Religion and science Books

Book SynopsisThousands of religious traditions have appeared over the course of human history but only a relative few have survived. Some speak of a myriad of gods, others of only one, and some recognize no gods at all. Volumes have been written attempting to prove the existence or nonexistence of supernatural being(s). So, if religion is not about God, then what is it about?Trade ReviewThis book is an important step toward the naturalistic, hence truly general theory of religion. It harmonizes contemporary scientific understanding of the origin of human nature with a positive view of the centrality of religion in culture. -- Edward O. Wilson * university research professor, emeritus, Harvard University *Loyal Rue has written a bold, scholarly, and gracefully composed discussion of the complex realtions between the concepts of God and religion. I learned a great deal from the rich tapestry of facts that filled the gaps in my understanding of the history of these ideas and believe that readers will enjoy a similar intellectual experience. -- Jerome Kagan * research Professor of Psychology, Harvard University *Table of Contentspt. 1. On human nature. ch. 1. The epic of evolution ch. 2. The evolution of behavior ch. 3. The education of emotion ch. 4. The nature of religion pt. 2. On spiritual traditions. ch. 5. Judaism ch. 6. Christianity ch. 7. Islam ch. 8. Hinduism ch. 9. Buddhism pt. 3. On the future of religion. ch. 10. The crisis of influence ch. 11. Doomsday and beyond

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Book SynopsisFaith and the Pursuit of Health explores how Pentecostal Christians manage chronic illness in ways that sheds light on health disparities and social suffering in Samoa, a place where rates of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders have reached population-wide levels. Trade Review"Hardin’s gripping ethnography of food and faith offers a beautifully-composed analysis of the lived experience of obesity in a Pacific Island community. By connecting religious and metabolic conversions, Hardin shows us how health in Samoa becomes a 'matter of faith' as faith, in turn, comes to physically matter. The stories of how people grapple with cardio-metabolism in this moving account of living and dying in 21st century Samoa will work their way into your heart and stay there." -- Emily Yates-Doerr * author of The Weight of Obesity: Hunger and Global Health in Postwar Guatemala *“This superb ethnography of Samoa represents a landmark integration of medical anthropology and the anthropology of Christianity. In the light of Hardin’s original analysis, established topics in both fields having to do with individualism, the body and social relations, and with temporality and cultural change, appear in a strikingly new light. This book is a major contribution that deserves a wide readership.” -- Joel Robbins * author of Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society *"This illuminating ethnography provides compelling evidence of Pentecostal Christianity’s appeal for women. A powerful synthesis of medical anthropology and the anthropology of Christianity, the analysis is written in a style that combines the subtleties of them both. The chapter on research methods is a gift to health practitioners and anthropologists undertaking their own studies." -- Shirley Lindenbaum * co-editor of Knowledge, Power and Practice: The Anthropology of Medicine and Everyday Life *"Hardin’s ethnography advances anthropology’s significant contribution to our understanding of the spirit, body and soul in health and illness, in a setting characterised by cardiometabolic ambivalence." * The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology *Table of ContentsTable of Contents Glossary Note on Pronunciation Map Foreword Chapter 1: Salvation and Metabolism Chapter 2: Ethnography between Clinic and Church Chapter 3: Discerning Ambiguous Risks Chapter 4: Freedom and Health Responsibility Chapter 5: Embodied Analytics Chapter 6: Well-being and Deferred Agency Chapter 7: Support Synergies Chapter 8: Integrating Faith into Healthcare Practice Acknowledgements Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFaith and the Pursuit of Health explores how Pentecostal Christians manage chronic illness in ways that sheds light on health disparities and social suffering in Samoa, a place where rates of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders have reached population-wide levels. Trade Review"Hardin’s gripping ethnography of food and faith offers a beautifully-composed analysis of the lived experience of obesity in a Pacific Island community. By connecting religious and metabolic conversions, Hardin shows us how health in Samoa becomes a 'matter of faith' as faith, in turn, comes to physically matter. The stories of how people grapple with cardio-metabolism in this moving account of living and dying in 21st century Samoa will work their way into your heart and stay there." -- Emily Yates-Doerr * author of The Weight of Obesity: Hunger and Global Health in Postwar Guatemala *“This superb ethnography of Samoa represents a landmark integration of medical anthropology and the anthropology of Christianity. In the light of Hardin’s original analysis, established topics in both fields having to do with individualism, the body and social relations, and with temporality and cultural change, appear in a strikingly new light. This book is a major contribution that deserves a wide readership.” -- Joel Robbins * author of Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society *"This illuminating ethnography provides compelling evidence of Pentecostal Christianity’s appeal for women. A powerful synthesis of medical anthropology and the anthropology of Christianity, the analysis is written in a style that combines the subtleties of them both. The chapter on research methods is a gift to health practitioners and anthropologists undertaking their own studies." -- Shirley Lindenbaum * co-editor of Knowledge, Power and Practice: The Anthropology of Medicine and Everyday Life *"Hardin’s ethnography advances anthropology’s significant contribution to our understanding of the spirit, body and soul in health and illness, in a setting characterised by cardiometabolic ambivalence." * The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology *Table of ContentsTable of Contents Glossary Note on Pronunciation Map Foreword Chapter 1: Salvation and Metabolism Chapter 2: Ethnography between Clinic and Church Chapter 3: Discerning Ambiguous Risks Chapter 4: Freedom and Health Responsibility Chapter 5: Embodied Analytics Chapter 6: Well-being and Deferred Agency Chapter 7: Support Synergies Chapter 8: Integrating Faith into Healthcare Practice Acknowledgements Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisLooks at the biblical figure of Babylon as it appears in U.S. culture from 2001-2011 in politics, media, war, and sexual regulation; analyzes allusions to Babylon as part of a larger response to the erosion of national sovereignty within economic globalization.Trade Review"Runions' scholarship is phenomenal. It's stunning that she can sustain her rigor over this variety of cultural and political contexts. That she does is a testament to her breadth as a scholar, and her critical acumen." -- -Jay Twomey University of Cincinnati "The Babylon Complex is unlike anything else in the fields it engages and crosses; its scholarship is unique, top-tier, and challenging, offering much savvier reflections upon biblical heritages and uses than what one often finds in the current theoretical 'turn to religion.' In short, it is both relevant and interdisciplinary, two terms too often used, but seldom as aptly as they are for this truly excellent book." -- -Joseph A. Marchal Ball State University "Erin Runions reveals Babylon to be an ambivalent but perversely indispensable figure for theopolitical discourses girding contemporary biopolitics. Modeling a queerly sublime ethics of reading, The Babylon Complex sets an agenda for a next generation of biblical scholars while demonstrating what cultural studies gains from engagement with biblical studies." -- -Jennifer Glancy Le Moyne College "Theoretically sophisticated and engaging, this remarkable book complicates our understanding of how the Bible affects U.S political ideals and subjectivities." -Reading Religion "With fearless insight and incisive prose, Erin Runions offers a breathtaking tour de force of astute biblical-political-philosophical analysis that persistently reframes the intertwining of biblical interpretation and biopolitics through the figure of Babel/Babylon. As she shows, the pervasive theopolitics of American discourse, right and left, is informed by an eschatological fantasy sanctioned by the twin edifices of bible and law. This engrossing account of biblically inflected defenses of US sovereignty places biblical interpretation at the center of critical theory and critical theory at the center of biblical interpretation. A must read for anyone interested in the current state of theodemocratic exceptionalism, in the unpredictable and shifting meanings of biblical texts, and in the possibility of listening, finally, to an other." -- -Jennifer Knust Boston UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Babylon and the Crisis of Sovereignty 1. From Babel to Biopolitics: Josephus, Theodemocracy, and the Regulation of Pleasure 2. Bellicose Dreams: Babylon and Exception to Law 3. Tolerating Babel: Biopolitics, Film, and Family 4. Revenge on Babylon: Literalist Allegory, Scripture, Torture 5. Who Lives in Babylon? The Gay Antichrist as Political Enemy 6. Babelian Scripture: A Queerly Sublime Ethics of Reading Postlude: Roads to Babel Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisScientists and theologians from a range of disciplines, all orthodox Christian believers, explain what changed their minds.Trade Review“As one who was raised a Quaker, and who therefore never felt any tension between science and religion, I found it deeply humbling to read the testimonies of these deeply committed Christians, raised more evangelical than I, who had to work so hard to reconcile their faith with their science. Truly do they show they are made in the image of their God as they use their talents to reason to what they now see as the truth.” -- Professor Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science, Florida State University"I found it profoundly inspiring to be guided through the seminal debate on God and evolution by these wonderful scholars and believers. This book will make you more capable and discerning in your discussions with others." -- Rev. Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor Northland - A Church Distributed“A most timely, much-needed book. I have seen too many confused young Christians wrestling with scientific facts. The varied experiences of the authors in this book will help many people to keep their faith and their scientific integrity.” -- Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS, VMH"The Christian Church continues to benefit greatly from Berry’s scientific wisdom and godly faith." -- The Church TimesTable of ContentsContentsForeword 8Introduction: In the Beginning God– R. J. (Sam) Berry 101. He’s Still Working on Me– Nicholas Higgs 352. Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution– Emily Sturgess 493. From Belief in Creationism to Belief in Evolution– Colin Humphreys 644. Connecting Heart and Mind: A Journey Towards Wholeness– Darrel Falk 775. Fossils That Inform– Stephen Godfrey 906. Learning to Hear God’s Message– Scott and Grace Buchanan 1077. Reflections– Lisa Goddard 1278. Escaping from Creationism– John McKeown 1429. Living with Darwin’s Dangerous Idea– Karl Giberson 15310. Deluged– Philip Pattemore 17411. Evolutionary Metanoia– Wilson Poon 19712. Deliver Us – From Literalism– Paul Thomas 21513. How an Igneous Geologist Came to Terms With Evolution– Davis Young 23014. What Does Christ Have to Do with Chemistry?– David Vosburg 24515. Discovering Unexpected Dimensions of the ivine Plan– David Watts 26016. The Skeleton in the Cupboard: Why I ChangedMy Mind About Evolution– Bob Carling 27617. Struggling with Origins: A Personal Story– Denis Lamoureux 29318. Changing One’s Mind Over Evolution– Michael Reiss 318Epilogue– David Fergusson 331Going Further 338Index of Bible References 342Index 344

