Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity

by Nick Spencer, Dr Hannah Waite

Could science one day ‘defeat death’?
What would alien contact mean for humanity?
Has medicine finally found a cure for sadness?
Will AI replace us?

For too long, the ‘science and religion’ debate has fixated on creation, evolution, cosmology, miracles and quantum theory. But this, argue Nick Spencer and Hannah Waite, is a mistake. Religious belief has survived, and thrived, under many different models of the universe. It was never intended to be a competing explanation for the science of any age. Where science and religion really do come together – sometimes furiously, sometimes fruitfully – is over the status and nature of the human. And that has never been more important than today.

Whether it’s the quest for immortality or the search for alien life, the treatment of pandemics or ‘animal personhood’, AI or mental health, abortion or genetic editing, science is making advances that are posing huge questions about what it means to be human, whether we should change ourselves, and how far we should ‘play God’.

These developments are only going to grow in significance. Playing God brings readers up to date with the latest developments but also draws out their moral and religious dimensions. In so doing, it shows how the future of science and religion is inextricably tied up with the future of humanity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Science

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 18, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Nick Spencer is a comic book writer known for his creator-owned titles at Image Comics (Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless, Shuddertown, Morning Glories), his work at DC Comics (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), and for his current work at Marvel Comics (Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men).

Reviews

[Frank Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise and structure of this book is excellent. The authors seek to investigate topics that require a discussion between science and faith/religion. That is, topics where neither has the bandwidth to provide a full understanding. I also applaud the attempt of the authors to provide a discussion from all sides when looking at different topics. And suddenly things went awkward. After enjoying and agreeing strongly with the authors, I suddenly found my views give the strawman treatment and described as the problem (without any reasonable justification). According to the authors my libertarian leanings means that I am a problem and shouldn’t be tolerated. From then on, I was more cautious in the reading, and discovered that the authors have uncritically presumed the current political zeitgeist. Thus, if I questioned the response to Covid-19, I am branded as a right-wing reactionary that needs to be silenced. Then, later in the book the authors admit how poverty leads to unfairness in society while dancing around (and ignoring) the strong evidence that the Covid-19 response was disastrous for poorer children. After all they couldn’t change their opinion that the only correct option was to unthinkingly follow government directives for Covid-19. Ultimately, I agree with 95% of the book while being disgusted with the remaining 5%.

[Alex M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have given it 5 though I have not read it. But the main point is that the person shown as Nick Spencer is a comic-book writer and clearly not the author of this book.