Book Review: Religion and Science

Author: Ian G. Barbour
Spiritual Bias: Christian
Origins Bias: Evolutionist
Rating: Caveat Emptor
Level: Advanced

Comments: I purchased this book on a whim at one of those book outlets. So when I opened it up and started reading it I didn't know what quite to expect. Unfortunately my lack of understanding the basic theme of the book continued until I read a significant portion of it. Now it is granted that this book is intended to be a review of the issues that intersect science and religion, but at times it reads too much like an encyclopedia in that it often lacks the author's personal perspective that I enjoy so much in books. And because of this it was a little difficult to get through and quite frankly took me much longer to read than most other books of similar size and complexity. In any case, enough with the literary criticism. The author documents the historical interaction between the scientific community and the religious community. He covers original reactions to the scientific work of Darwin, Copernicus, and Galileo. In addition, Barbour, who completely embraces evolutionary thought, presents several recent models which attempt to "synthesize" traditional Christian concepts with naturalistic understandings of modern science. In doing so, he addresses ideas such as the omnipotence of God, the directionality of evolution, free will, chance and design, and others. While reading, I found on several occasions that I disagreed with both his biblical conclusions and his scientific understandings. If you are a conservative Judeo-Christian thinker and are looking for a book to confirm your extant belief system then I wouldn't recommend this book for you. (However I will say that every once in a while it's good to challenge your belief system.) In addition, if you are looking for a science-heavy origins book then this probably isn't the book for you either. So you may ask.. who exactly do I recommend this book for? This book is for those deep into the philosophical aspect of the origins debate. If "thinking about thinking" is your cup of tea and you have time to ponder some of the notions in this book then you'll surely be better having read this.

Summary Quote: "The most influential Christian position was formulated by Augustine, who held that all evil and suffering are the consequences of human sin in Adam and his successors. Sin is misused freedom and cannot be blamed on God. Nature and humanity were created perfect but were corrupted by Adam's fall, through which death and disharmony entered the world... I have suggested, however, than neither a primeval state of perfection nor a historical fall are credible today. I argued that the story of Adam should be taken as a symbolic statement of the estrangement of each of us from God, neighbor, self, and nature. Death and suffering were inescapable features of an evolutionary process long before the appearance of humanity."