Science and Creation: The Search for Understanding

by John C. Polkinghorne

John C. Polkinghorne, internationally renowned priest-scientist, addresses fundamental questions about how scientific and theological worldviews relate to each other in this, the second volume (originally published in 1988) of his trilogy, which also included Science and Providence and One World . Dr. Polkinghorne illustrates how a scientifically minded person approaches the task of theological inquiry, postulating that there exists a close analogy between theory and experiment in science and belief and understanding in theology. He offers a fresh perspective on such questions Are we witnessing today a revival a natural theology—the search for God through the exercise of reason and the study of nature? How do the insights of modern physics into the interlacing of order and disorder relate to the Christian doctrine of Creation? What is the relationship between mind and matter? Polkinghorne states that the "remarkable insights that science affords us into the intelligible workings of the world cry out for an explanation more profound than that which it itself can provide. Religion, if it is to take seriously its claim that the world is the creation of God, must be humble enough to learn from science what that world is actually like.The dialogue between them can only be mutually enriching."

Genres: Science

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

John Charlton Polkinghorne is an English theoretical physicist, theologian, writer and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of Mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest in 1982. He served as the president of Queens' College, Cambridge from 1988 until 1996.

Reviews

[Henry Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting book and touches on a lot of themes that genuinely do make you think. Indeed, Sir John Polkinghorne's book certainly isn't boring and, for the most part, is quite easy to read (I would recommend brushing up on some quantum vocabulary to really understand all of it).

However, this book is far from perfect. The writing, although easy to understand, is at times confused. He seems to circle back to key points randomly and, as such, the book does not have a particularly clear structure. It is also clear that this man is not particularly educated in theology/philosophy. His theological arguments seem reasonable on the surface but, if one extrapolates the core arguments he presents and places them alongside one another, one can see that they are littered with inconsistencies. You must note that Polkinghorne is a scientist first and offers some interesting insights via his scientific perspective even though his philosophy is often dubious.

Overall, this was an engaging read but, on the academic side, it was far from perfection.

[Felix George Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

makes (and argues for the most part convincingly) some very interesting points regarding the harmonisation of science - observation of the natural world - and religion, in order to gain as deep as possible a understanding of our existence. some paragraphs were genuinely unjustifiably long tho, + some of the meatier sciencey bits i found kinda inaccessible to the reader w a casual interest

[Joseph Sverker]

A very well informed and profound book where Polkinghorne's deep expertise in two subjects is obvious. The writing is rather dense and it's not really an introduction in terms of what you need to know in the area of physics. Yet the book is very good in laying out the groundwork in the connections between theology and science. I'm not quite sure Polkinghorne covers much new ground or give many new insights, but he shows how science and theology certainly are complementary.

[Luke Kerton Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

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