Brendan Sweetman, Religion and Science: An Introduction (New York: Continuum, 2009), $24.95; and John Weaver, Christianity and Science (SCM Core Text) (London: SCM, 2010), $29.99.
Professor Sweetman is Chair of the department of philosophy at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit institution located in Kansas City, Missouri. He has produced this text with the expressed intention of providing an introductory textbook to the varied topics and main thinkers in the religion and science dialogue (24). As a philosopher, he adopts an explicitly philosophical approach, rather than a theological one, which is evidenced by his insistence to critically analyze various positions, coming from at-times opposite sides, regarding the topics under consideration. He provides a rationally-based argument, with little-to-no reference to theology per se, religious texts, or religious authority(ies).
Sweetman adopts a dialogue approach to the relationship between science and religion throughout this text, noting that neither a conflict model nor an independence model is adequate to provide a robust (and realistic) picture of the dialogue in the twenty-first century. One reason for this assessment is that the dialogue model promotes an optimistic posture toward the dialogue itself; moreover, it takes account of the full gamut of information available to us (i.e. it is not selective regarding temporal or social location in its analysis), and it supports the notion that religion – in its purest form – has nothing to fear from the progressive march of revelations in scientific discovery.
Sweetman covers it all, seemingly: consciousness, free will, immortality, ‘creation’, naturalism, design, the big-bang, and various ethical issues (e.g., the human genome, project, stem cells, cloning). He moves from Aristotle, through Darwin, up to the present, cursorily covering the science from its birth unto today. Notably, Sweetman avers that the theory of evolution is one of the most significant, studied, tested (and well-attested to) theories of all time; this approach of Sweetman is refreshing, as it is oft the case that textbooks such as these either discount, or simply ignore, the overwhelming evidence for evolution (by natural selection) throughout all of God’s creation, properly so-called.
Overall, Sweetman’s book is highly readable and digestible by scientists, philosophers, theologians, and laymen alike; its greatest strength is its wide coverage of the various views of all the topics. It is truly a one-stop resource for a balanced overview of the important themes, topics, and authors of the ongoing dialogue between science and religion.
The second (text)book herein under review is written by the Principal of South Wales Baptist College, Reverend (and geologist) John Weaver. Whereas the first title referred to above was a general introduction, I chose to speak of this title second because it is not a general introduction per se, but what would be better classed as an advanced-level text. Although some of the same topics – e.g., cloning, stem cell research, genetically modified, global climate change and ecological crises – are discussed herein, Weaver also goes farther in that he first discusses the bible and its interpretation (e.g., is it even relevant today?), and thereafter reflects on the general items he earlier discussed from the perspective of the relative (or tentative) truth claims made by science and the absolute truth claims made by religions in general. Exploring the role of faith in an age of science (explicitly), Weaver discusses such important notions as the origin(s?) of life, as well as ‘natural’ evil. Building from his training in both science (geology) and religion, Weaver weaves the two together throughout this text into what he claims to be evidence that the dialogue reveals the God of theism to be transcendent, immanent, and self-limiting (and, I would add, self-giving) in love, which allows creatures – and the world in general – to develop on their own, to evolve.
Weaver contends that the often polarizing sides of the dialogue are erroneous – even destructive – in their extreme forms: scientific materialism and biblical literalism, respectively. Taking a middle-ground position, characteristic of the Anglican profession of faith to which he adheres, Weaver argues for an integration of the scientific and the theological worldviews, highlighting in the process Einstein’s dictum that science without religion is blind, and religion without science is lame. It is apropos, then, to mention his guiding principle in the pursuant of this task: the “Anglican triad” of scripture, tradition, and reason. Employing this triad throughout, he explores a universe that is marked by the interplay of both chance and necessity.
Interestingly, this text takes advantage of the massive amounts of information from the World Wide Web, as one will find numerous footnotes pointing them to the websites from which some material was taken; this shows a wide-reaching research that was undertaken in the production of the text, and also displays the contemporary validation of internet-based research. Particularly strong with respect to Weaver’s text is the presence of chapter summaries, and suggestions for further reading at the close of chapters. In sum, I could see either one of these (text)books used in both undergraduate courses in philosophy of religion, as well as courses devoted especially to the science and religion dialogue.
Bradford McCall, Regent University