a role? Eleanor Stoneham explains why the answer to all these questions is a resounding 'yes'. It is true that religions need to change and become more relevant for today's needs. But supposing science also changed, shed its shackles of conventional materialistic dogma based on some shaky assumptions and looked with new eyes at religious beliefs such as prayer, distance healing and life after death? Is it possible that the latest ideas on empathy and consciousness could be narrowing the gulf between science and religion? In our quest for a more just and peaceful society, could these same ideas help us find stronger inter-religious bonds of respect and understanding at the level of heart and soul? This book will help lay persons and clergy alike relate church tradition to the wider world of science, spirituality and interfaith issues. It will challenge the 'spiritual but not religious.' It will make the faithful think. And it will test those convinced that their religion or faith is the only way to enlightenment, the only path to Truth.Trade ReviewWe are smashing up ourselves, our relationships, and our planet. Religion is often blamed, and the charges often seem just. Fundamentalism of all sorts puts words and dogmas above people, justice and plain decency. There's a strong temptation to ditch religion. Compassionate humanism sometimes seems to have a more sensitive diagnostic nose and a more shrewd therapeutic, or at least palliative, plan. But ditching religion, argues Eleanor Stoneham in this gentle, urgent, compelling book, would be a bad mistake. It would mean reading religion as its twisters - the strident Christian Taliban of the Bible Belt and the dead-eyed, red-handed Islamists - want us to read it. Wed be joining them in their crass misreading. The real core of religion, she contends, is the Golden Rule of passionate altruism - a rule shared by all the great world faiths and by all great-hearted people. This rule wasn't generated by the Darwinian imperatives of reciprocal altruism or kin selection: it was set into the hearts of men by a God who gives himself freely and wildly to his creatures. We can't do without him (or her), as Stoneham calmly and persuasively demonstrates, and it's dangerous and downright dull to try. --Charles Foster Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford A refreshing and timely perspective on the spiritual condition of our times, reminding us that the basic role of religion is the cure of souls and calling for a renewed respect for religious traditions and an acknowledgement of the vital part they play in the maintenance of human community - contrary to the strident assertions of outspoken militant atheists. Radhakrishnans vision of a religion of the spirit, endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI, gives us an inspiring prospect of unity within diversity. --David Lorime, Programme Director of The Scientific and Medical Network In her new book Dr Eleanor Stoneham, who is herself a highly trained empirical scientist, presents the rational evidence to demonstrate that the genuine religious quest has just as good a claim as the scientific method to be a search for truth. Her open-mindedness is in contrast to the intolerance purveyed in many New Atheist publications where religious people are stereotyped as too stupid or ill informed to take account of the findings of modern science. Such a wild generalisation is itself unintelligent because it is manifestly untrue, as Dr Stoneham demonstrates. She argues that open-minded compassion lies at the heart of all true religion. Its absence is a sure sign of betrayal, leading to every sort of corruption. The New Atheists should be aware that they do their cause no good by showing a similar closed-minded lack of respect. --David Hay, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen School of Divinity, and Religious Studies, Author of The Spirit of the Child

Read more less

Book SynopsisSomething has gone terribly wrong. We face a spiritual crisis, but the extremes of religious fundamentalism on one hand, and scientific atheism on the other, offer no cure. Scepticism is soaring, especially among Millennials. Daily, we read of scandals among our politicians, priests and Hollywood stars. Mass shootings are epidemic, yet entertainment media glorifies violence. Drugs, not 'religion' as Karl Marx claimed, are now the 'opiate of the masses'. 'Christian' TV preachers use donations to purchase private jets and mansions, while children starve. The White House has claimed that 'Truth is not the truth'. Our leaders and institutions have lost all moral authority. A common religious response to crisis is to thump the Bible harder and louder. This book challenges us to go beyond a simple, childish belief. Dr Lance Moore offers an intelligent faith rooted in a respect for Scripture, while taking a fresh look at calcified orthodoxies. He invites readers to embrace paradox, in Spirituality and in Science, to rediscover God for our Quantum Age.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines the concepts of cause and effect from two dimensions. The first concerns the macrocosm of the Universe and how each belief system views creation. The second dimension explores the ways in which beliefs about creation influence the microcosmic world in terms of the nature of the self, the proximate goals within each system, the answers each belief system offers to the presence of evil and suffering in existence, and ideas about the ultimate goal of release from them. All these ideas inform and are fundamental to the understanding of the present-day practices of different faiths, presenting challenges for scriptural testimony balanced with existential living. The final two chapters explore current research in physics concerning the beginnings of the cosmos and what implications such research might have for existence within it, with the final chapter examining scientific views of the nature of the self. Contents include: Judaic and Christian Traditions. Islam. Hinduism. Early Buddhism. Sikhism. Classical Taoism. Recycled Stardust. Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Atoms: The Life and Death of the Self.

