John Polkinghorne has yet another new book out, "Faith, Science, and
Understanding" (Yale Univ. Press, 2000). It's based on several lectures and
is slightly repetitive, but he writes so well, who can object. He covers
familiar terrain (e.g., opposition to a block universe, support of critical
realism), but also takes some aspects further than before (at least to the
best of my recollection of his previous books).
For instance, he strongly emphasizes the kenotic nature of God's action in
creation. This is not new but the emphasis is, I think. Also he continues
to talk of "natural theology" but it is now so qualified as to sound more
like the "dependent natural theology" (rather than 'classic' "independent"
natural theology) of Torrance (and also as cited by George Murphy). Or to
use terms from D.N. Livingstone's writings, it's more an argument TO design
(i.e., a confessional claim) rather than FROM design (Paley-like
philosophical argument).
All in all it's another good read from Polkinghorne.
Karl
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Karl V. Evans
cmekve@aol.com
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