October 2006
volume 18 (2)

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Articles

Editorial

Denis Alexander
Pages: 114-114

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The Bible and the Emergence of Modern Science

Peter Harrison
Pages: 115-132

Abstract

The Bible played a significant role in the development of modern science. Most obviously, its contents were important because they could be read in ways that seemed either to conflict with or to confirm new scientific claims. More important, however, were changes to the way in which the Bible was interpreted during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The move away from allegorical readings of Scripture and the new focus on the historical or literal sense – a development promoted by humanist scholars and Protestant reformers – contributed to the collapse of the symbolic world of the Middle Ages and paved the way for new mathematical and taxonomic readings of nature. Biblical hermeneutics was thus of profound importance for those new ways of interpreting nature that we associate with the emergence of modern science.

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Physical Infinities: a Substitute for God?

Peter J Bussey
Pages: 133-150

Abstract

It has been argued at various times that our universe may be infinitely old, infinitely large, or one of an infinite set of universes. In such ways the physically infinite has sometimes been seen as a substitute for God or a means to avoid thinking about God. In particular, this may refer to the causational aspects of the universe, the presence of laws of nature, and to intelligent design arguments. This article presents a survey and a critique of these ideas. That they do provide a plausible replacement for God is highly questionable: either the ideas themselves lack a firm basis, or else faith is able to accommodate them.

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The BBC, the Victoria Institute, and the Theological Context for the Big Bang – Steady State Debate

Craig Sean McConnell
Pages: 151-168

Abstract

In the late 1940s, Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi and Tom Gold introduced a steady state model for the universe. Theirs was a universe without beginning or end, a model that neatly avoided the ex nihilo problem and bore little resemblance to Christian origin stories. Despite Hoyle’s early efforts to cast the big bang – steady state debate as a debate between a Christian cosmology and a more sober and scientific cosmology, the discussion of these models in many quarters quickly embraced both as potentially deistic visions of the universe.

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Where is Natural Theology Today?

John Polkinghorne
Pages: 169-179

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Paley Memorial Sermon

Alister McGrath
Pages: 181-187

Abstract

A sermon preached at a service of Holy Communion at Carlisle Cathedral on Sunday, 23 May 2005, by Revd Professor Alister E. McGrath, DD, FRSA

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OBITUARY - David Given (1943-2005) – Science & Christian Belief Editorial Board Member

Dr Richard Storey
Pages: 189-189

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Book reviews

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Science and Salvation

Aileen Fyfe, (Michael Roberts)
Pages: 191-192


How to relate science and religion: a multidimensional mode

Mikael Stenmark, (Meric Srokosz)
Pages: 192-193


From Cells to Souls – and Beyond: Changing portraits of human nature

Malcolm Jeeves, (ed.), (Ken Mickleson)
Pages: 193-194


Deep Down Things: the breathtaking beauty of particle physics

Bruce A. Schumm, (David Watts)
Pages: 194-195


Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life

Alister McGrath, (Ernest Lucas)
Pages: 195-197


Theology and Modern Physics

Peter E. Hodgson, (John Polkinghorne)
Pages: 197-198


Responsible dominion – A Christian approach to sustainable development

Ian Hore-Lacy, (Sir Brian Heap)
Pages: 198-199


Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies?

Nancey Murphy, (Patrick Richmond)
Pages: 199-200


The Palace of Glory: God’s World and Science

Arthur Peacocke, (Derek Burke)
Pages: 200-201


Faith and Hope in Technology

Egbert Schuurman, (Alan Jiggins)
Pages: 201-202


Designers of the Future – Who Should Make the Decisions?

Gareth Jones, (John Bryant)
Pages: 202-204


Caring for Creation: Biblical and Theological Perspectives

Sarah Tillett, (ed.), (Dr John Drake)
Pages: 204-205


Breaking the Spell – Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Daniel C. Dennett, (Denis Alexander)
Pages: 205-207


Evolution and Ethics. Human Morality in Biological & Religious Perspective

Philip Clayton and Jeffrey Schloss, (eds.), (Ken Mickleson)
Pages: 208-208