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Book SynopsisTwenty of the world's leading scientists explain how their science enhances their faith and their faith undergirds their scienceTrade Review"The Christian Church continues to benefit greatly from Berry’s scientific wisdom and godly faith." -- The Church TimesTable of ContentsContentsForeword 91. Alister McGrath: Science, Faith, and Making Sense ofThings 122. John Houghton: A God Big Enough 283. Andrew Briggs: And Information Became Physical 394. Chris Done: From Spock to the Supernatural 545. Colin Humphreys: Can Science and Christianity oth Be True? 646. Simon Stuart: Reflections of a Christian Workingin Science and Conservation 867. Francis Collins: What Do You Believe, Doctor? 1048. Ghillean Prance: A Talent for Science 1369. Monty Barker: Man – Dust with a Destiny 14810. John Wood: From Nanotechnology toMacro-Organizations – Engineering Atoms and More 16211. Andy Gosler: Surprise and the Value of Life 17612. Jennifer Wiseman: Inspired by the Heavens 19613. Sam Berry: Genes, Genesis and Greens 21014. John Wyatt: No Easy Answers 22515. Bob White: Earthquakes, Volcanoes,and Other Catastrophes 23916. Simon Conway Morris: One Impossible Thing BeforeBreakfast: Evolution and Christianity 25517. David Raffaelli: Inconvenient Truths 27618. Denis Alexander: A Different Drum-beat 28819. Rosalind Picard: Building Technology with Emotion 30820. Donald MacKay: Science and Christian Faith Today 322Suggestions for Further Reading 344Index of Bible References 347Index of Bible References 348