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Weaving the Cosmos" traces humanity's journey from the mythical origins of religion, through the struggles to make sense of Christianity in the fourth century, and the strangely similar struggles to make sense of quantum theory in the twentieth century, to modern quantum cosmology. What we see, both in the human mind and in the cosmos which has given birth to that mind, is a dance between rational Form and intuitive Being. This present moment of ecological crisis opens to us a unique opportunity for bringing together these two strands of our existence, represented by religion and science. As the story unfolds, the historical account is interwoven with the author's own experiences of learning the principles through which we can bring about this integration in ourselves and in society. The final chapter surveys the many changes now emerging in society which give us hope that a transformation can be achieved from our dysfunctional past to a future in which we can be truly human, in harmony with the earth.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen we look at the world around us, one of the most common observations is that things have a tendency to go wrong. People make mistakes, have accidents and some of them commit deliberate acts of violence. Disease affects every single species of plant and animal on the planet. Natural disasters kill millions of people and decimate animal populations. Countless people and animals suffer through no fault of their own. Scientists explain these events in various ways depending upon whether they involve errors in human choices and actions or whether they are caused by natural events. Theologians give us a different set of religious explanations. At times it can appear as if there is a fundamental flaw in the universe. In this book, Adrian Hough uses his training and expertise as both a scientist and a theologian to approach this flaw from both directions and comes up with the astonishing result that both sets of reasoning might have the same fundamental explanation. Using this discovery he then develops a way of reconciling belief in a loving God with the hurt and damage which is caused when things go wrong.Trade ReviewA significant contribution to our understanding of suffering and evil as well as to the dialogue between science and theology. (Rt Revd Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter) Dr Hough frees Christian discussion of sin from the moraliser's bedroom and brings it into the laboratory, where he and his readers can engage in a proper study of why things go wrong, both theologically and scientifically, in our world. (Rt Revd David Walker, Bishop of Dudley)

Read more less

Book SynopsisPsychologist and ethicist Robert Rocco Cottone takes readers on a religious journey infusing postmodern philosophy positive psychology and ethics into a comprehensive vision of religion in the future. Defining postmodern religion in a positive engaging and educational way he answers questions like What is the nature of belief Is there a universal god When does life begin and Is there an afterlife This book may profoundly change your understanding of religion and affect your practice of religion in a significant way. His method is entertaining compelling and sometimes perturbing as he addresses both ancient and postmodern religion in a way that is personal and scholarly. He also provides a postmodern religious framework that is inclusive affirming positive and drawn from the power of the human spirit.Trade ReviewThis is a brilliant work. The ideas in this book are revolutionary. Robert Rocco Cottone has produced a work that is destined to be a classic. He has merged ideas from the Positive Psychology movement ethics postmodern philosophy and religion into a vision of religion for the future. (Dr Mark Pope, Past President and Fellow of the American Counseling Association. Fellow of the American Psychological Association)

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat insights does Christianity offer? Christians believe we are stewards of God's creation. We therefore should win control of diseases. We should tackle Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injuries. But the ethical choices are tough. In this coherent, engaging book Professor Gareth Jones tackles: * Who designs designer babies? * What is special about the human embryo? * What are the limits of stem cell research? * Should we not merely repair, but enhance?

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 Gierowski-Shmeruk PrizeShortlisted for the Folklore Society's Katharine Briggs Award 2021Jews have been active participants in shaping the healing practices of the communities of eastern Europe. Their approach largely combined the ideas of traditional Ashkenazi culture with the heritage of medieval and early modern medicine. Holy rabbis and faith healers, as well as Jewish barbers, innkeepers, and pedlars, all dispensed cures, purveyed folk remedies for different ailments, and gave hope to the sick and their families based on kabbalah, numerology, prayer, and magical Hebrew formulas. Nevertheless, as new sources of knowledge penetrated the traditional world, modern medical ideas gained widespread support. Jews became court physicians to the nobility, and when the universities were opened up to them many also qualified as doctors. At every stage, medicine proved an important field for cross-cultural contacts.Jewish historians and scholars of folk medicine alike will discover here fascinating sources never previously explored—manuscripts, printed publications, and memoirs in Yiddish and Hebrew but also in Polish, English, German, Russian, and Ukrainian. Marek Tuszewicki's careful study of these documents has teased out therapeutic advice, recipes, magical incantations, kabbalistic methods, and practical techniques, together with the ethical considerations that such approaches entailed. His research fills a gap in the study of folk medicine in eastern Europe, shedding light on little-known aspects of Ashkenazi culture, and on how the need to treat sickness brought Jews and their neighbours together.Trade ReviewReviews'A brilliant resource and an inevitable point of reference for further studies of Jewish medical customs and beliefs in late Ashkenaz. The author has compiled a wide range of material and presents it as an enthralling story about a world that is no more . . . a fascinating book, certainly a recommended read not only for academics but for anyone with an interest in eastern European Jewry.'Agata Paluch, The Polish Review'Marek Tuszewicki’s book is impressive in its broad scope and ambition . . . written in an engaging manner, it offers a synthetic picture while not stinting on detail.'Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Central Europe'When people's health is on the line, what people do is a very good indication of what they think. Behaviour related to health gives exceptional insights into the thought world of otherwise inarticulate, 'simple' Jews, as well of the more educated strata of society. The cures Jews used in nineteenth-century eastern Europe demonstrate how they understood the material world, while the frequent exchange of ideas and methods with non-Jews shows their openness to different perspectives when they felt it was necessary to achieve vital goals. Marek Tuszewicki's study should be required reading for anyone dealing seriously with east European Jewish social history and the history of modernization, especially the relations between Jews and non-Jews and how world-views change. By the way, it is also fascinating.'Shaul Stampfer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem'This is a meticulous study of the traditional Jewish medical practices of eastern Europe. The source base in Polish and Yiddish is impressive, as is the comprehensive survey of secondary literature. The approach is very original, combining nineteenth-century ethnography with modern anthropological interpretative methods. This makes the book rich with material, but analytical and interpretative at the same time.'Marcin Wodziński, University of Wrocław'A Frog Under the Tongue is a triumph of archival excavation and academic interpretation. It is a work of clear interest not only to folklorists, but also to scholars of religious practice and of linguistics, and to researchers across the broad field of medical humanities ... Tuszewicki shows how important a knowledge of medical beliefs is in understanding how a society and culture functions — and what role folklore can play in discovering this.' Ross MacFarlane, Folklore‘[A]n erudite cataloging of the varied ways Eastern European Jews dealt with treating and warding off illness... Tuszewicki provides a highly documented, rich glimpse into a remarkable aspect of a lost world.’ S. V. Greenberg, ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction PART I. HEALTH AND SICKNESS IN THE CULTURE OF ASHKENAZI JEWS 1. Health as a Value 2. Biblical and Talmudic Tradition 3. In the Family Circle 4. Feldshers and Healers 5. Tsadikim and Physicians PART II. A WORLD OF SIMILARITIES AND SIGNS 6. Microcosm and Macrocosm 7. Humoral Pathology 8. Astrology PART III. Redemption and Festivals 9. Sin and Redemption 10. Festivals and Rituals PART IV. UNCLEAN FORCES 11. Diseases as Demonic Beings 12. Demons and Witches 13. The Evil Eye 14. Fright Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Trade ReviewKlimek's impressive study manages to bring faith and science into earnest conversation in a manner that is both learned and accessible ... This is an important book for anyone desiring a way to think about religious experience that betrays neither faith nor science. * Luke Timothy Johnson, Commonweal Magazine *Klimek deals with this need to know about the nature of the phenomenon, which in this case is something quite extraordinary. In particular, he responds to a major and recurrent ploy that aims to undercut the whole phenomenon by pathologizing it. * Michael Grosso, Religious Studies Review *Like many past entries into this field, Klimek trains his gaze on the scientific study of religious experience, in this case studies that have been done on the psychology and neuroscience of a small group of visionaries who have, for over thirty years, claimed to see daily apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Balkan village of Medjugorje. What makes Klimek's book noteworthy - and ambitious - is his insistence that these studies both prove the authenticity (and supernatural nature) of the events at Medjugorje, and provide a new framework for cooperation between science and religion. * Samuel J. Gee, Reading Religion *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: The Silence of the Birds CHAPTER 1: The Young Woman on the Hill CHAPTER 2: Public Revelation and Private Revelation: How the Catholic Church Discerns the Supernatural CHAPTER 3: Mysticism in the Twentieth Century CHAPTER 4: The Great Debate CHAPTER 5: Medical and Scientific Studies on the Apparitions in Medjugorje CHAPTER 6: Medjugorje's Uniqueness: A Different Case Study for Neuroscience CHAPTER 7: Learning from Shortcomings, Moving Forward with New Methods CONCLUSION: Contributions to the "Eternal-Battleground" BIBLIOGRAPHY

Read more less

Book SynopsisWilliam Bainbridge contends that the worlds of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games provide a new perspective on the human quest, one that combines the arts and simulates most aspects of real life. The quests in gameworlds also provide meaning for human action, in terms of narratives about achieving goals by overcoming obstacles.Trade RevieweGods may serve as a helpful reference for those researching online gaming, religious symbols, or considering a literary analysis of gaming environments. * Daniel B. Shank, Sociology of Religion *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Disbelief ; Chapter 2: The Culture Game ; Chapter 3: Deities ; Chapter 4: Souls ; Chapter 5: Priests ; Chapter 6: Shrines ; Chapter 7: Magic ; Chapter 8: Morality ; Chapter 9: Cults ; Chapter 10: Death ; Chapter 11: Quests ; Appendix: The Gameworlds

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less