List of scholars on the relationship between religion and science

This is a list of notable individuals who have focused on studying the intersection of religion and science.

Contents 

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

• See also
• References

A

• Gordon W. Allport: author of The Individual and his Religion (1951).^[1]

B

• Ian Barbour: author of Issues in Science and Religion (1966).^[2]
• Mani Lal Bhaumik: author of Code Name God (2005).^[3]
• Nader El-Bizri: author of The Phenomenological Quest between Avicenna and Heidegger, general editor of the series Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (tenth century encyclopaedia of science, philosophy and religion), co-Editor of Islamic Philosophy and Occidental Phenomenology in Dialogue, and editor of the "Islam Division" of Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Religions.
• John Hedley Brooke: Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford (1999–2006)
• Ralph Wendell Burhoe: an important twentieth century pioneer interpreter of the importance of religion for a scientific and technological world.
• E. A. Burtt: author of The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1925).^[4]

C

• Fritjof Capra: author of The Tao of Physics (1975).
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: author of Science and Christ (1965, English Translation).
• Francis S. Collins: director of the Human Genome Project, author of The Language of God (2006).
• C. A. Coulson: author of Science and Christian Belief (1955).^[5][6]
• Alistair Cameron Crombie: author of Augustine to Galileo: The History of Science A.D. 400 - 1650.

D

• Richard Dawkins has written about the relationship between science and religion for a popular audience with books such as A Devil's Chaplain. Dawkins has also engaged in public debates on the topic.
• Pierre Duhem: well known for his works on the philosophy and history of science, especially in the Middle Ages.^[7]

E

• Arthur Eddington: author of The Nature of the Physical World (1928) and Why I Believe in God: Science and Religion, as a Scientist Sees It (1930).^[8]

F

• John Freely: author of Aladdin's Lamp: How Greek Science Came to Europe Through the Islamic World and Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe.

G

• Stephen Jay Gould introduced the concept of non-overlapping magisteria, arguing that religion and science attempt to describe different domains of knowledge.
• Edward Grant: author of The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages (1996), God and Reason in the Middle Ages (2001), and Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to Copernicus (2004)
• Nidhal Guessoum: author of Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science (2010)

H

• John Habgood: author of Religion and Science (1964).^[9]
• Charles Hartshorne: author of Philosophers Speak of God (1953).^[10]
• John F. Haught: author of Science and Religion—From Conflict to Conversation (1995).^[11]
• Philip Hefner: author of The Human Factor: Evolution, Culture, and Religion (1993) and coined an influential phrase when he defined human beings as created co-creators. He was a longtime editor of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science.
• John L. Heilbron: author of The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories (1999).
• Karl Heim: author involving in the religion and science dialogue, his thought on quantum mechanics has been seen as the precursor to much of the current studies on divine action.^[12]
• Michał Heller: author of Creative tension essays on science and religion: Essays on Science and Religion (2003).
• Mary B. Hesse: author of Science and The Human Imagination: Aspects of the History of Logic of Physical Science (1954).^[13]
• Martinez Hewlett: author of the chapter on "Molecular Biology and Religion" (pp. 172–186) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]
• Reijer Hooykaas: author of Religion and the Rise of Modern Science (1972) ^[15]

J

• Stanley Jaki: leading contributor to the philosophy of science and the history of science, and in particular their relationship to Christianity.
• Malcolm Jeeves: Formerly President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, founder of the St Andrews Psychology Department, and author of, most recently, with Warren S. Brown "Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion: Illusions, Delusions, and Realities about Human Nature" (2009) and "From Cells to Souls-and Beyond" (2003)

K

• Donald E. Knuth: author of Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About (2001) ^[16]

L

• John Lennox has written several books on the relationship between science and religion and has also debated Richard Dawkins on the topic.
• David C. Lindberg: co-editors of two anthologies on the relationship between religion and science.

M

• Henry Margenau: co-author of Cosmos, Bios, Theos Scientists Reflect on Science, God, and the Origins of the Universe, Life, and Homo sapiens (1992)
• Alister McGrath: Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford (2014–)
• Robert K. Merton: sociologist proposing the Merton Thesis
• E. A. Milne: author of Modern Cosmology and the Christian Idea of God (1952).^[17]
• Nancey Murphy co-author with George Ellis of On the Moral Nature of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology, and Ethics ^[18]

N

• Seyyed Hossein Nasr: author of the chapter on Islam and science (pp. 71–86) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]
• Ronald L. Numbers: co-editors of two anthologies on the relationship between religion and science.

