General science and faith

“Thinking About…”

We have a fantastic set of resources for your churches, entitled “Thinking About…”

Science raises some issues that the church can find difficult or ill-equipped to address. Christians in Science have produced a series of introductory leaflets on these topics that are written by Christians who are professional scientists. They are specifically designed to help Christians that do not have a scientific background understand better the relevant science, and any issues that it presents for the Christian.

Each leaflet outlines the basic science behind the topic, how it relates to the Christian (biblical) understanding of the world and suggests some other resources for those who want to take it further. Titles include:

• Big Bang (pdf, 492KB)
• Bioethics (pdf, 488 KB)
• Creation Care (pdf, 492 KB)
• Evolution (pdf, 507 KB)
• Fine Tuning (pdf, 477 KB)
• Genes and Embryos (pdf 456KB)
• Genetic Modification (pdf, 515 KB)
• Historical Reception of Evolution (pdf, 666KB)
• Human Enhancement (pdf, 481 KB)
• How We Interpret Genesis (pdf, 541 KB)
• Miracles (pdf, 518 KB)
• Natural Disasters (pdf, 521KB)
• Neuroscience (pdf, 517 KB)
• Science and Apologetics (pdf, 478 KB)
• Science as Christian vocation (pdf, 507 KB)
• Stem Cells (pdf, 474 KB)

Articles

• ‘Delight in Creation: the life of a scientist’ – An article published in ASA’s journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, written by Andy Crouch, the husband of an experimental Physicist.
• Star of Bethlehem – An article published in Science and Christian Belief by Professor Sir Colin Humphreys
• What I Wish the Church Knew About…. A series of science – faith articles published in Idea Magazine:
  – The Science vs Faith Debate by CiS Chair Prof Keith Fox
  – Being a Christian in a Science Lab by Test of Faith project leader Dr Ruth Bancewicz (page 9)
  – The Brain and Religious Experience by Cambridge neuroscientist Rev Dr Alasdair Coles (page 8)
  – How Scientists Seek Truth by Revd Dr John Polkinghorne
  – Christians and the Cosmos by Dr Jennifer Wiseman
  – The Science and Religion Debate by Prof Edward B Davis
• Science and faith must keep up the friendship Article by Denis Alexander in the Church Times.
• Am I significant in the Universe, or just an accident? (pdf) by Mike Poole.
• Science: Friend or Foe? (pdf) by Dr Denis Alexander.
• Isn’t science more rational than faith? (pdf, 34KB) by Prof. Alister McGrath, published in the Evangelical Alliance IDEA magazine.
• Can Science Explain Everything? Scientific Naturalism and the Death of Science (pdf) by Dr Denis Alexander.
• Science: Friend or Foe? by Prof Robert S White.
• God and the Big Bang by Michael Poole (pdf, 365 KB)

Audio

• Science and Faith: conflict or harmony?
  A lecture given by Michael Poole at the CiS Birmingham local group meeting on 27th January, 2014.
  Audio (mp3, 24.4 MB)
• Science and the Christian faith: seeing the big picture
  A lecture given by Professor Alister McGrath at the 2012 CiS Residential Conference
  Audio (mp3 10.2MB)
• Secular mythology about Christianity and science
  A lecture given by Dr Allan Chapman at the 2012 CiS Residential Conference
  Audio (mp3 7.6MB)
  
• Science and the imagination
  A lecture given by Dr Mike Clifford at the 2012 CiS Residential Conference
  Audio (mp3 7.8MB)
  
• How scientists view religion and ethics
  A lecture given by Dr Elaine Howard Ecklund at the 2012 CiS Residential Conference
  Audio (mp3 9.0MB)
• “Beyond Belief? Science & Religion in the 21st Century” – Dr. Denis Alexander speaks at the Central South CiS group on 9th May 2006
  Audio of lecture (MP3, 11.2Mb)
• ‘Science and Faith at War: myths and fables, old and new’ lecture by Prof Colin Russell – given on 18th November 2008 at CiS Central South local group
  Audio (mp3, 11MB), Video (mp4, 125MB)
• Can Scientists Believe in Miracles? CiS northern conference 2008. Audio files of lectures can be found here
• Listening Towords
  The science and religion section of a collection of lectures. Many presented by CiS members or speakers from The Faraday Institute, and others that may be of interest.
• Radio Interview with Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne KBE FRS. John Polkinghorne discusses how he applies the deepest insights of modern physics to think about how the world fundamentally works, and how the universe might make space for prayer.
• The Faraday Institute Multimedia Page
  A vast collection of lectures from The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

Videos

• God: New Evidence A series of videos about the remarkable evidence from cosmic fine tuning that points us towards the Creator.
• Test of Faith Videos of interviews with lots of scientist Christians.
• Great short video clips on science and faith from St Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate
• Counterbalance
  Large collection of interviews with scientists and others, on science and religion
• The Faraday Institute Multimedia Page
  A vast collection of lectures from The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

CiS – Faraday Lectures

• Can Scientists Believe in Miracles? by Prof Colin Humphreys
• Do Science and Religion need each other? by Prof Roger Trigg Part
• Truth in Science: Proof, Persuasion & The Galileo affair by Prof Owen Gingerich
• Has Science made Religion Redundant? by Revd Dr John Polkinghorne, KBE
• The Bible and the Emergence of Modern Science by Prof Peter Harrison
• Psychology & Christianity: The view both ways by Prof Malcolm Jeeves
• The Problem of Mental Causation: How does reason get its grip on the brain? by Prof Nancey Murphey

Links

• The Faraday Institute, based at St. Edmunds College Cambridge, is closely linked to CiS and has a huge range of lectures and other resources.
• The Faraday Papers Produced by The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, this set of 4-page papers includes topics such as The Science and Religion Debate – an Introduction, Does Science Need Religion? and Models for Relating Science and Religion.
• The BioLogos forum is an American organisation founded by Francis Collins specifically to distribute resources on science and faith.
• Science and Belief A great blog from CiS Trustee and Faraday Institute Research Associate Ruth Bancewicz.
• Real Science, Real Faith The book Real Science, Real Faith was a collection of testimonies by senior scientists collected and edited by Prof R. J. Berry and published in 1991.  The book is now out of print (superseded by Real Scientists, Real Faith, published in 2009) but has been reproduced electronically with permission on the Test of FAITH website.
• Revd Dr John Polkinghorne’s Q&A page John Polkinghorne tackles his most frequently asked questions.
• Science and Religion Forum (SRF) “Promotes discussion between scientific understanding and religious thought”
• Test of FAITH Introductory resources from The Faraday Institute on science and faith.
• American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) (American counterpart to CiS) A huge range of resources available here
• The Colossian Forum A forum seeking to help people reconcile issues of Christian faith, science and culture
• Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation (CSCA) (Canadian counterpart to CiS)
• Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology (ISCAST) (Australian counterpart to CiS)

More links