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Book SynopsisTake hold of the most recent scientific and theological developments and respond convincingly to this key question of faithTrade Review`Surely the best informed, clearest and most judicious treatment of the question in its title that you can find anywhere today.’ -- J I Packer`In this brilliant and highly readable treatise, Denis Alexander the scientists-believer argues convincingly and lovingly that a committed Christian need not fear evolution, but can embrace it as God’s awesome means of creation.’ -- Dr Francis S Collins, Head of the Human Genome Project, USA"Regardless of what position one might hold, Alexander’s book will light the way to a more informed understanding of the terrain in one of today’s most volatile issues. Just as importantly, he models the graciousness that ought to characterize our conversations. His expertise in the pertinent sciences is undergirded with a nuanced understanding of the biblical and theological issues and a commitment to their importance. Those who sometimes struggle with the technical jargon that often characterizes this conversation will find a breath of fresh air in his ability to communicate clearly. Books like this are helping the church to move beyond the warfare mentality and to consider anew ways that we can think as Christians in a complicated world, and Alexander’s work has earned a spot at the top of the list." -- John Walton, Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College [author of The Lost World of Genesis One]`Very timely, thoughtful, thorough and full of integrity. It speaks the languages of both science and faith in a remarkably clear and accessible way.’ -- Rt Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, UK`A masterful and enlightening journey through both the relevant biblical text and the science underlying evolution.’ -- Andrew P. Halestrap, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, UK`A fresh and massive contribution to an important debate....no Christian interested in the questions of origins can ignore this book.’ -- Julian Hardyman, Senior Pastor, Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge, UK"Immensely valuable … a thoughtful and thought-provoking work." -- Professor Ernan McMullin * The Tablet *Table of ContentsContentsFigures 10Preface to the First Edition 11Preface to the Second Edition 151 What Do We Mean By Creation? 212 The Biblical Doctrine of Creation 353 What Do We Mean By Evolution? Dating, DNA and Genes 584 What Do We Mean By Evolution? Natural Selection, Reproductive Success and Cooperation 885 What Do We Mean By Evolution? Speciation, Fossils and the Question of Information 1126 Objections to Evolution 1547 What About Genesis? 1778 Evolutionary Creationism 1999 Who were Adam and Eve? The Background 22310 Who were Adam and Eve? Genesis and Science in Conversation 25211 Evolution and the Biblical Understanding of Death 30512 Evolution and the Fall 31613 Evolution, Natural Evil and the Theodicy Question 36614 Intelligent Design and Creation’s Order 38915 Evolution: Intelligent and Designed? 41416 The Origin of Life 435Postscript 461Notes 464Index 493

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Book SynopsisIf God exists and wants to be known, you will see his fingerprints all over the place.Table of ContentsCONTENTSAcknowledgments 8Foreword by Professor David Wilkinson 9Introduction 121. The Evidence of God in the Cosmos 182. The Evidence of God in Nature 463. The Evidence of God in Suffering 734. The Evidence of God in Mathematics 1025. The Evidence of God in Society 1336. The Evidence of God in Truth 1617. The Evidence of God in Death 205Notes 239Bibliography 249

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Book SynopsisStories from noteworthy evangelical Christians who honour the authority of the Bible, but who also agree with what science says about the cosmos, our planet and the life that so abundantly fills it.Trade Review"Atheists often cite religious opposition to evolution as a reason for their unbelief. This wonderful collection of essays by Bible-believing Christians demonstrates how unnecessary it is to oppose evolution in the name of faith. What is striking about the authors in this volume is the sheer range and diversity of their own spiritual journeys in coming to terms with science. It is my prayer that evolution might cease to be seen as a threat to faith on the part of some Christians rather than as an integral aspect of God's created order for which the Christian can rightly give praise." -- Denis R. Alexander, emeritus director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion"This collection of firsthand experiences is important for showing that firm belief in the truth-telling character of Scripture can support, rather than undermine, the best scientific investigations. It also provides more solid evidence for the good that BioLogos is doing to transform science and religion from a war zone to an instructive conversation." -- Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre DameTable of ContentsContentsForeword by Denis Alexander 11Acknowledgments 13Introduction 15Kathryn Applegate and J. B. (Jim) Stump1. From Culture Wars to Common Witness:A Pilgrimage on Faith and Science 21James K. A. Smith2. Who’s Afraid of Science? 29Scot McKnight3. The Inevitable Conclusion 34Ken Fong4. Learning to Praise God for His Work in Evolution 40Deborah Haarsma5. An Old Testament Professor Celebrates Creation 48Tremper Longman III6. Embracing the Lord of Life 54Jeff Hardin7. Peace 62Stephen Ashley Blake8. Learning the Language of God 69Francis S. Collins9. Faith, Truth and Mystery 75Oliver D. Crisp10. Inspired by an Amazing Universe 82Jennifer Wiseman11. Boiling Kettles and Remodeled Apes 89John Ortberg12. From Intelligent Design to Evolutionary Creation 96Dennis R. Venema13. A Scientist’s Journey to Reflective Christian Faith 103Praveen Sethupathy14. A Fumbling Journey 109Dorothy Boorse15. A Biblically Fulfilled Evolutionary Creationist 116J. B. (Jim) Stump16. A True Read on Reality 124Daniel M. Harrell17. A British Reflection on the EvolutionControversy in America 131N. T. Wright18. Personal Evolution: Reconciling EvolutionaryScience and Christianity 138Justin L. Barrett19. The Evolution of an Evolutionary Creationist 143Denis O. Lamoureux20. Learning from the Stars 153Laura Truax21. So, Do You Believe in Evolution? 159Rodney J. Scott22. The Spirit of an Evolving Creation:Surmisings of a Pentecostal Theologian 167Amos Yong23. Two Books + Two Eyes = Four Necessities forChristian Witness 173Richard Dahlstrom24. Finding Rest in Christ, Not in Easy Answers 180Kathryn Applegate25. Safe Spaces 187Richard J. MouwNotes 195

