Entry tags:

religion, science

Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
Encyclopedia of Science and Religion

J. Wentzel Vrede van Huyssteen, Editor in Chief.

Published by Macmillan Reference USA, a division of Thomson Gale, 2003.

This is a two-volume set measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to a total of 1050 pages including an annotated bibliography and index, plus a preface, introduction, list of articles, list of contributors and a synoptic outline of the contents.

This encyclopedia covers topics in science, religion and philosophy in terms of a growing dialogue between religion and science, mainly from the point of view of those wishing to reconcile religion and science without compromising religious belief. Treatments of scientific ideas address the challenges those ideas have posed to theology and religion, as well as discussing open questions and critiques of scientific ideas as they can be taken to make room for theology. Likewise, discussion of theological ideas relate to their intersection with science; entries on ideas in philosophy relate to both science and religion.

Here are all the entries in the "D" sequence:

• Dao
  
• Darwin, Charles
  
• Death
  
• Deep Ecology
  
• Deism
  
• Descartes, René
  
• Design
  
• Design Argument
  
• Determinism
  
• Dharma
  
• Disorder
  
• Dissipative Structure
  
• Divine Action
  
• DNA
  
• Double Agency
  
• Downward Causation
  
• Dualism
  

The point of view of the Encyclopedia is postmodern in terms of its foundation for placing science and religion on an equal footing. The introduction states:

"In the West the success and prestige of science has had a fundamental influence on the way that the voices of popular culture describe our world. As a result, relationships among the religions and sciences have often suffered from what some intellectuals have called the modernist dilemma, where the objective and universally true claims of science are often unfairly contrasted with subjective and irrational religious beliefs. This has led to sharp distinctions between objective descriptions and subjective experiences, between scientific and symbolic uses of language, and between empirically justified scientific truths and privately held religious opinions. The appeal of such stark oppositions, however, has waned. Scientism is the term of approbation used for the attitude that takes for granted the alleged rational superiority of science and exclusive value of the scientific method for gaining knowledge. The reductionist views that define scientism are now being attacked relentlessly by scholars who point out that both scientific and religious beliefs, in spite of important differences, are historically and culturally embedded and shaped by comprehensive worldviews...."

As one would expect from an encyclopedia whose readership includes many people who are seated outside the sciences, the entries are uniformly clear and understandable. They go into a little more depth and detail in their discussion of scientific ideas than one might expect, however.

While this encyclopedia would probably raise the hackles of many scientific-minded people, the challenges it poses to the scientific worldview are, in my opinion, often legitimate. In any case, whether the work is on target or an apology for irrationalism, it does an excellent job of surveying the contemporary dialogue between religion and science and can be a very useful resource for anyone interested in that subject.