History of Science and Christianity

Science in a Christian Perspectivetop2

  
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What is now needed is a new generation of historians of science capable of following the truth as dispassionately as their scientific colleagues believe themselves to be doing, unafraid of where their inquiries may lead them. 

For the Christian, the use of history for apologetic purposes is surely as legitimate as arguments based on anything else (nature, aesthetics, moral imperatives etc.). 

But such history must be marked by honesty, integrity painstaking attention to detail and a scrupulous regard for alternative interpretations.

 Nothing else is worthy of the Lord of nature who is also Lord of history.
Colin Russell--1993

ASA Classic Monograph   | ASA history  |ASA web history| bibliography  | creationism & Intelligent design|  | dialogue  |  Home introduction | links  | mini-symposium | papers

History of Science and Christianity

INTRODUCTION

The Christian church has had a continuing concern for the relation between God, man, and  nature. Since Western science emerged in cultures dominated by Christianity we might ask  how Christianity influenced attitudes toward nature andOldScholar the practice of what was later to be called science (earlier, natural philosophy). It is also important to discover the ways that an  increasing knowledge of nature has influenced Christian thought.

Our keynote paper by English, Chemist-Historian Colin Russell aptly focuses on the value of  history in understanding toady's science/faith concerns. American historians of science  David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers offer a seminal statement on the 'conflict thesis' in Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and  Science.

We offer a selection of papers from Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF) and other sources that illustrate the wide-ranging scope of the subject, plus a dialogue on Desmond and Moore's best-selling Darwin, a mini-symposium on the science interests of British evangelical pioneer John Wesley, a selection of papers on ASA history  and a bibliography from which the field may be explored in detail.

An ASA Classic Monograph, Wheaton College biologist and ASA pioneer Russell Mixter (1967) provides one mid-20th C view of evolution.

16 Oct 2007 Public Spectacle and Evolutionary Theory: The Fortunes of Darwinism in the Calvinist Cultures of Victorian Edinburgh and Belfast (46 min. + discussion)--Faraday Institute Dr David Livingstone MP3 file 

  PAPERS on Historical Themes

John R. Armstrong, "Rediscovering John Ray (1627-1705) PSCF 41.2:105-107 (6/1989)

buckland
John R. Armstrong, "William Buckland in RetrospectPSCF 42.1:34-38 (3/1990)

Richard P. Aulie, "Al-Ghazali Against Aristotle: An Unforeseen Overture  to Science in Eleventh-CenturyBaghdad," PSCF 46.1:26-46 (3/1994)

David C. Bossard, "The Stones Cry Out: How Early Christian Geologists  Enlarged their Understanding of the Creation Account," IBRI Research Report #57 (2006)

Harry Cook, "Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the History of Biology," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 47 (September 1995): 159-163.

Edward B. Davis, "A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories,"PSCF, 43 (December 1991): 224.

James Hannam, "The Decline of Witch Trials in Europe." Essay, 2007.

Edward O. Dodson, "Toldot Adam: A Little-Known Chapter in the History of Darwinism,"  PSCF 52 (Mar 2000):47-54.

Philip Eichman, "The Christian Character of Michael Faraday as Revealed in His Personal Life and Recorded Sermons",,"PSCF 43.2: 92-95 (6/1991)

Karl Giberson & Donald Yerxa,  Inherit the Monkey Trial  Scopes Trial historian Ed Larson explains  why Christians should be taught evolution. Christianity Today  Archive with useful links on the trial.

Haas, John W., Jr., Essay Review: Bowler, Peter J. Reconciling Science and Religion: The Debate in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain PSCF 55.1:45-51 (3/2003)Lamoureux, Denis O., Theological Insights from Charles Darwin PSCF 56.1:2-12 (3/2004)

Christopher B. Kaiser, "The Creationist Tradition in the History of Science," PSCF 45 (June 1993): 80 -89.Galium

Lindberg, David C. & Numbers, Ronald L., "Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the  Encounter between Christianity and Science" PSCF 39.3:140-149 (9/1987)

Mark A. Kalthoff, "John Henry Newman on Christianity, Science and Intelligent Design,"  PSCF 53 (March 2001): 14 - 23.

David Livingston, "Science and Religion: Towards a New Cartography" Christian  Scholar's Review XXVI:3 (Spring 1997) 270 - 292. (web link)

Russell Maatmann, "The Galileo Incident," PSCF46 (September 1994): 179-182.

George L. Murphy, "Possible Influences of Biblical Beliefs upon Physics, " PSCF,48 (June 1996):82.

Sara Joan Miles, "Charles Darwin and Asa Gray Discuss Teleology and Design"PSCF  53.3:196-201 (9/2001.

Sara Joan Miles, "From Being to Becoming: Science and Theology in the Eighteenth Century," PSCF, 43 (December 1991): 

Terry G. Pence,"Charles S. Pierce, Scientific Method, and God,"PSCF 49.3:156-161(9/1997.

Michael B. Roberts: Genesis and Geology Unearthed 15 December 2002

Colin  Russell, "Without a Memory," PSCF 45 (March 1993): 219-221.

Jeffrey Burton Russell, "The myth of the flat Earth," Paper presented at the American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting, August 4, 1997 at Westmont College.

James Hannam, "The myth of the the flat Earth," 2007.  A further short paper on the topic.

BoyleJoseph L. Spradley,  Tradition and Faith in the Copernican Revolution   PSCF 43.1:36-42 (3/1991)

Stephen David Snobelen, Newton Reconsidered (2005) Comments on recent scholarship on Newton's theological views.

