Science and Religion

Covenant and Myth: Can Reformed Theology Survive without Adam and Eve

by Karl Hand

Australian eJournal of Theology Vol 19, No 1 (2012)

Reformed theology is a diverse movement, and has found many ways to interact with the presence of mythical stories in... more Reformed theology is a diverse movement, and has found many ways to interact with the presence of mythical stories in scripture. There is a strong tendency, however, to draw a 'line in the sand' at the historical existence of Adam because of the function that he plays in the history of the covenants - particularly the 'covenant of works'. This article problematises that line by suggesting that it is possible to build an authentically Reformed and covenantal theology without a historical Adam.

Nineteenth-­‐Century Natural Theology, Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology, Russell Re Manning (ed.), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

by Matthew Daniel Eddy

Natural theology came in different varieties during the nineteenth century. It functioned both as a way of seeing... more Natural theology came in different varieties during the nineteenth century. It functioned both as a way of seeing nature but also as a way of being in the world. This essay explores the intellectual and experiential facets of design arguments by focusing on who promoted them and, just as important, why they appealed to so many people on a daily basis. In short, we learn that natural theology was a way of knowing and doing. The essay is structured around three kinds of natural theologians: philosophers and theologians, savants and scientists, priests and pedagogues. Whilst I take care to address well-known names like William Paley and Charles Darwin and classical disciplines like physics and theology, my larger aim is to show the appeal of design to middle class readers and authors (especially women) and to the founders of the emerging human sciences like biomedicine and evolutionary anthropology.

Can the Quran Support Darwin? An Evolutionist Approach by Two Turkish Scholars after the Foundation of the Turkish Republic

by veysel kaya

The Muslim World 102/2 (2012), p. 357-370.

John Polkinghorne on Divine Action: a Coherent Theological Evolution

by Ignacio Silva

Science and Christian Belief (2012) 24:1, pp. 19-30 (commented by John Polkinghorne, same issue, pp. 31-32).

I examine John Polkinghorne's account of how God acts in the world, focusing on how his ideas developed with the... more I examine John Polkinghorne's account of how God acts in the world, focusing on how his ideas developed with the consideration of the notion of kenosis, and how this development was not a rejection of his previous ideas, but on the contrary a fulfilling of his own personal philosophical and theological insights. Polkinghorne's thought can be distinguished in three different periods:1) divine action as input of active information (1988-2000/2001);2) Polkinghorne's reception of the notion of kenosis (2000-2004);3) Polkinghorne's "thought experiment" approach to his ideas on divine action (2004- ). Finally, I consider the question of internal coherence of this theological development, focusing on the transition from the first to the second period, which I believe to be the most significant.

Challenging Design: How Best to Account for the World as It Really Is

by Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair

Zygon, (2003), 38, 543–558

Evolutionary psychology and intelligent-design theory both need to be able to account for the empirical world, or the... more Evolutionary psychology and intelligent-design theory both need to be able to account for the empirical world, or the world as it is. This essay is an attempt to clarify the challenges these theories need to meet, if the relevant empirical findings are replicable. There is evidence of change in the biological world and of modularity of mind, and there is a growing body of work that finds evolutionary theory a convincing and fruitful account of the “design” of the mind. Three major empirical findings within evolutionary psychology are presented and discussed. The author claims that Cartesian dualism, as it is usually meant within psychology—a split between body and mind—is false, but that Descartes' original division between body and soul has not been challenged and is not challenged by the evidence that the mind is also a biological entity. The article concludes that the convergence of theology and science is to be found in the onus to discover the truth about the world as it really is, and this calls for an ability on both parts to account for the empirical world.

Alvin Plantinga. Where the Conflict Really Lies.

by Jonathan Jong

book review, in press (e-mail for draft copy)

In this critical review, I summarize and evaluate Plantinga's arguments for the provocative conclusion that naturalism... more In this critical review, I summarize and evaluate Plantinga's arguments for the provocative conclusion that naturalism is more at odds with science than theism is.

Limit Conditions in an Encounter of Theology with Neuroscience

by Andrew Irvine

The cognitive science of religion and Christian faith: some preliminary considerations

by Jonathan Jong

in press, Christian Perspectives on Science and Technology (e-mail to request for draft)

The "cognitive science of religion" (CSR) is an inter-disciplinary research programme, predominantly... more The "cognitive science of religion" (CSR) is an inter-disciplinary research programme, predominantly involving anthropologists, psychologists, religious studies scholars, and philosophers. The aim of the research programme is, in Boyer's (2001) titular phrase, to "explain religion". That is, CSR endeavours to understand the psychological underpinnings of religious belief and behaviour, thereby explaining the ubiquity of religious belief and practice and the similarities and differences across religious traditions. While the empirical and theoretical research has been going on for nearly two decades, little attention has been turned to the implications of CSR for Christian belief and practice. In this paper, I shall (begin to) explore the potential implications of CSR for traditional Christian theism.

The Best and Brightest Fanatics

by Taner Edis

Op-ed, 2007

An Accidental World

by Taner Edis

Free Inquiry, 22:4 57-58 (2002)

Why 'Intelligent Design' is More Interesting than Old-fashioned Creationism

by Taner Edis

Georgia Journal of Science 63:3 190 (2005)

“Intelligent Design” (ID) creationism largely relies on long-discredited forms of argument to try and make a case... more “Intelligent Design” (ID) creationism largely relies on long-discredited forms of argument to try and make a case against naturalistic evolution. However, it also includes some novel elements, such as William Dembski’s claim to rigorously identify a reliable signature of intelligent design and thereby establish ID as an independent form of explanation not reducible to “chance and necessity.” Such arguments also fail; indeed, intelligence itself appears to be a product of combinations of chance and necessity, where Darwinian processes are critically important in producing genuine novelty. Addressing the scientific mistakes of ID creationism requires attention to current science about intelligence, complexity, and information; it must be a collaborative effort between biologists, physicists, computer scientists and others.

The Return of the Design Argument

by Taner Edis

Philosophy Now 50 (2005). [Review of Debating Design edited by Dembski and Ruse, and The Hidden Face of God by Gerald Schroeder.]

Creationism to Universal Darwinism: Evolution and Religion Today

by Taner Edis

Draft version of chapter in in Amanda Chesworth et al., eds., Darwin Day Collection One (Albuquerque: Tangled Bank, 2003)

Darwin in Mind: 'Intelligent Design' Meets Artificial Intelligence

by Taner Edis

The Skeptical Inquirer, 25:2 35 (2001)

Proponents of “Intelligent Design” claim information theory refutes Darwinian evolution. Modern physics and artificial... more Proponents of “Intelligent Design” claim information theory refutes Darwinian evolution. Modern physics and artificial intelligence research turns their arguments on their head.

Chance and Necessity–—and Intelligent Design?

by Taner Edis

Draft version of a chapter in Matt Young and Taner Edis, eds., Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004)

Taking Creation Seriously: Are Skeptics Answering Creationists Effectively?

by Taner Edis

Skeptic, 6:2 56-65 (1998)

A World Designed by God: Science and Creationism in Contemporary Islam

by Taner Edis

in Paul Kurtz, ed., Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? (Amherst: Prometheus, 2003)

Public conflicts between science and religion have become rare in the industrialized West. However, contemporary... more Public conflicts between science and religion have become rare in the industrialized West. However, contemporary Muslim thought retains a much stronger sense of an explicitly designed universe infused with moral purpose. Anti-evolution ideas, for example, have been very successful in Turkey, particularly in a recent form adapting Protestant creationism to a Muslim context. The high level of popular misuse of science in the Muslim world suggests that major conflicts between science and religion will have an increasingly Islamic flavor in the coming years.

Religion: Accident or Design?

by Taner Edis

in Joseph Bulbulia et al, eds., The Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques (Santa Margarita: Collins Foundation Press, 2008)

Modern Science and Conservative Islam: An Uneasy Relationship

by Taner Edis

Science and Education 18:6-7 885-903 (2009). Also published as a chapter in Michael R. Matthews, ed., Science, Worldviews and Education (Dordrecht: Springer, 2009).

Familiar Western debates about religion, science, and science education have parallels in the Islamic world. There are... more Familiar Western debates about religion, science, and science education have parallels in the Islamic world. There are difficulties reconciling conservative, traditional versions of Islam with modern science, particularly theories such as evolution. As a result, many conservative Muslim thinkers are drawn toward creationism, hopes of Islamizing science, or other ways to retain the primacy of faith while continuing efforts to catch up with modern technology. Muslims argue that science and Islam coexist in harmony, but both intellectually and institutionally, the Islamic world harbors many tensions between science and religion.

Defending Science and Nonbelief

by Taner Edis

Bulletin for the Study of Religion 40:4 14 16 (2011)