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Book SynopsisArguing that there are ways to move beyond the limitations of methodological atheism without compromising scientific objectivity, the essays gathered in The Science and Theology of Godly Love explore the potential for collaboration between social science and theology. They do so within the context of the interdisciplinary study of Godly Love, which examines the perceived experience of loving God, being loved by God, and thereby being motivated to engage in selfless service to others. This volume serves as an introduction to and a call for further research in this new field of study, offering ten methodological perspectives on the study of Godly Love written by leading social scientists and theologians.Drawing on the work of Douglas Porpora and others, the contributors contend that agnosticism is the appropriate methodological stance when religious experience is under the microscope. Godly Love does not force a theistic explanation on data, instead these essays show thaTable of ContentsIntroduction Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post Part I—Theology and Godly Love 1. Godly Love: Why We Cannot Endure without It Stephen G. Post 2. Agape, Self-Sacrifice, and Mutuality: An Exploration into the Thought of Jonathan Edwards and the Theme of Godly Love Michael J. McClymond 3. Imago Dei and Kenosis: Contributions of Christology to the Study of Godly Love Peter Althouse 4. Violence and Nonviolence in Conceptualizations of Godly Love Paul Alexander 5. Testing Creaturely Love and God's Causal Role Thomas Jay Oord Part II—Social Science and Godly Love 6. Methodological Agnosticism for the Social Sciences? Lessons from Sorokin's and James's Allusions to Psychoanalysis, Mysticism, and Godly Love Ralph W. Hood Jr. 7. Godly Love from the Perspective of Psychology Julie J. Exline 8. Sociology, Philosophy, and the Empirical Study of Godly Love Margaret M. Poloma 9. Socialization, Empirical Studies, and Godly Love: A Case Study in Survey Research Mark J. Cartledge 10. Toward a Grounded Theory of Godly Love: Latino/a Pentecostals Arlene S\u00e1nchez Walsh Conclusion Amos Yong Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisScience and Christianity is an accessible, engaging introduction to topics at the intersection of science and Christian theology.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments v Introduction ix 1 Conflict and Independence 1 1. Ways that science and Christianity might be related 2 2. Conflict 3 3. Independence 8 4. Two Books 11 2 Christianity and the Origin of Modern Science 15 1. The handmaiden of theology 16 2. Christianity’s role in the rise of modern science: Twentieth-century views 19 3. Recent developments 24 3 Secularization 29 1. Scientists and religious belief 31 2. Broadening the definition 34 3. A secular age 36 4 Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design 42 1. Setting the stage for Young Earth Creationism 43 2. Today’s Young Earth Creationism 45 3. Intelligent Design 48 4. Irreducible complexity and information 50 5 The Bible 56 1. Two Books vs. sola scriptura 57 2. Interpretation 59 3. What kind of inspiration? 63 4. Science and the Bible 66 6 Methodological Naturalism 69 1. Defining methodological naturalism 70 2. Duhem and the aims of science 72 3. Methodological naturalism and the problem of demarcation 75 4. Reasons for abiding by methodological naturalism 77 7 Natural Theology 81 1. Classic arguments of natural theology 82 2. Objections to natural theology 86 3. Natural theology for the 21st century 90 8 Cosmology 94 1. Big Bang cosmology 94 2. Fine tuning 99 3. The multiverse 102 9 Evolution 108 1. Evolution and the Bible 109 2. Creation through randomness and death 112 3. The uniqueness of human beings 115 4. Consonance between evolution and Christianity 117 10 Divine Action 120 1. The development of deism 121 2. Miracles 122 3. Non-interventionist objective divine action 126 4. Alternatives for explaining divine action 129 11 Mind, Soul, and Brain 134 1. The Christian tradition of the soul 135 2. Descartes and dualism 137 3. Challenges to dualism 139 4. Cognitive dualism 142 12 The Problem of Natural Evil 147 1. Articulation of the problem 148 2. Some potential responses 150 3. A more robust theodicy 152 4. Eschatological fulfillment 155 Conclusion: The Last Things 159 Timeline of Historical Figures Discussed 164 Glossary 167 Index 174

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Book SynopsisScience and Christianity is an accessible, engaging introduction to topics at the intersection of science and Christian theology. A philosophically orientated treatment that introduces the relationship of science to Christianity and explores to what extent the findings of science affect traditional Christian theology Addresses important theological topics in light of contemporary science, including divine action, the problem of natural evil, and eschatology Historically oriented chapters and chapters covering methodological principles for both science and theology provide the reader with a strong foundational understanding of the issues Includes feature boxes highlighting quotations, biographies of major scientists and theologians, key terms, and other helpful information Issues are presented as fairly and objectively as possible, with strengths and weaknesses of particular interpretations fully discussed Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction xi 1 Conflict and Independence 1 1. Ways that science and Christianity might be related 2 2. Conflict 3 3. Independence 8 4. Two Books 11 2 Christianity and the Origin of Modern Science 15 1. The handmaiden of theology 16 2. Christianity’s role in the rise of modern science: Twentieth-century views 19 3. Recent developments 24 3 Secularization 29 1. Scientists and religious belief 31 2. Broadening the definition 34 3. A secular age 36 4 Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design 42 1. Setting the stage for Young Earth Creationism 43 2. Today’s Young Earth Creationism 45 3. Intelligent Design 48 4. Irreducible complexity and information 50 5 The Bible 56 1. Two Books vs. sola scriptura 57 2. Interpretation 59 3. What kind of inspiration? 63 4. Science and the Bible 66 6 Methodological Naturalism 69 1. Defining methodological naturalism 70 2. Duhem and the aims of science 72 3. Methodological naturalism and the problem of demarcation 75 4. Reasons for abiding by methodological naturalism 77 7 Natural Theology 81 1. Classic arguments of natural theology 82 2. Objections to natural theology 86 3. Natural theology for the 21st century 90 8 Cosmology 94 1. Big Bang cosmology 94 2. Fine tuning 99 3. The multiverse 102 9 Evolution 108 1. Evolution and the Bible 109 2. Creation through randomness and death 112 3. The uniqueness of human beings 115 4. Consonance between evolution and Christianity 117 10 Divine Action 120 1. The development of deism 121 2. Miracles 122 3. Non-interventionist objective divine action 126 4. Alternatives for explaining divine action 129 11 Mind, Soul, and Brain 134 1. The Christian tradition of the soul 135 2. Descartes and dualism 137 3. Challenges to dualism 139 4. Cognitive dualism 142 12 The Problem of Natural Evil 147 1. Articulation of the problem 148 2. Some potential responses 150 3. A more robust theodicy 152 4. Eschatological fulfillment 155 Conclusion: The Last Things 159 Timeline of Historical Figures Discussed 164 Glossary 167 Index 174

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Book SynopsisNo God, No Science: Theology, Cosmology, Biology presents a work of philosophical theology that retrieves the Christian doctrine of creation from the distortions imposed upon it by positivist science and the Darwinian tradition of evolutionary biology. Argues that the doctrine of creation is integral to the intelligibility of the world Brings the metaphysics of the Christian doctrine of creation to bear on the nature of science Offers a provocative analysis of the theoretical and historical relationship between theology, metaphysics, and science Presents an original critique and interpretation of the philosophical meaning of Darwinian biology Table of ContentsPreface viii Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xii Primary Sources and Translations xvi Introduction 1 Part I In the Beginning 7 1 Discourse on Method 9 2 A Brief History of the Cosmos 49 Part II The Eclipse of the Universe 105 3 The Scientific and Theological Revolution 107 4 Unnatural “Theology” 150 5 Darwin the Theologian 186 6 The Mystery of the Missing Organism 250 Part III Creation Without Creationism 297 7 Deus Creator Omnium 299 8 What the World Is 334 9 Saving the Appearances 375 Epilogue: Evolution of the Last Men 416 Index 422

