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Religion and the Sciences of Origins: Historical and Contemporary Discussions
This concise introduction to science and religion focuses on Christianity and modern Western science (the epicenter of issues in science and religion in the West) with a concluding chapter on Muslim and Jewish Science and Religion. This book also invites the reader into the relevant literature with ample quotations from original texts.
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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About the author
Kelly James Clark
28 books27 followersKelly James Clark is an American philosopher noted for his work in the philosophy of religion, science and religion, and the cognitive science of religion.
He received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame where his dissertation advisor was Alvin Plantinga. He has held professorships at Calvin College, Oxford University, University of St. Andrews, Notre Dame & Gordon College. He also served as Executive Director for the Society of Christian Philosophers from 1994 to 2009.
He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan.
He received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame where his dissertation advisor was Alvin Plantinga. He has held professorships at Calvin College, Oxford University, University of St. Andrews, Notre Dame & Gordon College. He also served as Executive Director for the Society of Christian Philosophers from 1994 to 2009.
He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 6, 2015
Kelly James Clark focuses on the sciences of origins because that’s where “the rubber meets the road,” wherein the origin of the universe seems to corroborate belief in a creator and the origin of species is often taken to be contrary to belief in a creator.
During the course of his book, Clark briefly covers quite a range of topics: the nature of science, the nature of religion, the history of the relationship between science and religion, biological evolution (biogeography, comparative anatomy, embryology, genetics and biological randomness), an introduction to cognitive science, the Theory of Mind, the God-facility, the evidence of the evolutionary origins of religious belief, the nature of morality, biological altruism (kin selection, reciprocity, and group selection), the search for the soul (the mind-body problem), intelligent design and theistic evolution, fine tuning, creation out of nothing, and multiverse models. He finishes up with two very interesting chapters on Judaism and evolution & Islam and evolution.
Clark’s writing style is to begin most chapters with an interesting and relevant story, then discuss the topic via questions and possible answers, and finally to summarize each chapter in a Conclusion. The only fault I could find was that it felt like there should have been a Conclusion chapter at the end of the book, instead of just a few brief thoughts at the end of the chapter on Islam and Evolution.
Throughout his book, Clark supports the “two book” approach, the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, and how they complement each other.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in good, up-to-date and readable summaries of the topics he covers.
During the course of his book, Clark briefly covers quite a range of topics: the nature of science, the nature of religion, the history of the relationship between science and religion, biological evolution (biogeography, comparative anatomy, embryology, genetics and biological randomness), an introduction to cognitive science, the Theory of Mind, the God-facility, the evidence of the evolutionary origins of religious belief, the nature of morality, biological altruism (kin selection, reciprocity, and group selection), the search for the soul (the mind-body problem), intelligent design and theistic evolution, fine tuning, creation out of nothing, and multiverse models. He finishes up with two very interesting chapters on Judaism and evolution & Islam and evolution.
Clark’s writing style is to begin most chapters with an interesting and relevant story, then discuss the topic via questions and possible answers, and finally to summarize each chapter in a Conclusion. The only fault I could find was that it felt like there should have been a Conclusion chapter at the end of the book, instead of just a few brief thoughts at the end of the chapter on Islam and Evolution.
Throughout his book, Clark supports the “two book” approach, the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, and how they complement each other.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in good, up-to-date and readable summaries of the topics he covers.
January 10, 2015
An excellent volume on the history of the relationship between science and religion and considers key issues in the contemporary discussion.
Clark identifies three basic attitudes towards science and religion - conflict, separation, integration. Initially, Clark discusses the major events in the history of the science and religion discussion, stories which are widely repeated but often false, simplistic or caricatures. Such stories and the relationship between science and religion they convey are much more complicated and nuanced than popular mythology might suggest.
One point of interest is that while we might perceive the world with our senses, the descriptions of the structure of the universe in science are not so apparent, complex, and developing over a long time with much reflection and imagination. For this reason, humility is a recurring theme in the book. One surprising thing for a book on the sciences of origins, there is only a paragraph or two dedicated to a discussion of the origins of life. As it is an open question in science, so it is still an open question here.
