October 2010
volume 22 (2)

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Articles

Guest Editorial - A Christian Perspective on Human Enhancement

D. GARETH JONES
Pages: 114-116

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Victor Stenger’s Scientific Critique of Christian Belief

DAVID J. BARTHOLOMEW
Pages: 117-131

Abstract

In two recent books, Victor Stenger claims to show that, using the scientific method, it is possible to show that the ‘God Hypothesis’ must be rejected. To a large extent his refutation is based on the use of ideas of statistical inference. The purpose of this paper is to show that the scientific method is incapable of achieving the goals set for it by Stenger and that, in particular cases, his use of it is fallacious. We deal first with intercessory prayer experiments and then with his understanding of statistical significance, meta-analysis and scientific sampling. In conclusion it is pointed out that a rigorous use of scientific method must include all the evidence which, in the case of Christianity, involves a serious examination of the evidence relating to the incarnation.

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Determinism, Brain Function and Free Will

PETER G. H. CLARKE
Pages: 133-149

Abstract

The philosophical debate about determinism and free will is far from being resolved. Most philosophers (including Christians) are either compatibilists, asserting that determinism is compatible with free will, or libertarians, arguing that free will requires a fundamental indeterminism in nature, and in particular in brain function. Most libertarians invoke Heisenbergian uncertainty as the required indeterminism. The present paper, by a neurobiologist, examines these issues in relationship to biblical teaching on the brain-soul relationship. It distinguishes different levels of determinism, including genetic and environmental determinism, and argues that these are incomplete, whereas the physical (or ‘Laplacian’) determinism of brain function is almost total. In particular, it is argued that the attempt to support the libertarian concept of free will on the foundation of Heisenbergian uncertainty applied to the brain is problematic for both conceptual and quantitative reasons.

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Why Christian Theology Should Accept that Miracles Occur

ATLE OTTESEN SØVIK
Pages: 151-165

Abstract

In this article I argue that Christian theology, in order to be sufficiently coherent, should claim that miracles, like those described in the New Testament, do occur. I discuss first an argument by Wolfhart Pannenberg that any theory of God must be based on revelation, and suggest an improvement to Pannenberg’s line of reasoning. Presupposing that Christian theology must hold that God has revealed himself decisively through Christ, I then discuss whether or not Christian theology can reject that miracles happen. Based on arguments from the discussion of Pannenberg, I argue – against scholars like David Griffin and Arthur Peacocke – that Christian theology should accept that miracles occur in order to be sufficiently coherent. The reason for this is that if miracles do not happen it is more coherent to believe that God is not revealed decisively through Christ, than to believe that he is.

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OBITUARY: Donald Wiseman [1918-2010]

Denis Alexander
Pages: 166-166

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Correspondence

A soul alive in Christ

DAVID BOOTH
Pages: 167-168

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A Response to David Booth

JOHN TURL
Pages: 169-171

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Dualism that makes contact with science

PETER CLARKE
Pages: 171-172

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Scientific explanations of religious experience?

C.J. SCHORAH
Pages: 172-173

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A Response to C.J. Schorah

PATRICK RICHMOND
Pages: 174-174

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Book reviews

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Science and Religion – A Very Short Introduction

Thomas Dixon (Andrew Halestrap)
Pages: 175-175


The Faith of Scientists in their Own Words

Nancy K. Frankenberry (Peter Lynch)
Pages: 176-176


Why Evolution is True

Jerry A Coyne (Ken Mickleson)
Pages: 176-178


Think God, Think Science: Conversations on Life, the Universe and Faith

Michael Pfundner Ernest Lucas (Owen Thurtle)
Pages: 178-179


God and Evolution: A Reader

Mary Kathleen Cunningham (ed.) (James Crocker)
Pages: 179-180


Darwin and Catholicism: the Past and Present Dynamics of a Cultural Encounter

Louis Caruana (ed.) (Cyprian Love)
Pages: 180-181


A Tangled Web: Medicine and Theology in Dialogue

R. John Elford D. Gareth Jones (eds.) (John Bryant)
Pages: 181-183


Entropic Creation: Religious Contexts of Thermodynamics and Cosmology

Helge S. Kragh (Mark McCartney)
Pages: 184-185


The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth

Edward O. Wilson (Jonathan Moo)
Pages: 185-187


When Enough is Enough: A Christian Framework for Environmental Sustainability

R. J. Berry (ed.) (Hilary Marlow)
Pages: 187-188


Creation’s Diversity: Voices from Theology and Science

Willem B. Drees Hubert Meisinger Taede A. Smedes (eds.) (Cherryl Hunt)
Pages: 188-189


Purpose in the living world? Creation and emergent evolution

Jacob Klapwijk (Paul Ewart)
Pages: 189-190


The Universe as Communion: Towards a Neo-Patristic Synthesis of Theology and Science

Alexei V. Nesteruk (Christopher C. Knight)
Pages: 190-191


Divine Grace and Emerging Creation: Wesleyan Forays in Science and Theology of Creation

Thomas Jay Oord (Philip Luscombe)
Pages: 192-193


The Two Books: Historical Notes on Some Interactions Between Natural Science and Theology

Olaf Pedersen (Stephen Walley)
Pages: 193-194


Creation and the Conflict over Evolution

Tatha Wiley (Michael Poole)
Pages: 194-196


Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul: Human Systems of Cognitive Science and Religion

Mark Graves (Ross McKenzie)
Pages: 196-197


A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature

Benjamin Wiker Jonathan Witt (Paul Wraight)
Pages: 198-199


My Brain Made Me Do It: The Rise of Neuroscience and the Threat to Moral Responsibility

Eliezer Sternberg (Kile Jones)
Pages: 199-200


Why the Science and Religion Dialogue Matters: Voices from the International Society for Science and Religion

Fraser Watts Kevin Dutton (eds.) (Jeremy Law)
Pages: 200-201


Eco-Theology

Celia Deane-Drummond (Margot Hodson)
Pages: 202-203


God, the big bang and Bunsen-burning issues

Nigel Bovey (Meric Srokosz)
Pages: 203-203


Back to Darwin: a richer account of evolution

John B. Cobb (ed.) (Tom Hartman)
Pages: 204-206


Cosmology: From Alpha to Omega

Robert John Russell (Daniel Saudek)
Pages: 206-207


Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and scientific responses

Norman C. Nevin (ed.) (R.J. Berry)
Pages: 207-208