About the Book

The modern world is the product of a post-enlightenment age and an emerging global society. Struggles among peoples with different ideas, values and customs are historically, and presently, manifest. To be human is to seek an understanding of the world in which we live, how it works and why. These basic questions for the human mind have produced answers that have emerged in different contexts and with different methods. Empirical science explains our observations of the natural world, whereas religion provides answers about meaning and purpose for such a world. The encounter between reason and faith, the mind and spirit, have the appearance of polarity. In actuality, there is fluidity between the two. It is a dynamic and constantly changing, albeit often misunderstood, relationship, and for that reason, it is an important academic area that needs careful and intentional study.

The constructive engagement between religion and science provides an important pathway for overcoming cultural boundaries and incorrect assumptions about the world and our relationship to it. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the study of religion and science can help individuals understand both disciplines in a different light, paint a more holistic picture of the world around us and, most importantly, lead us to an appreciation of the different ways we come to understand our world.

Volume I: Histories and Methodologies in Religion and Science sets a context for the other volumes in that it will present historical accounts of the relationship between religion and science as well as methodologies and ways of knowing in both science and religion. Volume II: Cosmological Considerations in Religion and Science ranges from ancient understandings of the universe, to the Galileo affair, to current understandings of the Big Bang and elucidate the roles of chance, randomness and indeterminacy. Volume III: The Imperative of Evolution in Religion and Science studies the premise of scientific evolution and the theological challenges that it brought, as well as highlighting responses to Darwin’s ideas and exploring alternative explanations that have emerged, including creationism. Volume IV: Human Actions at the Intersection of Religion and Science focuses on the environment, medicine, biotechnology and gender.