While the blurb says that it requires no background knowledge, if one has no knowledge or acceptance of evolution of humans and animals, some of it may be slow going. Even so, Clark’s presentations on evolution of belief and the biological basis for morality is particularly important for readers to wrestle with. It seems every month a story emerges of a new scientific discovery claiming to have identified the primitive origins of our morality. Clark does some pretty persuasive work at showing what is presented as morality in the animal kingdom is far from what we mean in the human sense.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in the science and religion discussion, or for someone wanting a solid introduction to the history and contemporary discussions of this important issue. I'm sure I'll return to this book in the future.
Clark identifies three basic attitudes towards science and religion - conflict, separation, integration. Initially, Clark discusses the major events in the history of the science and religion discussion, stories which are widely repeated but often false, simplistic or caricatures. Such stories and the relationship between science and religion they convey are much more complicated and nuanced than popular mythology might suggest.
One point of interest is that while we might perceive the world with our senses, the descriptions of the structure of the universe in science are not so apparent, complex, and developing over a long time with much reflection and imagination. For this reason, humility is a recurring theme in the book. One surprising thing for a book on the sciences of origins, there is only a paragraph or two dedicated to a discussion of the origins of life. As it is an open question in science, so it is still an open question here.
While the blurb says that it requires no background knowledge, if one has no knowledge or acceptance of evolution of humans and animals, some of it may be slow going. Even so, Clark’s presentations on evolution of belief and the biological basis for morality is particularly important for readers to wrestle with. It seems every month a story emerges of a new scientific discovery claiming to have identified the primitive origins of our morality. Clark does some pretty persuasive work at showing what is presented as morality in the animal kingdom is far from what we mean in the human sense.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in the science and religion discussion, or for someone wanting a solid introduction to the history and contemporary discussions of this important issue. I'm sure I'll return to this book in the future.
January 2, 2015
A very lucid and irrenic treatment on the religion and science conversation. Author sees the two as compatible and demonstrates this through history. He holds that the alledged conflict is not so much between science and religion but between theism and naturalism.
November 22, 2014
A very well-written book on the relationship between science and religion.The book covers a lot of very important topics. I think it will be very useful for both philosophy students and laypersons.
June 3, 2025
I can't remember how I got introduced to the writer. My first encounter was with his infamous book; God and the Brain. It was a hell of an informative book.
My second encounter was with this book; religion, and the sciences of origins.
I think it is going to be my last journey with the author. The only positive thing I got from spending time with this book was his confluent review of a wide variety of astrophysical and sociobiological and evolutionary concepts. Apart from these positive elements, the whole book is a trial in vain to make a re-conciliation between modern science and religion.
His prose betrays his deeply ingrained anxiety about how science is dis-impacting God from the imagination of humans every now and then.
He is using the same banal arguments which are being repeatedly used by muslim clerics in the entire muslim world. Such attitude serves only to potentiate pseudoscience and fundamentalism in our oriental domain.
We muslims out of all believers on this planet need to embrace science and its theories. We need to stop adopting blindly the book of scripture and to be much more flexible as to criticize that book and to learn to adapt to the breathtakingly evolving world. We need to follow the trails of European modernism.
Such a book in my judgment serves only to fortify the arguments of those fundamentals whom we call in Arabic (salafies). Those salafies are the main barrier against our advancement.
My second encounter was with this book; religion, and the sciences of origins.
I think it is going to be my last journey with the author. The only positive thing I got from spending time with this book was his confluent review of a wide variety of astrophysical and sociobiological and evolutionary concepts. Apart from these positive elements, the whole book is a trial in vain to make a re-conciliation between modern science and religion.
His prose betrays his deeply ingrained anxiety about how science is dis-impacting God from the imagination of humans every now and then.
He is using the same banal arguments which are being repeatedly used by muslim clerics in the entire muslim world. Such attitude serves only to potentiate pseudoscience and fundamentalism in our oriental domain.
We muslims out of all believers on this planet need to embrace science and its theories. We need to stop adopting blindly the book of scripture and to be much more flexible as to criticize that book and to learn to adapt to the breathtakingly evolving world. We need to follow the trails of European modernism.
Such a book in my judgment serves only to fortify the arguments of those fundamentals whom we call in Arabic (salafies). Those salafies are the main barrier against our advancement.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews