Science and Religion in Dialogue

Thistwo-volume collection of cutting edge thinking about science and religion shows how scientific and religious practices of inquiry can be viewed as logically compatible, complementary, and mutually supportive. Features submissions by world-leading scientists and philosophers Discusses a wide range of hotly debated issues, including Big Bang cosmology, evolution, intelligent design, dinosaurs and creation, general and special theories of relativity, dark energy, the Multiverse Hypothesis, and Super String Theory Includes articles on stem cell research and Bioethics by William Hurlbut, who served on President Bush's Bioethics Committee

Melville Y. Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota. His many previous publications include East & West Philosophy of Religion (with Zhang Zhigang, 1998), Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology of Contemporary Views (1996) and The Greater-Good Defence: An Essay on the Rationality of Faith (1993).

This excellent collection of papers was written by 12 philosophers and 14 scientists who participated in a five-year-long 'Science and Religion' series held at five major Chinese universities. These world-class scientists, philosophers, and theologians engage in a genuine dialogue in their papers based on the idea that science and religion have things in common and enough of a common universe of discourse to participate in a meaningful exchange, since science and religion not only are logically compatible when both are properly understood and described, but also are complementary. An excellent introduction explains the focus for each of the 26 areas into which the papers are grouped. These sections range from 'Has Science Really Destroyed Its Own Religious Roots?' to 'Theories and Unobservables: The Realist/Nonrealist Debate in Science and Religion.' Each paper is preceded by an abstract, and all but three of the writers are represented by three papers in a specific area. Documentation is excellent, and the second volume contains a glossary. This collection is an excellent resource for those wishing to explore the current state of dialogue between science and religion. Although a few of the papers are somewhat technical, interested general readers will find these essays very thought-provoking.