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Book SynopsisLivingstone concludes with contemporary examples to remind us that what scientists can say and what others can hear in different venues differ today just as much as they did in the past.Trade ReviewHow was Darwin's On the Origin of Species received by his contemporary scholars, particularly by theologians and religious authors? That is the subject of the thoroughly researched and elegantly written book by David N. Livingstone. -- Francisco J. Ayala Science, Religion and Culture Dealing with Darwin is a compelling account of how science is made in a process of transit. A theory such as Darwinian evolution is, after all, not a sealed package that is either accepted or rejected by its various audiences. Rather, as Livingstone's book vividly demonstrates, different versions of Darwin were appropriated, reconstituted and constructed to suit various local needs and theological or scientific contingencies. -- Gowan Dawson Journal of Historical Geography An informing and suggestive examination of the Darwinian episode. -- J. David Hoeveler Reports of the National Center for Science Education Dealing with Darwin has been many years in the making, but well worth waiting for. It is a delight to read, both from a literary and intellectual standpoint. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith In this illuminating book, our intrepid tour guide crafts a vivid portrait of the geographical, cultural, political, and racial dynamics that have shaped and often continue to characterize debates over Darwin. Dealing with Darwin is a welcome addition to Livingstone's growing library of compelling works on religion and science, pathbreaking research that upends the way many think about the historical interplay between Darwinism and religious belief. Isis Its most original contribution is in using cultural geography to study science and religion. Its most interesting point is that reactions to Darwin were also always about something else. And finally, its most inspiring accomplishment is the way it makes microhistories serve a compelling larger argument: it is a comparative collection of local studies whose sum is more than its parts. This book is essential reading for those seeking to understand the geography, whether actual or metaphorical, of nineteenth-century science-and-religion. British Society for Literature and ScienceTable of ContentsPreface1. Dealing with Darwin: Locating Encounters with Evolution2. Edinburgh, Evolution, and Cannibalistic Nostalgia3. Belfast, the Parliament of Science, and the Winter of Discontent4. Toronto, Knox, and Bacon's Bequest5. Columbia, Woodrow, and the Legacy of the Lost Cause6. Princeton, Darwinism, and the Shorthorn Cattle7. Darwinian Engagements: Place, Politics, RhetoricNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisAmerican creationists' efforts to export their beliefs have succeeded in Europe beyond their own expectations, winning followers across creed and country.For decades, the creationist movement was primarily situated in the United States. Then, in the 1970s, American creationists found their ideas welcomed abroad, first in Australia and New Zealand, then in Korea, India, South Africa, Brazil, and elsewhereincluding Europe, where creationism plays an expanding role in public debates about science policy and school curricula. In this, the first comprehensive history of creationism in Europe, leading historians, philosophers, and scientists narrate the rise ofand response toscientific creationism, creation science, intelligent design, and organized antievolutionism in countries and religions throughout Europe.Providing a unique map of creationism in Europe, the authors chart the surprising history of creationist activities and strategies there. Over the past forty yeTrade ReviewOne of the more fascinating late releases in science books this year... Highly recomended. Forbes This is a fascinating book... It takes what is a uniquely American phenomena and puts it into an entirely new context. -- Kevin Winter San Francisco Book Review This first comprehensive contribution on creationism in Europe skilfully traces the threads of historiography, Philosophy, Sociology, Biology and other sciences, from the 19th century to the 21st century, focusing on the rise of a response to the creation science, intelligent design, and antievolutionism in a variety of European countries and regions... Creationism in Europe is a provocative contribution to the current European and global historiography. It offers plenty of scope for developing new ideas that European scholars could take to their own research, and use to expand or modify their own perspective. -- Dr. Harieta Mareci Sabol European Journal of Science and Theology A significant contribution toward filling a major gap in the literature... Choice This science versus the Bible debate will not go away anytime soon. This book ought to be... essential reading for anyone involved in or concerned about the issues it raises. -- Peter Costello The Irish Catholic Creationism in Europe must be on our reading lists. -- M. Ruse Science & Education As a well-edited compendium of essays in which each chapter explores the history of organized creationism (and opposition to it) in a specific country or region, Creationism in Europe is both authoritative and comprehensive. The British Journal for the History of Science Creationism in Europe marks a serious advance in the social and historical understanding of antievolutionist activism in Europe. Isis This is a fine collection of essays on an understudied topic, and will provide an essential starting point for any further research of European creationism. It is uniformly well written, accessible to the non-specialist, and makes a vital contribution to the existing scholarship. British Society for Literature and ScienceTable of ContentsForeword, by Ronald L. Numbers Acknowledgments Introduction: Creationism in Europe or European Creationism? Chapter 1. France Chapter 2. Spain and Portugal Chapter 3. United Kingdom Chapter 4. The Low Countries Chapter 5. Scandinavia Chapter 6. Germany Chapter 7. Poland Chapter 8. Greece Chapter 9. Russia and Its Neighbors Chapter 10. Turkey Chapter 11. Catholicism Chapter 12. Intelligent Design Chapter 13. The Rise of Anti-creationism in Europe Afterword: Reclaiming Science for Creationism A Note on SourcesList of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThis compelling book reveals that the Creation Museum is a remarkably complex phenomenon, at once a natural history museum at odds with contemporary science, an extended brief for the Bible as the literally true and errorless word of God, and a powerful and unflinching argument on behalf of the Christian right.Trade ReviewThe material unfolds engagingly because the Trollingers confront and rebut pseudoscientific zealotry...so readers emerge from our deep exposure to this culture feeling triumphant, sane, as we align with the authors in the camp of science and reason. Times Higher Education [T]he most compelling elements of the book focus on the history, evolution and construction of the museum as a cultural space and then explore how the Creation Museum fits into that history. ...As the Trollingers show repeatedly, Creationism has evolved a posture that steadfastly sidesteps any kind of serious debate. ...The book is at its best when it situates the Creation Museum within the longer history of how we present objects and organize knowledge. Los Angeles Times More than a tour, Righting America at the Creation Museum is about as thorough and detailed a text-based analysis of the Creation Museum as anyone could want. This book is a perceptive critical analysis of the museum's purposes, methods, and potential impact. Free InquiryTable of ContentsIntroduction1. Museum2. Science3. Bible4. Politics5. JudgmentEpilogueAcknowledgmentsNotesWorks CitedSuggestions for Further ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisWeissenbacher, Stephen P. Weldon, and Tomoko YoshidaTrade ReviewThe second edition of Gary Ferngren’s edited volume, Science and religion: a historical introduction, addresses a real need in the historiography and pedagogy of science and religion . . . the additions to the second edition of Ferngren’s Science and religion constitute a significant improvement.—Metascience. . . there are plenty of quality contributions here to justify purchase by those looking for an overview of the field or as use within an undergraduate classroom . . .—Reading ReligionThis second edition is more expansive and more in tune with contemporary discussions . . . For those who wish to get a good overview of the present status of science and religion as viewed by contemporary historians of science, this is a good book. It could also serve as an intellectually challenging introduction for undergraduates in a science/religion course.