Abstract. In replying to the four thoughtful critiques of my first Gifford volume I try to clarify the differences among us. I defend my use of Kuhn's concept of paradigms against Nancey Murphy's use of Lakatos's concept of research programs and then compare both of us with advocates of the “strong program” in the social construction of science. Sallie McFague identifies me with the empiricist, objectivist, “modernist” tradition and contrasts it to her own “postmodernist” acceptance of cultural relativism and the social construction of science, but I argue that I am seeking an intermediate position that redefines objectivity rather than rejecting it. Some themes common to feminist and process theology are also examin ed. In dialogue with Bob Russell I discuss the metaphysical and theological implications of the unity of space and time in relativity, the beginning of time in recent cosmology, and the thesis that God acts by determining events in indeterminate quantum systems. Finally I compare John Cobb's indebtedness to Whitehead with my own and suggest that I am more willing to adapt or modify process thought in the interpretation of scientific theories and religious experience.
cosmology, relativity, quantum physics, process philosophy, methodology
Barbour, I., (1996) “RESPONSE TO CRITIQUES OF RELIGION IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE ”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 31(1), 51–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.1996.tb00007.x
Views
Downloads
Citations
Barbour, Ian G.1966. Issues in Service and Religion. Englewood Cliffs , N.J. : Prentice‐Hall.
McFague, Sallie. 1993. The Body of God: An Ecological Theology. Minneapolis : Fortress Press.
Russell, Robert John. Forthcoming. “Nature and Creation in Modern Physics and Cosmology: A Trinitarian Approach .” Paper presented at the Fifth European Conference on Science and Theology, Munich, 23–27 March 1994 (to be published in the conference proceedings).