Customer Reviews

Science and Religion Primer, A

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

 

 

As a "science and religion primer," this book aims to provide terminological definitions and introductory conceptual background for people who are interested in the interaction between science and religion. The book generally fulfills this aim, though the title is a bit misleading because "religion" here really means a fairly generic version of Christianity, with very little attention given to other religions.

Since this publisher is new to me, I did a little digging and found that "Baker Academic serves the academy and the church by publishing works that further the pursuit of knowledge and understanding within the context of Christian faith." This alerted me to the possibility of the book having a pro-Christian bias which would compromise its usefulness, so I was on the lookout for that, but I was pleased to find that the book is reasonably fair and objective. In fact, after reading the book cover to cover, it becomes apparent that there's quite a bit of controversy and confusion within Christianity itself, which thus weakens the Christian position. Another main conclusion is that the interaction between science and religion is a fertile territory to explore the big questions, and no form of dogmatism (scientism, religious fundamentalism, etc.) is appropriate here.

In terms of the format, the book consists of a short introduction, four short general essays on the science/religion interaction, and then the bulk of the book is ~90 entries dealing with topics such as altruism, Francis Bacon, causation, Charles Darwin, ecofeminism, fideism, Galileo, handmaiden metaphor, idealism, kenosis, laws of nature, materialism, naturalism, ontology, William Paley, quantum theory, realism, science, technology, and the verification principle. Each entry is about two pages and consists of a general discussion, bullet points on key points/challenges, and annotated suggestions for further reading. Despite being short, the entries still pack in a good amount of content because they're written concisely and at a fairly high level, though of course many of the entries will still leave you wanting more. The entries appear to be all written by different contributors, so the quality inevitably varies somewhat, but the overall quality is high and the editors have done their job well.

I recommend this book to people seeking a primer on the science/religion interaction, with two caveats: (a) don't expect much specific treatment of religions other than Christianity and (b) since the book is written at a fairly high level, the target audience is people with a serious interest in the topic rather than the general reader. And for people who have such a serious interest, the book may be a good choice even if you're well past the point of needing a primer.

Recieved the book VERY promptly. It's in great condition and was very well priced! Will definitely buy from you guys again :]