Customer Reviews

Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John Polkinghorne is one of the most gifted and eloquent writers in the science-and-theology field, and this is by far the best introduction to his thought in general. Though much of it is familiar from previous works, here he weaves together a consistent, spiritually and intellectually satisfying approach to reality as a whole. It touches on all the bases, including the challenge of evolution, the historicity of Jesus' life and resurrection, theology, the problem of evil, God's action, etc. Polkinghorne carefully balances his commitment to orthodox Christian belief (esp. the literal resurrection of Jesus) with the need to revisit articles of faith in light of new knowledge (such as belief in an immortal soul). The chapter on human nature is especially illuminating, while the 'concluding unscientific postscript' is a delightful romp in metaphysical speculation. The second chapter is perhaps the weakest, in which Polkinghorne tries once more to flesh out his approach to divine action through quantum mechanics and chaos theory, which I find less than convincing. It is best, I think to let divine action be divine action, the one blazing, invisible mystery like the sun through which we see and understand everything else. In any case, the book as a whole is a delight, combining rigorous scholarship with earnest faith seeking understanding. A must read.

I've read several of Polkinghorne's books and I don't think that this one is particularly outstanding. But he doesn't avoid the topic's toughest problems, in fact he has sought them out and proceeds to make most of his points cleanly; so it's not a bad book either.

Polkinghorne should be no stranger to those interested in the interface of science and religion. [For the reader who is unfamiliar with him] he is a Cambridge quantum physicist turned Anglican cleric and has published extensively on issues of interest in both theoretical physics and theology. These are his topics again, with a chapter on ethics as well. . .

"It has turned out that it is our mathematical abilities that have furnished the key to unlock deep secrets of the physical universe. Once more one encounters a mystery impenetrable to conventional evolutionary thinking. Survival needs would seem to require no more than a little arithmetic, some elementary Euclidean geometry, and the ability to make certain kinds of simple logical association. Whence then comes the human ability to explore non-commutative algebras, prove Format's Last Theorem, and discover the Mandelbrot set? These rational feats go far beyond anything susceptible to Darwinian explanation. p52

"Sociobiology seeks to explain human ethical intuitions in terms of inherited patterns of behaviour favouring the propagation of at least some of an individual's genes. Once again, one may acknowledge a source of partial insight. No doubt ideas of kin altruism (the mutual support extended between those who share in the family gene pool) and reciprocal altruism (favours done in the expectation of favours later to be received) shed some Darwinian light on aspects of human behaviour. Games theoretic models of behavioural strategies that optimise probable returns in given circumstances--such as 'tit for tat': respond in the same manner that your opponent has displayed to you--give some insight into the nature of prudent decision making. But sociobiology tells too banal a story to be able to account for radical altruism, the ethical imperative that leads a person to risk their own life in the attempt to save an unknown and unrelated stranger from the danger of death. Love of that incalculable kind eludes Darwinian explanation. Equally elusive to evolutionary explanation are many human aesthetic experiences. What survival value has Mozart's music given us, however profoundly it enriches our lives in other ways?

"The proper response to all this is not to adopt a Procrustean technique of chopping down the range of human experience until it fits into a narrow Darwinian bed, nor is it to abandon evolutionary thinking altogether. Rather, it is to release that thinking from the poverty of its neo-Darwinian captivity."

This may not be Polkinghorne's finest volume, but it has its moments of great saliency and discernment and I do recommend it.

Reality: is anyone as well equipped to tackle such an all-'encompassing subject as John Polkinghorne? Following a 25 year run as an accomplished particle physicist, Polkinghorne studied theology and became a priest in the Church of England. A result of this somewhat unique bi-vocational career is that Polkinghorne has become perhaps the most prolific writer on the intersection of faith and science. In Exploring Reality, Polkinghorne alternates between physical and metaphysical approaches to his subject matter. In this interweaving of hard science with the "softer" realms of theology, Polkinghorne has given us an engaging introduction to his view of reality.'' Regular readers of Polkinghorne will find familiar discussions of subjects like quantum mechanics, relativity, evolution, and how these speak to questions of ultimate reality. For me, however, the value of the book was in Polkinghorne's forays into such subjects as the Trinity, evil, the historical Jesus and the nature of time.''

