Ted Davis wrote:
>
> John Polkinghorne is (MNO) the finest writer on science and faith of the
> present generation of writers. I only wish he'd started younger, but then
> he might not have had a large enough scientific reputation to get a hearing.
>
> I will have much to say about his work in the December 2000 issue of Zygon,
> for whom I wrote an appreciation. I can't repeat my points here for various
> reasons, but suffice it to say that I especially recommend Belief in God in
> an Age of Science and Faith of a Physicist. It sounds like Mr Shermer did
> not read this latter book, or else that his particular bias prevented him
> from understanding its tone. On this aspect of Polkinghorne--his
> refreshingly modest way of articulating deeply held convictions--see my
> review in the Nov/Dec 1998 American Scientist, available on my webpage.
>
> I think Polkinghorne should be "required reading" for all on this listserve.
> No exceptions.
Ted - I agree to a considerable extent with your positive assessment. That being said,
I there are some points of P's that I take issue with. Specifically -
1) Though the type of natural theology he endorses is modest, I still
think it's dangerous. Natural theology needs to be kept on a very
tight leash.
2) I appreciate the concerns of P & others about a "block universe" but
there are problems of both physics & theology with the claim that the
future just doesn't exist.
3) Pedagogically, I wish he'd give a little more attention to the role
of classical physics: the scientifically untutored may get the impression
from his books that physics is quantum mechanics + big bang + chaos theory.
I just finished writing a review of _Science and Theology: An Introduction_ for
_Currents in Theology and Mission_. While I have some of these caveats, I think the
book is a good introduction to the field, though not as in depth as _The Faith of a
Physicist_.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@raex.com
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
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