O

• Thomas Jay Oord: author of Defining Love (2010).

P

• Arthur Peacocke: author of Creation and the World of Science (1979).
• Robert T. Pennock: author of Tower of Babel a strong defense of Darwinian evolution and the chapter on "The Pre-modern Sins of Intelligent Design" (pp. 732–748) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]
• John Polkinghorne: author of Science and Theology (1998) and Faith, Science and Understanding (2000).
• William G. Pollard: author of a significant amount of material in the areas of science and religion such as Physicist and Christian: A dialogue between the communities (1961)
• William B. Provine: author of the chapter on "Evolution, Religion, and Science" (pp. 652–666) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]

R

• Ian Ramsey: author of Religious Language (1957).^[19][20]

S

• Norbert M. Samuelson: author of the chapter on Judaism and Science (pp. 41–56) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]
• Nicholas Saunders: author of Divine Action and Modern Science (2002).
• Harold K. Schilling: author of Science and Religion (1962).^[5][21][22]

T

• Thomas F. Torrance: author of Space, Time and Incarnation, Space Time and Resurrection, and Theological Science literary executor for the philosopher and scientist Michael Polanyi,^[23] and winner of 1978 Templeton Prize.

W

• B. Alan Wallace: author of the chapter on Buddhism and Science (pp. 24–40) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) ^[14]

See also

• Relationship between religion and science
• List of Christians in science and technology
• List of participants in the dialogue of religion and science

References

1. Issues in Science and Religion pp. 189, 202, 335
2. Arthur Peacocke, Science and the Christian Experiment, Oxford University Press, 1971, in the preface (p.vii) writes "These [issues] have been most magisterially surveyed by I. G. Barour in his Issues in Science and Religion (London, 1966) and I willingly refer the reader to that work for a systematic and documented account."
3. http://www.codenamegod.org/
4. Issues in Science and Religion pp. 34, 36, 51, 77
5. Ian Barbour in Science and Religion: New Perspectives on the Dialogue (1968) (p.xi) writes

   "The problem of Part Two is the relation between religion and the methods of science. Is the scientific method the only path to knowledge? Are theology and science similar enterprises (as Coulson and Schilling argue) or are they radically different (as Evans suggests)? Such questions about the relation of religion to science as a way of knowing are more basic than problems arising from particular scientific theories. Many persons today find that their religious beliefs are challenged not by any specific scientific discoveries but by the conviction that assertions in science can be proven while those in religion cannot. Science has been one of the influences on the "death of God" movement, as Ferre's essay indicates. Both Ferre and Evans provide careful philosophical analyses of the problem of verifying or evaluating theological statements. The central issue of Part Two, then, is the status of religious beliefs in an age of science.

   • "The Similarity of Science and Religion", Charles Coulson, pages 57-77
   • "The Threefold Nature of Science and Religion", Harold K. Schilling, pages 78-100
   • "Differences between Scientific and Religious Asseritions, Donald D. Evans, pages 101-133
   • "Science and the Death of 'God'", Frederick Ferre, pages 134-158
6. Hough, Adrian (2006). "Not a Gap in Sight: Fifty Years of Charles Coulson's Science and Christian Belief". Theology Volume 109: pp.21-27.

   "With suitable changes of language and illustration, Coulson's Science and Christian Belief could be rewritten for the present day without having to remove any of his fundamental arguments. Indeed, his observation that the rise of science has led to a loss of tradition throughout the world is a view which is now held very widely as well as being a noted cause for concern."

7. "Pierre Duhem, himself a distinguished physicist, initiated in heroic fashion, almost singlehandedly, the modern study of the history of medieval science by the simple but effective expedient of reading and analyzing as many medieval scientific manuscripts as possible." — Palter, Robert M. (1961). Preface to Toward Modern Science, Vol. I. New York: The Noonday Press, p. ix.
8. Ian Barbour, Issues in Science and Religion (1966), p.133, cites Arthur Eddington's The Nature of the Physical World (1928)--for a text that argues The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principles provides a scientific basis for "the defense of the idea of human freedom"--and his Science and the Unseen World (1929)--for support of philosophical idealism "the thesis that reality is basically mental"
9. Reviews in Science and Religion
10. Issues in Science and Religion pp. 130, 314, 334, 444, 445, 446, 447, 457
11. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science pp. 184, 187, 189, 190, 191, 193, 196, 201, 348, 379, 690-1, 698, 898
12. Saunders, Nicholas (2002). Divine action and modern science. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-521-52416-4. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
13. Arthur Peacocke, The Sciences and Theology in the Twentieth Century, 1981, University of Notre Dame Press, ISBN 0-268-01704-2, p. xvii, "The volume ends with a retrospective survey by my co-chairman at the Symposium, Professor Mary Hesse, together with a few comments on that survey by some of the authors."
14. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science Philip Clayton(ed.), Zachary Simpson(associate-ed.)--Hardcover 2006, paperback July 2008-Oxford University Press, 1023 pages
15. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science pp. 304-5, 306
16. Review found in Saul A. Teukolsky (Cornell University) Physics Today, April 2002, p. 81-82
17. Ian Barbour, Issues in Science and Religion (1966), p.166, writes "Theories as Mental Structures (Idealism)...The philosophical idealism exemplified by Eddington, Jeans, and Milne finds few supporters today, but a modified neo-Kantianism is found in Cassirer, Margenau, and in a somewhat different form among continental physicists such as von Weizsacker." and on page 167, "As compared with the actual practice of the scientific community, the views of Eddington and Milne neglect the experimental side, just as positivism neglects the theoretical side."
18. editorial committee member of The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science Philip Clayton(ed.), Zachary Simpson(associate-ed.)--Hardcover 2006, paperback July 2008-Oxford University Press, 1023 pages, page v
19. Arthur Peacocke, Science and the Christian Experiment, Oxford University Press, 1971, on page 122 writes "I.T. Ramsey has analysed the logical form of creation ex nihilo into the analogical model, 'creation', which is a word used of human beings making paintings, symphonies, etc. out of something or by means of something..."
20. Ian Barbour, Issues in Science and Religion (1966), p. 246 writes "Theologian Ian Ramsey finds that the distinctive function of religious language is the evocation of commitment. Its logical structure is similar to that of statements about dominant personal loyalties: a man's devotion to his nation, a captain's loyalty to his ship, a man's love for his wife."
21. Ian Barbour, Issues in Science and Religion (1966), p. 152 writes "The scientific community, like any group in society, has a set of attitudes which are influenced by but not identical with those of the culture at large. Schilling ["A Human Enterprise" Science, June 6, 1958, Vol. 127, p.1324] gives a vivid portrayal:

    It has its own ideals and characteristic way of life; its own standards, mores, conventions, signs and symbols, language and jargon, professional ethics, sanctions and controls, authority, institutions and organizations, publications; its own creeds and beliefs, orthodoxies and heresies--and effective ways of dealing with the latter. This community is affected, as are other communities, by the usual vagaries, adequacies, and shortcomings of human beings. It has its politics, its pulling and hauling, its pressure groups; its differing schools of thought, its divisions and schisms; its personal loyalties and animosities, jealousies, hatreds, and rallying cries; its fads and fashions.

22. Mary B. Hesse reviews his book Science and Religion: An Interpretation of Two Communities in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 3, Issue 1, (Autumn, 1963), page 112-113, where she writes

    "There remain however persistent, half-conscious, impressions among the religious that science is somehow a danger to true spirituality, and among the non-religious that science has once and for all refuted the claims of religion. Professor Schilling's book has the important merit of taking seriously the intellectual and social aspects of these half-conscious impressions, and of showing how mis- taken is the belief that science and religion can go their separate ways in utter disregard of each other. ...reading this book no one ought to doubt that the stereotypes described at the outset are not merely caricatures, but serious distortions. But still the synthetic view which is surely the aim of the book somehow fails to come across with the requisite punch. Is this because yet deeper issues remain to be discussed? Can the claim of Christianity to be based on experience in a way parallel to science really be sustained? And if not, then what is its relation to expe- rience? And what about the vexed question of religious language?"

23. http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/polanyi/.../TAD24-1-fnl-pg32-38-pdf.pdf