Faithful to Science

Science and religious faith are two of the most important and influential forces in human life, yet there is widespread confusion about how, or indeed whether, they link together. This book describes this combination from the perspective of one who finds that they link together productively and creatively. The situation is not one of conflict or uneasy tension, or even a respectful dialogue. Rather, a lively and well-founded faith in God embraces and includes science, and scientific ways of thinking, in their proper role. Science is an activity right in the bloodstream of a reasonable faith. The book interprets theism broadly, and engages carefully with atheism, while coming from a Christian perspective. The aim is to show what science is, and what it is not, and at the same time give some pointers to what theism is or can be. Philosophy, evolution and the nature of science and human life are discussed in the first part of the book, questions of origins in the second. It is the very mind-set of scientific thinking that is widely supposed to be antagonistic to religious faith. But such suspicions are too sweeping. They misunderstand both faith and science.Faith can be creative and intellectually courageous; science is not the all-embracing story that it is sometimes made out to be. It is not that science fails to explain some things, but rather, it does not explain anything at all, on its own. It is part of a larger explanation. And even explanation has to take a humble place; it is not the purpose of life.

Andrew Steane was born in Bath, England (1965) and educated at Christ's Hospital school and the University of Oxford. He has been Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford since 2002 and a Visiting Professor at various institutes. Steane was awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics in 2000 for his work on quantum error correction. He has given numerous public lectures in physics, and in the interaction of science and Christian faith. He is the author of 'The Wonderful World of Relativity' (OUP, 2011) and 'Relativity Made Relatively Easy' (OUP, 2012).

Andrew Steane explains with great clarity and insight the place of science within a more complete account of human understanding, showing in particular how science looks and feels from the perspective of faith in a personal God. This book performs a valuable service, not only in presenting an alternative to a simplistic conflict metaphor of science and faith, but in communicating some of the excitement and wonder of scientific discovery within the broader human search for wisdom and the meaning of life. - Andrew Pinsent, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford