Science and Religion

I have been enjoying reading the book Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion by John Polkinghorne. Before being ordained an Anglican priest, he was for many years a professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge. The general thrust of his work is that science (specifically physics) and religion are looking for the same truth, and often go about it in similar and complementary ways. In this book he clarifies what science and religion can and cannot tell us, what the scientific method involves, what types of questions science asks (what we can do) vs. what type of questions religion asks (what we should do), and more. It is a very accessible and well-written book - quite readable, but it definitely raises some interesting questions, and brings together several fields such as theology, physics, biology, and philosophy. I want to read all of his books now.

Having hardly any background in science in general, and none in theoretical physics and things like that, I find all of this stuff fascinating. A background in philosophy can help a theologian in a conversation with a scientist (or philosopher of science), but knowing something about quarks, chaos theory, big bang theory, and the like is helpful. At the end of the book he talks about why he believes certain scientific theories - such as biological evolution, and the big bang... because they make sense of data and many aspects of human experience. But he also says the same thing about religion and belief in God. To Polkinghorne, the religious man who has no need for science is as bad as the scientific man who has no need for religion. They are complimentary fields, and they both seek the same thing: truth.