ISBN Science Religion and the Human Experience 352 pages English

The relationship between science and religion is generally depicted in one of two ways. In one view they are locked in an inevitable eternal conflict in which one must choose a side. In the other they are separate spheres in which the truth claims of one have little bearing on the other. This collection of provocative essays by leading thinkers offers a new way of looking at this problematic relationship. The authors begin from the premise that both science and religion operate in yet seek to reach beyond specific historical political ideological and psychological contexts. How may we understand science and religion as arising from yet somehow transcending human experience? The volume is divided into four sections. The first takes a fresh look at the relationship between science and religion in broad terms: as spheres of knowledge or belief realms of experience and sources of authority. The other three sections take on topics that have been focal points of conflict between science and religion: the nature of the cosmos the origin of life and the workings of the mind. Ultimately the authors argue by seeing science and religion as irrevocably tied to human experience we can move beyond simple either/or definitions of reality and arrive at a more rich and complex view of both science and religion.