—Arie Leegwater, Calvin College, Perspectives on Science and Christian FaithTable of ContentsIntroductionPart I: Science and Religion: Conflict or Complexity?1. Science and Religion Stephen P. WeldonPart II: The Premodern Period2. Aristotle and AristotelianismEdward Grant and Craig Martin3. Early Christian Attitudes toward NatureDavid C. Lindberg and Gary B. Ferngren4. Science and Religion in Medieval Latin ChristendomMichael H. Shank and David C. Lindberg5. IslamAlnoor Dhanani and Glen M. CooperPart III: The Scientific Revolution6. The Copernican RevolutionOwen Gingerich7. Galileo GalileiRichard J. Blackwell and Michael H. Shank8. Early Modern ProtestantismEdward B. Davis9. Isaac NewtonStephen Snobelen10. Natural TheologyJohn Hedley BrookePart IV: Transformations in Geology, Biology, and Cosmology, 1650-190011. Geology and Paleontology from 1700 to 1900Nicolaas A. Rupke12. Natural History Peter M. Hess and John Henry13. Charles DarwinJames Moore14. EvolutionPeter J. Bowler and John Henry15. CosmogoniesRonald L. Numbers and Peter J. SusallaPart V: The Response of Religious Traditions16. The Bible and ScienceJohn Stenhouse17. Roman Catholicism since TrentSteven J. Harris and Mariusz Tabaczek18. Evangelicalism and FundamentalismMark A. Noll and Christopher M. Rios19. The Scopes TrialEdward J. Larson20. Judaism and SciencesNoah Efron21. Modern Western Science and Asian TraditionsTomoko Yoshida and Stephen P. Weldon22. AtheismJohn HenryPart VI: The Theological Implications of Modern Science23. PhysicsRichard Olson24. Modern CosmologiesCraig McConnell25. CausationJohn Henry and Mariusz Tabaczek26. The Modern Synthesis in EvolutionJoshua M. Moritz27. AnthropologyTimothy Larson28. American PsychologyMatthew S. Hedstrom29. Neuroscience and the Human PersonAlan C. Weissenbacher30. Ecology and the EnvironmentDavid N. Livingstone and Diarmid A. FinneganAcknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a book worthy of reading, digesting, and emulating in its close analysis of science and religion. The Warfare between Science and Religion will give the reader a trustworthy account of the most recent scholarship about the religion science nexus.—Arie Leegwater, Calvin University, Perspectives on Science and Christian FaithHistorians of science have been attempting to destroy this myth—that science and religion have been perennially at war—for the past 40 years or so. Nonetheless, as the subtitle of the book conveys, this is the idea that wouldn't die. [The Warfare between Science and Religion] brings together a group of historian myth-busters who have been thinking about this question . . . One of the virtues of this book is that it also looks at science and religion interactions in Islam and Judaism as well as Christianity.—Peter Harrison and Charles J. Styles, Five BooksThe history of the assertion that science and religion are inevitably in conflict is dominated by two late nineteenth-century narratives; John William Draper's History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874) and Andrew Dickson White's A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). The present very welcome volume contains seventeen essays that examine these classic texts, their reception by contemporaries and the subsequent history of the conflict thesis.—Geoffrey Cantor, University of Leeds, British Journal for the History of ScienceThe questions whether, why, and to what extent science and religion are in conflict has been one of the abiding motifs of Western culture. This collection by an international group of scholars covers the subject from a rich variety of angles . . . Those who are interested in the science-and-religion debate, and the impact of science as a cultural force, will find this book a fascinating read.—Peter Forster, Church TimesAccessible, historically illuminating, meticulous.—Quarterly Review of BiologyThe focus of this outstanding collection that criticizes the idea of conflict between science and religion, represents the historian John Hedley Brooke's call for attention to the complexities of history . . . The idea of warfare between science and religion largely deserves burial, but as these essays show, the sentiments for conflicts endure.—Paul J. Croce, Stetson University, Journal of American HistoryThe Warfare between Science and Religion is amply successful in its project of providing a historical understanding of the warfare thesis—or, better, of the warfare theses—over a broad historical and ideological range, through a series of accessible and interesting chapters. And it is a vitally important project, considering the persistence of conflicts involving science and religion in the United States.—Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education, Reading Religion - Journal of the American Academy of ReligionTable of ContentsIntroductionMark A. Noll and David N. Livingstone 1. The Warfare Thesis Lawrence M. Principe2. The Galileo Affair Maurice A. Finocchiaro3. Rumors of War Monte Harrell Hampton 4. The Victorians: Tyndall and Draper Bernard Lightman5. Continental Europe Frederick Gregory6. Roman Catholics David Mislin7. Eastern Orthodox Christians Efthymios Nicolaidis8. Liberal Protestants Jon H. Roberts9. Protestant Evangelicals Bradley J. Gundlach10. Jews Noah Efron 11. Muslims M. Alper Yalçinkaya12. New Atheists Ronald L. Numbers and Jeff Hardin13. Neo-Harmonists Peter Harrison14. Historians John Hedley Brooke15. Scientists Elaine Howard Ecklund and Christopher P. Scheitle16. Social Scientists Thomas H. Aechtner17. The View on the Street John H. EvansContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1967. Monsman undertakes a comprehensive critical analysis of Walter Pater's fiction, which presents the critic with numerous causes of frustration, not the least of which is a lack of both dramatic narration and description. Pater is rarely vivid and firsthand in his fiction; he tends instead toward exposition. Monsman's emphasis in Pater's Portraits is tracing out the conscious artistic structure of Pater's fiction. The scope of Pater's writings comprises nothing less than Western culture itself; its subject is all that man has written, thought, said, sung, hoped, or prayed as a civilized creature over two and one-half millennia. Pater's success in handling such panoply is attributable to his discovery of a coherent pattern by which art, religion, and life can be organized. Monsman aims to discover in Pater's fiction the use of old scientific-religious patterns of myth to explain moments of religious and cultural awakening, to reveal the way in which one man aTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionI. Art and the Gods of ArtII. Portraiture and the Early PortraitsIII. Marius the Epicurean (1885)IV. The Collected Imaginary PortraitsV. Gaston de Latour (1888) and Religious BeliefVI. The Uncollected Imaginary PortraitsVII. Myth and MetaphorIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe essays provide good examples of the role that physico-theology played in the development of the sciences with which it was in conversation.—Thokozani Kamwendo, University of Durham, H-Net ReviewsThis volume presents the subject with excellent variety, yet editorially holds together well, serving as an introduction to the intellectual phenomenon of physico-theology.—Jason M. Rampelt, University of Cambridge, Perspectives in Science and Christian FaithPhysico-theology: Religion and Science in Europe, 1650-1750 , therefore, is a helpful and horizon-widening collection, which successfully adds something to an already rich, abundant, well-studied period in the history of science and religion.—Nick Spencer, Science and Christian BeliefTable of ContentsContributorsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction Ann Blair and Kaspar von GreyerzPart I. Terms and Purview of Physico-theologyChapter 1. Was Physico-theology Bad Theology and Bad Science? John Hedley Brooke Chapter 2. What's in a Name? "Physico-theology" in Seventeenth-Century England Peter Harrison Chapter 3. The Form of a Flower Jonathan Sheehan Part II. National TraditionsChapter 4. What Was Physico-theology For? Scott MandelbroteChapter 5. Physico-theology in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic: The Case of Willem Goeree (1635–1711) Eric JorinkChapter 6. Back to the Roots? J. A. Fabricius's "Register of Ancient and Modern Writers" of 1728 Kaspar von GreyerzPart III. Styles of ReligiosityChapter 7. Miracles, Secrets, and Wonders: Jakob Horst and Christian Natural Philosophy in German Protestantism before 1650 Kathleen CrowtherChapter 8. "Rather Theological than Philosophical": John Ray's Seminal Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of Creation Katherine CallowayChapter 9. Matters of Belief and Belief That Matters: German Physico-theology, Protestantism, and the Materialized Word of God in Nature Anne-Charlott TreppChapter 10. Pascal's Rejection of Natural Theology: The Case of the Port-Royal Edition of the Pensées Martine PécharmanPart IV. Engagement with the New Science Chapter 11. Physico-theology or Biblical Physics? The Biblical Focus of the Early Physico-theologians Rienk VermijChapter 12. Maxima in minimis animalibus: Insects in Natural Theology and Physico-theology Brian W. OgilvieChapter 13. What Abbé Pluche Owed to Early Modern Physico-theologians Nicolas BruckerChapter 14. Antonio Vallisneri between Faith and Flood Brendan DooleyPart V. Aesthetic Sensibilities Chapter 15. A Language for the Eye: Evidence within the Text and Evidence as Text in German Physico-theological Literature Barbara HunfeldChapter 16. A Hybrid Physico-theology: The Case of the Swiss Confederation Simona Boscani LeoniBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA critical edition of ten rare pamphlets on science and religion published from 19221931 by the University of Chicago Divinity School.In the years surrounding the Scopes trial in 1925, liberal Protestant scientists, theologians, and clergy sought to diminish opposition to evolution and to persuade American Christians to adopt more positive attitudes toward modern science. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and many leading scientists, the University of Chicago Divinity School published a series of ten pamphlets on science and religion to counter William Jennings Bryan''s efforts to ban evolution in public schools. In Protestant Modernist Pamphlets, historian Edward B. Davis, who discovered these pamphlets, reprints them with extensive editorial comments, annotations, and introductions to each. Based on unpublished correspondence and internal Divinity School documents, these introductions narrate the origin of the pamphlets, as well as their fund

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Book SynopsisThis accessible student's guide explores how the Christian faith impacts our understanding of science, arguing that the Christian worldview stands as the best foundation for scientific investigation. Part of the Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition series.

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Book SynopsisThis volume of more than two dozen essays written by highly credentialed scientists, philosophers, and theologians from Europe and North America provides the most comprehensive critique of theistic evolution yet produced, opening the door to scientific and theological alternatives.

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Book SynopsisThis unique reader allows students to examine Galileo's trial as a legal event and, in so doing, to learn about seventeenth-century European religion, politics, diplomacy, bureaucracy, culture, and science.Trade ReviewMayer provides a sourcebook that is an ideal tool for any instructor introducing students to Galileo's trial and an excellent accompaniment to the insightful analysis found in the secondary literature. -- Renaissance Quarterly Mayer widens our understanding of what affected investigations of Galileo's conflicts with Scripture and authority. -- English Historical ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Language and Translation List of Abbreviations Chronology Sites in Rome of Importance to Galileo's Trial Introduction Cast of Characters DOCUMENTS I. Sunspot Letters: The Cause of Most of the Trouble II. Formal Proceedings Begin III. The Inquisition and the Index Take Action IV. Publication of Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems and the Beginning of the Trial's Second Phase V. Summons to Rome and Galileo's Resistance VI. Galileo Arrives in Rome VII. Formal Proceedings Resume VIII. Sentence and Abjuration Index

