Science, Chance and Providence (Riddell Memorial Lecture) - Hardcover

MacKay, Donald M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0197139159 ISBN 13: 9780197139158

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1978

Synopsis

Is biblical Christianity a live option today, or has it been irretrievably undermined by modern science? Is human life a meaningless product of 'pure chance'? What room is left for 'providence' in a world ruled by natural law? In this book Professor MacKay takes a fresh approach to the much-debated relationship between science and Christian faith. Instead of asking what room is left for God in the scientific world picture, he poses the converse question: what would it mean for the scientist -- and for all of us in a scientific age -- if the biblical doctrines of creation and providence were true? He argues that the stock objections to Christianity from science stem from the use of inadequate mental images of one or the other -- or both. He discusses in particular the confusion between different senses of 'chance', which vitiates atheistic arguments such as those of Jacques Monod; and on the positive side, spells out the rationality of prayer in a world ruled by scientific law. His claim is that so far from limiting or opposing the scientific enterprise, biblical theism actually provides the most coherent basis for its integration into a humane and whole view of reality.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1978
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0197139159
• ISBN 13: 9780197139158
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 78