Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 1 John Polkinghorne on science & theology FChapter 5 - Prayer GDoes petitionary prayer make sense from a scientific perspective? If the universe is a giant clockwork, no. Why not? What does modern science say about a clockwork universe? –Nature is subtle and supple

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 2 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GHow does God act in the world? One possible explanation: A combination of two kinds of Divine action –1. Analogy to human action; top- down causality. Perhaps God acts like “information input.”

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 3 John Polkinghorne on science & theology –2. But top-down causality requires that nature is “subtle and supple,” that it is sufficiently open for God’s action (71). Bottom-up causality.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 4 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GThe God-of-the-gaps objection Is this solution a God-of-the-gaps argument? Polkinghorne: Are good and bad appeals to God-of-the-gaps. –Bad if they appeal to ignorance. Such a gap could be filled by future scientific discoveries.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 5 John Polkinghorne on science & theology –Good does not appeal to ignorance; it appeals to what is known about universe (e.g., quantum mechanics). Future scientific discoveries cannot fill such a gap.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 6 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GA consequence of these proposals for Divine providence, God’s action in the world Divine action will always be hidden because it is contained in the cloudiness of unpredictable processes (72).

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 7 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GConclusion: prayer makes sense (74). GBut why pray at all? Two values åWe, through prayer, play a role in the developments of the universe (75). åPrayer helps us clarify what we want and need.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 8 John Polkinghorne on science & theology FChapter 6 - What about Miracles? GThe religious sense of miracles-- astonishing, amazing events. Polkinghorne: But these can occur within the bounds of scientific explanations –E.g., the healing miracles of Jesus could be explained as happening through natural psychosomatic processes.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 9 John Polkinghorne on science & theology –Same may be said about some of the nature miracles –But they are still miracles because they provoked astonishment in their witnesses.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 10 John Polkinghorne on science & theology Nature, for the most part, operates in a consistent fashion--follows from God’s faithfulness. But this does not exclude the possibility that God occasionally acts in special ways.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 11 John Polkinghorne on science & theology Is this rational? –Polkinghorne: Yes - we would expect a providential God to occasionally reveal self in special ways.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 12 John Polkinghorne on science & theology –And resurrection of Jesus is one of these special events –But the norm is faithfulness, the regularity of nature.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 13 John Polkinghorne on science & theology FChapter 7 - The end of the universe GTwo scenarious Whimper Bang GSteven Weinberg: “The more we understand the universe, the more it seems futile.”

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 14 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GWhat does religion make of this? Christian [& Jewish & Islamic] hope –Follows from attribute of God: faithfulness åTrust that God’s faithfulness will last forever (92) –Connected to resurrection (Cf. Maurice Lamm)

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 15 John Polkinghorne on science & theology –Polkinghorne’s pattern theory of soul åThis is not connected to dualistic view of human nature åPolkinghorne: Modern science tells us that humans are unities (92).

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 16 John Polkinghorne on science & theology åIt is the pattern which Christians hope will be restored by God at the resurrection åResurrection is in new world, not resuscitation of old It is this pattern which we hope will be restored by God at the resurrection (93).

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 17 John Polkinghorne on science & theology GCritique: Isn’t the notion of soul as pattern a rather thin notion of soul?

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 18 John Polkinghorne on science & theology FChap. 8 - Can a Scientist Believe? GSome closing observations Both science and theology pursue truth Neither discipline attains certain knowledge

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 19 John Polkinghorne on science & theology The “intellectual strategy of science” is a tension between “undue credulity” & skepticism (99). A similar strategy should be taken in theology. I [Polkinghorne] don’t make a radical shift in gears when I move from science to religion.

Polkinghorne on science & theology ~ chaps ~ slide 20 John Polkinghorne on science & theology “In their search for truth, science and religion are intellectual cousins under the skin” (100).