Daniel E. Wonderly, "Fanciful Bible-Science  Stories' Harm: A Call to Action," PSCF 44
David L. Woodall, "The Relationship between Science and Scripture in the Thought of Robert Boyle," PSCF, 49 (March 1997): 32 - 39.

Yerxa, "Donald A., Phillip Johnson and the Origins of the Intelligent Design Movement,  1977-1991, PSCF 54 (March 2002): 47 [PDF]

Davis Young, "History of the Collapse of "Flood Geology" and a Young Earth," (adapted from The Biblical Flood: A Case Study of the Church's Response to Extrabiblical Evidence Eerdmans, 1995)

DIALOGUE

darwinThe Young Charles Darwin

Sara Miles, "Darwin: A Man of His Times - A Theory of Its Time?" PSCF, 45 (Sep1993): 191 - 195.

David N. Livingstone, "A Commentary on Darwin," ,PSCF, 46 (June 1994): 123 - 127.

James Moore. "Cutting Both Ways - Darwin Among the Devout: A Response to David Livingstone, Sara Miles, and Mark Noll," PSCF 46 (Sep 1994): 169 - 172.

MINI-SYMPOSIUM             

The Rev. John Wesley and Science

Laura Bartels Felleman, "John Wesley's Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation: A Methodological Inquiry," PSCF 58 (March 2006): 68-73.

J. W. Haas, Jr., "John Wesley's Vision of Science in the Service of Christ," PSCF 47 (December 1995): 234 - 243.

H. Newton Malony, "John Wesley and the Eighteenth Century Therapeutic Uses of Electricity,"PSCF 47 (December 1995): 244 - 254.

ASA History

Dorothy F. Chappell,"Christian, Teacher, Scientist, Mentor: Dr. Russell L. Mixter Visionary for the Role of Science in Christian Higher Education,"PSCF 44(March 1992):10-16

John W., Jr. Haas,"Irwin A. Moon, F. Alton Everest and Will H. Houghton: Early Links between the Moody Bible Institute and the American Scientific Affiliation," PSCF 43 (Dec 1991):249-258.

D. G. Hart, "The Fundamentalist Origins of the American Scientific Affiliation," PSCF 43 (Dec 1991):238-248

Mark A. Kalthoff, "The Harmonious Dissonance of Evangelical Scientists: Rhetoric and Reality in the Early Decades of the ASA," PSCF 43  (Dec 1991):259-272

Joseph L. Spradley,"Changing Views of Science and Scripture: Bernard Ramm & the ASA,"PSCF 44 (Mar 1992):2-9.

Creationism and Intelligent Design

Lenny Flank, Deception by Design: The Intelligent Design Movement in America , Posted August 20, 2006. A self conscious and combative  book length historical account of creationism and the Intelligent Design movement. An Appendix has a full reprint of the Wedge Strategy document authored by founding father  Philip Johnson.

ASA Web History

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peter Bowler, Reconciling Science and Religion: The Debate In Early Twentieth-Century Britain, University of Chicago Press, 2001

John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives, Cambridge University Press NY, 1991.

faradayMichael Faraday

G. A. Cantor, Michael Faraday: Sandemanian and Scientist, Macmillan Publishers, London, 1991.

Adrian Desmond & James Moore, Darwin: the Life of a Tormented Evolutionist,  Warner Books NY, 1991.

Adrian Desmond, Huxley: From Devil's Disciple to Evolution's High Priest, Addison-Wesley,
Reading MA, 1994.

Charles Hummel, The Galileo Connection: Resolving Conflicts between Science & the Bible, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove  IL 1986.

Dan Graves, Scientists of Faith: Forty-Eight Biographies of Historic Scientists and their Christian Faith, Kregel Resources, Grand Rapids MI, 1996.

Frederick Gregory, Nature Lost?: Natural Science and the German Theological Traditions of the Nineteenth Century,   Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1992.

Christopher Kaiser, Creation and the History of Science, W. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI, 1991.

David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, eds., God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, University of California Press, Berkeley CA,
1986.

David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers eds., When Science & Christianity Meet, University of Chicago Press, 2003.

David C. Lindberg and Robert S. Westman, eds., Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge University Press  NY, 1990.

Ronald L. Numbers. The Creationists: the Evolution of Scientific Creationism, Alfred A. Kopf  NY, 1992.

Ronald L. Numbers, Darwinism Comes to America, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1998.

John Ray (1628-1705) The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of Creation,  1691 (ebook )

Colin A. Russell, Cross-currents: Interactions Between Science & Faith, W. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI, 1985

James Strick, Sparks of Life: Darwinism and the Victorian Debates Over Spontaneous Generation, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 2000.

Andrew White,  The Warfare Of Science With Theology, (1896) (ebook).

LINKS

The Alfred Russel Wallace Page Web site dedicated to celebrating the life and work of the English naturalist, evolutionist, and social critic  Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)

John Ray Web Site (1628-1705)  A survey of the life and times of English naturalist John Ray, of his place in the history of science, in church history, and of his character and faith.

Robert A. Hatch, "THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION HOMEPAGE" A diverse page on all aspects of the Scientific Revolution containing a vast quantity of links to primary readings, secondary readings, a glossary of terminology, a timeline from Copernicus to Newton, biographies, biblio...more. 

Victorian Science & Religion Aileen Fyfe, Dept. of History, National University of Ireland, Galway and John van Wyhe, Fellow, NUS; Researcher, History & philosophy of science, Cambridge University. At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Britain, religious faith and the sciences were generally seen to be in beautiful accordance. But...


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 Updated: 4/27/09

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