In the chapter titled "Evil", Polkinghorne summarizes his "free process theology" approach to the problem of evil (page 144): "A theologian would say that what is involved in the occurring costliness of creation is the divine permissive will, allowing creatures to behave in accordance with their natures. Bringing the world into being was a kenotic act of self-limitation on the Creator's part, so that not all that happens does so under tight divine control. The gift of Love in allowing the genuinely other to be is necessarily a precarious gift. I believe that God wills neither the act of a murderer nor the incidence of an earthquake, but both are allowed to happen in a creation given its creaturely freedom."

A central theme in Polkinghorne's thinking about evil and suffering is found in the concluding paragraph of the chapter: God himself enters into the suffering of this cosmos (page 146): "The Christian God is the crucified God, not a compassionate spectator from the outside, but truly a fellow sufferer who understands creatures' pain from the inside."

By far my favorite chapter, "The Nature of Time: Unfolding Story" outlines Polkinghorne's understanding of the dimension of time. He notes with apparent approval that openness is becoming increasingly accepted. Polkinghorne's makes clear his "openness" to openness (page 119): "It would be no defect in the divine perfection not to know the details of the future if that future is not yet in existence and available to be known."

Open Theism is a subject of interest to me, so I was very interested in Polkinghorne's stated position. Other topics under the general subject of time include progressive revelation (which Polkinghorne sees as continuing to the present), the relationship of entropy to the resurrected body of Christ, and time's continuance in the new creation. Polkinghorne departs from conventional evangelical theology when he declares on page 125, "The life of the new creation will be a temporal life, lived within the unfolding `time' of that world to come, whose everlasting nature is the true meaning of the fullness of times."

In short, Polkinghorne questions the common thinking that "eternity" is outside the bounds of time, and that God lives outside of time. Since I have long been asking the same questions, it was gratifying to read Polkinghorne's thoughtful comments about time.

An elementary understanding of science is helpful in reading Polkinghorne. However, this book is a collection of free-standing essays. And the chapters on theology can be read on their own. For those who are inclined to think outside the box, I recommend this selection.

John Polkinghorne does it again. We benefit from his scientific knowledge and see that coupled to Christian faith in a unique manner. THis book is something you ought to read, whether you are a believer or not.

This is one of Polkinghorne's more recent works (SPCK 2005) which presents his ideas in a relatively easy to understand fashion and is both clearly and elegantly written. He reprises here several ideas from his earlier books such as "The Faith of a Physicist" but the presentation here is less technical and thus more appropriate for the bulk of us who are neither particle physicists nor theologians.

Polkinghorne weaves together complex and difficult ideas in a way that makes them understandable and places them in a broader context. For example, in chapter 2 he discusses how a thoughtful metaphysical choice is necessary to most meaningfully interpret our experiences. His illustrations include Bohm's alternative (deterministic) version of quantum theory, chaos theory and the quantum mechanical property of non locality (EPR effect) that Einstein described as "spooky"

John Polkinghorne KBE, FRS is the author of many books on themes related to science and religion; he is uniquely qualified to speak on both, having been a particle physicist for the larger part of his career then latterly an Anglican priest. In "Exploring Reality" Polkinghorne seeks to combine the perspectives of science and Christianity into what he calls a "stereoscopic world view." I took the title of this review from the author's listing of three main points he wanted to make: "(1) Defense of realism in science depends partly upon recognizing the unexpected character often stubbornly displayed by nature ... the feel of actually doing science is undeniably one of discovery, rather than pleasing construction. (2) An experience fundamental to the pursuit of science is a sense of wonder, induced by the beautiful order and fruitful nature of the universe ... The religious believer can find here grounds for understanding the universe as a creation, whose deep order and inherent fertility express the mind and will of its creator. (3) If interpreted experience is to be the basis of our understanding reality, then our concept of the nature of reality must be sufficiently extensive to be able to accommodate the richness of our experience."

