Faith, Science and Understanding

20 x 13 cm- Other than a rubber stamp on the end page this is a tight and unmarked copy.-" In this captivating book, one of the most highly-regarded scientists- theologians of our time offers a thought-provoking exploration of the interaction between science and theology. John Polkinghorne defends the place of theology in the university, discusses the role of revelation in religion, and focuses closely on reconciling what science can say about the processes of the universe with theology's belief in a God active within creation." Review: Faith, Science & Understanding is a brief, erudite collection of writings by John Polkinghorne, a fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, and one of the world's leading experts on science and theology. Polkinghorne begins this book by exploring the place of theology in the university, the role of revelation in religion, and the particular relations that have formed between theology and various disciplines within the sciences. Building on these foundations, Part II of the book considers the question that dominated theology-and-science debates during the 1990s: "How we may conceive of divine agency in a way that respects the integrity of the scientific account of the process of the physical world and which also does justice to the religious intuition and experience of God's providential interaction within history?" Finally, Part III provides Polkinghorne's assessment of the entire English tradition of thinking about theology and science as well as his opinions regarding the work of his eminent colleagues in the field. Polkinghorne's lapidary English prose polishes his insights to a fine luster; this is not the kind of plain talking you'll find in Richard Feynmann. But the reader's patience is rewarded. Faith, Science & Understanding is a short book that expertly surveys a long history--an excellent orientation to a complex and important set of questions. --Michael Joseph Gross