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This edition first published 2020
© 2020 Alister E. McGrath
Edition History 1e 1999 Blackwell, 2e 2010 Wiley‐Blackwell
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication data applied for Names: McGrath, Alister E., 1953– author. Title: Science & religion : a new introduction / Alister E McGrath. Other titles: Science and religion Description: Third edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley‐Blackwell, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019048793 (print) | LCCN 2019048794 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119599876 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119599883 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119599869 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Religion and science. Classification: LCC BL240.2 .M413 2020 (print) | LCC BL240.2 (ebook) | DDC 201/.65–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048793 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048794
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Preface to the Third Edition
The study of science and religion brings together two of the most significant – and different – forces in human culture. The remarkable surge in books and television documentaries dealing with God and physics, spirituality and science, and the great mysteries of human nature and destiny are a clear sign of the growing interest in this area. Many colleges, seminaries, and universities now offer courses dealing with the field of science and religion, which often attract large and appreciative audiences. This book introduces this field, offering a window into some of its more interesting themes and debates.
Based on lectures given to students at Oxford University over the period 2014–2019, this book aims to be accessible and engaging, encouraging its readers to take its themes further. It sets out to introduce this fascinating field on the assumption that its readers have no detailed knowledge about either the natural sciences or theology. The main themes and issues in the study of religion and the natural sciences are carefully explored and explained without making unrealistic assumptions about what its readers are likely to know already.
My own interest in the field of science and religion goes back to the early 1970s. I began my studies at Oxford University by studying Chemistry, specializing in quantum theory, before going on to gain an Oxford doctorate in molecular biophysics. After this, I studied theology at Oxford and Cambridge, focusing particularly on the historical interaction of science and religion, particularly during the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is my hope that my own experience of relating the two areas of study may be of value to others seeking to do the same.
This book represents a major revision of the first and second editions of this work, responding to feedback from many readers. This revision is reflected in changes that have been made to both its structure and contents, aiming to make the book useful and helpful in engaging questions that are seen as both important and representative within the field. Both the author and publisher will be delighted to receive further comments and criticism, which will be helpful to them in developing future editions of this work.
Alister E. McGrath
Oxford University
September 2019
Chapter 1 Science and Religion: Exploring a Relationship
Religion and science are two of the most significant and interesting cultural and intellectual forces in today's world. The field of science and religion, which this book aims to introduce, sets out to explore what these two conversation partners might learn from each other, and where they diverge. Many leading thinkers at the time of the Renaissance used the metaphor of the ‘God's Two Books’ as a way of visualizing this process of allowing both science and religious faith to illuminate reality. It was, many believed, both possible and important to read the ‘Book of Nature’ and the ‘Book of Scripture’ side by side and allow them to inform and enrich each other. Although the invention of the idea of a permanent warfare between science and religion in the late nineteenth century caused many to question this approach, the scholarly discrediting of this ‘warfare’ metanarrative, which was essentially complete by the opening of the twenty‐first century, has given rise to new interest in finding ways of reclaiming and reformulating this dialogue. As Albert Einstein famously remarked: ‘Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’
Why Study Science and Religion?
Many people are drawn to study the relation of science and religion because it is interdisciplinary – in other words, it offers a richer and grander vision of our world and humanity than is possible for either of the dialogue partners on their own. Neither science nor religion can provide a total account of reality. Science does not answer every question that we might have