Polkinghorne explains in a very accessible way complex subjects such as the quantum 'superposition principle', non-locality, the EPR effect, and ideas about the origin of the universe such as the 'multiverse' hypothesis. One or two reviewers have suggested that he is difficult to read, but I do not find this to be the case provided one takes the time to grasp the concepts he explains. For example, the following sentences sound daunting but make perfect sense on reflection: "the portfolio of causes that bring about the future is not limited solely to the description offered by a methodologically reductionist physics and framed only in terms of the exchange of energy between constituents ... It is clear that science has not demonstrated the causal closure of the natural world. Nothing it can tell us requires us to deny our directly experienced human capacity for intentional action, nor can science forbid religious believers to hold to their belief in God's providential interaction with the history of the world." Once one gets used to his style it is easy to appreciate the elegance in his use of vocabulary.

Subjects covered include consciousness, the soul, altruism, and the nature of time. But the very best parts of the book, for me, were the discussions of the historical Jesus and of what the author calls "divine reality". Polkinghorne also speaks with tremendous wisdom on the subject of abortion. Maintaining the Christian ethical position on matters of life and death, he notes that "no church holds requiems for embryos that die through failing to implant" thus showing a pragmatic approach to a deeply sensitive life problem. This would be an excellent introductory book for one interested in reading Polkinghorne.

Polkinghorne is a particle physicist and Anglican minister, making him eminently qualified to write about the nexus of science and religion, something he does with passion and erudition. However, don't look to him for scientific "proofs" of theological ideas. Rather, he is more like a modern day St. Thomas Aquinas- his goal is to show that the thought processes and paradigms of modern day scientists and religious thinkers are both comparable and complementary, and therefore reality can be , indeed must be, explored from both perspectives to get a complete, satisfying and honest picture of the true universe.

His arguments encompass everything from the conflict between chaos theory and quantum mechanics to the triune nature of God, and his writing is challenging and interesting, often requiring rereading and contemplation. And like all "logical" arguments, it is inevitably undergirded by axiomatic beliefs that must be taken on faith [see Godel's Incompleteness theorem] and therefore will not be convincing to those who oppose his fundamental views.

However, unless you have blindly and adamantly decided that religion is nonsense [Richard Dawkins probably should not waste his money on it], you should find this book informative and thought provoking and the basis for an ongoing dialogue.

And for those who are reflexively dismayed by Polkinghorne's reference to his "beliefs" as if that term alone negates any validity, his numerous arguments showing that science, like all philosophical systems, is founded on faith and hope in certain fundamental tenets should be extremely eye opening.

The point is that modern society has come to believe the only truth is that obtainable by "objective" science and logic. This emphasis on the exclusiveness of rationality is in fact misplaced and even dangerous [see Taleb's "Black Swan"]. The Universe is a strange and mysterious place [Strangeness is even a property assigned by quantum mechanics to certain sub atomic particles] which contains "more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Polkinghorne believes that a theological perspective is a crucial tool in beginning to understand this Mystery and therefore God's mind. It's an argument that is too important to be lightly dismissed or ignored.

I bought this after talking to a few people and having enjoyed the "Closer to Truth" series on PBS. I am glad I did.

Polkinghorne can be difficult to read, but this book is a little more accessible that most of his. I've not finished working my way through it yet, but the chapter on the Historical Jesus was very good.

...that Polkinghorne had a distinguished scientific career based on rigorous presentations of theory and analyses of observations. But his standards for philosphical or theological discourse are weaker, or absent. The words "I believe" are sprinkled thoughout the book. Why should we care what he believes? Did he acquire a halo from his scientific career that entitles him to speak ex cathedra on other issues?

The book is interesting enough to at least skim, but you don't need to buy it. It can be found in many public library systems.