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Book SynopsisDarwinism and the Divine examines the implications of evolutionary thought for natural theology, from the time of publication of Darwin''s On the Origin of Species to current debates on creationism and intelligent design. Questions whether Darwin''s theory of natural selection really shook our fundamental beliefs, or whether they served to transform and illuminate our views on the origins and meaning of life Identifies the forms of natural theology that emerged in 19th-century England and how they were affected by Darwinism The most detailed study yet of the intellectual background to William Paley''s famous and influential approach to natural theology, set out in 1802 Brings together material from a variety of disciplines, including the history of ideas, historical and systematic theology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, sociology, and the cognitive science of religion Considers how Christian belief has adapted to Trade Review“McGrath is a masterful teacher and this volume is as brimming with knowledge and insight as his many others.” (Modern Believing, 1 January 2014) “The writing in Darwinism and the Divine is clear, elegant, and well informed throughout, is distinguished by a balanced and nonpolemical style, and is a pleasure to read. Every chapter in this rich volume includes extensive endnotes guiding the reader to further study." (Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 16 January 2014) “These criticisms notwithstanding, McGrath’s Darwinism and the Divineis a well-written, lucid work that will occupy a prominent place as an apologetic for Christian theism in its dialogue with the larger scientific community.” (International Journal of Public Theology, 1 May 2013) “Furthermore, this work is a rare pleasure to read for its clarity and remarkable level of scholarship across multiple disciplines. Consequently, I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone interested in how the debates over Darwinism relate to the ongoing and evolving goals and methods of natural theology.” (The Way, 1 October 2012) “These features, together with the author’s accessible writing style, mean that this book can not only be read cover-to-cover in a straightforward and engaging way, but can also be used as a text book to enable more detailed study of the various aspects of this important and relevant subject.” (Evangelical Quarterly, 4 October 2012) “Whether these arguments are effective is a matter for more philosophic minds, but if this book brings new ideas into a science–religion conversation that often consists of repetition of the same essential themes, then all scholars of science–religion are beneficiaries.” (Journal of the History of Biology, 2011) "But I think that the chief merit of both of these books lies in their parallel analyses of natural theology, specifically the significance of scientific knowledge for resolving theological issues." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1 December 2011) "McGrath (King's College London) offers an excellent examination of Darwin's theory of evolution vs. Creationism/intelligent design within the context of natural theology. . . The writing is clear and readable with a wealth of documentation. Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; interested general readers." (Choice, 1 October 2011) "While readers familiar with the subject will find few new ideas in these sections, the material is presented in McGrath's usual readable style and so will be helpful in providing an introduction to the reader new to the subject and in providing a helpfully focused summary for the person who has already begun to explore these ideas. " (Methodist Recorder, 22 September 2011) "But if one had to choose between them, I would recommend the book under review. It presents a synthesis of much of his thinking, supported by richly informative documentation that, in range and volume, is little short of astonishing." (Science & Education, 2011) "The prolific theologian argues that Darwin's own faith and worldview allowed for complexities and intricacies in the intersection of faith and science." (Publishers Weekly, 8 March 2011) Table of ContentsList of Figures x Preface xii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 Part I Conceptual Clarifications: On the meaning of terms 9 1 Natural Theology: A Deeper Structure to the Natural World 11 Natural Theology in the Classical Tradition 13 The Conceptual Fluidity of Natural Theology 15 The Eternal Return of Natural Theology 18 2 Darwinism: A Narrative of Evolution 27 Darwinism: A Defensible Term? 28 Darwinism as an Ideology 32 The Metaphysical Inflation of Evolutionary Thought 36 Conclusion to Part I 40 Part II Historical Exposition: Darwin and the English natural theology tradition 47 3 English Natural Theology of the Augustan Age, 1690–1745 49 The Emergence of English Natural Theology 50 Newtonian Physics and Natural Theology 53 The Protestant Assumptions of English Natural Theology 56 A Foundation for Consensus: The Doctrine of Creation 61 Physico-theology: The Appeal to Contrivance 63 Natural Theology and the Beauty of Nature 72 The Problem of Development within Nature 74 Assessing Evidence: Changing Public Perceptions 75 4 A Popular Classic: William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) 85 Introducing Paley's Natural Theology 85 Paley's Source: Bernard Nieuwentyt's Religious Philosopher (1718) 88 The Watch Analogy: The Concept of Contrivance 91 Paley on Intermediary Causes within Nature 97 The Vulnerability of Paley's Approach 99 5 Beyond Paley: Shifts in English Natural Theology, 1802–52 108 The Impact of Geology upon Paley's Natural Theology 110 Henry Brougham: A Natural Theology of the Mind 112 Evidence, Testimony, and Proof: A Shifting Context 115 A New Approach: The Bridgewater Treatises 119 John Henry Newman: The Theological Deficiencies of Paley 127 Robert Browning’s "Caliban Upon Setebos": A Literary Critique of Paley 130 English Natural Theology on the Eve of the Darwinian Revolution 133 6 Charles Darwin, Natural Selection, and Natural Theology 143 The Development of Darwin's Views on Natural Selection 146 Problems, Prediction, and Proof: The Challenge of Natural Selection 150 Natural Selection and Natural Theology: An Assessment of Darwin’s Impact 155 Conclusion to Part II 171 Part III Contemporary Discussion: Darwinism and natural theology 183 7 A Wider Teleology: Design, Evolution, and Natural Theology 185 Directionality within the Natural World 187 Teleology: Introducing an Idea 188 Chance, Contingency, and Evolutionary Goals 191 The “Wider Teleology” of Evolution 194 The Inference of Design and Natural Theology 197 Suffering, Evolution, and Natural Theology 202 8 The Concept of Creation: Reflections and Reconsiderations 217 The Seventeenth Century: The Regnant Theology of Creation 218 Creation as Event and Process: Augustine of Hippo 222 Evolution and an Emergent Creation 230 God's Action within the Evolutionary Process 233 9 Universal Darwinism: Natural Theology as an Evolutionary Outcome? 247 The Darwinian Paradigm and Cultural Development 249 The God-Meme: Natural Theology and Cultural Replicators 254 Religion: Evolutionary Adaptation or Spandrel? 262 Natural Theology and Evolutionary Theories of the Origins of Religion 265 Conclusion to Part III 267 Part IV Conclusion 277 10 The Prospects for Natural Theology 279 Natural Theology and the Human Evolutionary Past 281 Natural Theology, Observational Traction, and the Best Explanation 283 A Community of Discernment: The Church and Natural Theology 285 In Quest of Meaning 288 Index 294

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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

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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

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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

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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 *

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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

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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 *

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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 *

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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 *

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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