IDSA204W Christianity and Science

Spring 1998

Instructor: Dr. Edward B. Davis, Professor of the History of Science.

Course Description: An examination of some important episodes in the history of Christianity and the natural sciences since antiquity, emphasizing the variety of ways in which theology and science have influenced one another, with some analysis of the contemporary situation.

Course Objectives: Every course in curriculum area 2.1.C (Science, Technology, and the World) must meet the following three objectives:

To show students how science and/or technology relate to other parts of culture.
To help students understand how scientific theories are constructed, and the context within which they arise.
To help students reflect critically on the nature and scope of science and/or technology.

The objectives for this particular course are consistent with these general goals. Upon completing this course, each student should:

have a sense of the complexity of the science/theology interface, both in the past and in the present;
recognize that science is a form of human knowledge that is not isolated from other forms of human knowledge, including religious beliefs; that scientific ideas frequently reflect the philosophical, religious, and social concerns of the scientists who create them; and that scientific ideas in turn affect philosophy, religion, and society;
see that science and theology are both creative activities -- that scientific theories and doctrinal formulations are creations of the human mind, educated guesses rather than absolute truths;
be familiar with some basic models for the relation between science and religion that have been used since antiquity; these models will include handmaiden, harmony (or confirmation), conflict, separation (or contrast), complementarity, and dialogue (or contact).

Textbooks:

Several units from the series, Science and Belief: From Copernicus to Darwin, and Science and Belief: From Darwin to Einstein. Open University Press, 1970s. These are called C1 to C9 in the course calendar.

John Haught, Science & Religion: From Conflict to Conversation. Paulist Press, 1995.

Additional readings are contained in the reader. These readings are assigned in your syllabus by alphanumeric designations as shown below.

Primary Sources

P1. Genesis 1:1-3:24. Not included in the packet -- use your own Bible!!

P2. Plato, Timaeus, selections from the 19th-century translation by Benjamin Jowett.

P3. Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (1615), translated by Stillman Drake in his Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo (Garden City: Doubleday, 1957), pp. 175, 177-83, 199-202 and 205-210. Copies of this book are on reserve in the library. See the reader for specific instructions.

P4. Robert Boyle, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature (London, 1686), selections from a student edition prepared for Cambridge University Press by Edward B. Davis and Michael Hunter. Copies of this book are on reserve in the library. Specific instructions will be handed out.

P5. Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning (London, 1605), selections from the 19th-century edition by G.W. Kitchen.

P6. Edward Hitchcock, "Connection between Geology and Natural and Revealed Religion," section IX in Elementary Geology, 8th edn. (New York, 1847), pp. 284-302.

P7. Asa Gray, Natural Science and Religion (New York, 1880), selections.

Secondary Sources

S1. Conrad Hyers, "Dinosaur Religion: On Interpreting and Misinterpreting the Creation Texts." Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation 36 (1984), 142-48.

S2. Davis A. Young, "Nineteenth Century Christian Geologists and the Doctrine of Scripture." Christian Scholar's Review 11 (1982), 212-29.

S3. Edward B. Davis, "A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories." Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 43 (1991), 224-37.

Evaluation: Based on several pieces of written work, as follows:

Brief but thoughtful "green sheets," written responses to reading assignments on the list above will prepare us for fruitful discussions of the readings in class. They will include not only responses to set questions about the readings, but also questions students want to raise in class about the readings. Style is not a major consideration in evaluating these.
Two formal essays, which will be graded for both content and style. Assignments are typically chosen from the list of essays found in another file. Each essay will involve intervention from Dr. Davis and from a tutor at the Writing Workshop.
Two unit quizes, multiple choice in format, that will cover all lectures and readings.
Two unit examinations, essay format, using notes prepared outside of class from all lectures and readings. Main questions are given in advance.
One-page summaries of chapters in Haught's text, to prepare us for discussing it in class.

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS

Date	Course topics
Wed 2/4	INTRODUCTION: THE BIG PICTURE Introduction to course structure and expectations What is science? What is theology? How are science and theology related? Christianity, science, and the history of science: an overview Read C1 (parts 1-3)
Fri 2/6	Christianity, science, and the history of science: an overview (cont'd)
Mon 2/9	UNIT ONE: SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY TO 1700 Genesis and modern science: "literal" vs. "literalistic" interpretations Discussion of readings; questions due on selections P1 and S1
Wed 2/11	Continuation of above Essay #1 explained
Fri 2/13	Natural philosophy in the Greek tradition: the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, and Galen
Mon 2/16	Plato's Timaeus Discussion of readings; questions due on selection P2
Wed 2/18	The early church: the handmaiden model Augustine, Platonism, and the hexameral tradition Read C1 (part 4)
Fri 2/20	Interpreting the church fathers: the warfare model briefly critiqued Radical Aristotelianism in the high middle ages: revolt of the handmaiden
Mon 2/23	The medieval synthesis of Aristotle and Christianity: the dialogue model First draft of essay #1 DUE
Wed 2/25	NO CLASS: Small group meetings to discuss drafts
Fri 2/27	The new cosmology of Copernicus and the principle of accommodation: the two books model Discussion of readings; questions due on selection P3 Read Open University (chap 2)
Mon 3/2	The Galileo affair: the conflict model and its shortcomings
Wed 3/4	Renaissance neoplatonism: God as geometer The mechanical philosophy: God as clockmaker Read C3
Fri 3/6	Final draft DUE, essay #1 Robert Boyle, divine sovereignty, and the de-deification of `Nature' Discussion of readings; questions due on selection P4
Mon 3/9 through Fri 3/13	NO CLASS -- SPRING BREAK!!
Mon 3/16	Christian theology, natural theology, and the rise of modern science: the harmony model Francis Bacon's vision: the equal partnership of science and theology Discussion of readings; questions due on selection P5 Read C5 (parts 1-5)
Wed 3/18	QUIZ ON UNIT ONE UNIT TWO: CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE SINCE 1700 The Enlightenment challenge of reason: miracles, scepticism, higher criticism, and the conflict model Read C4 and C5 (parts 6-8)
Fri 3/20	EXAMINATION ON UNIT ONE
Mon 3/23	Genesis and geology: tension and harmony Read C8 (parts 1-3)
Wed 3/25	The Baconian tradition in Britain and America: the harmony model Discussion of readings; questions due on selections P6 and S2
Fri 3/27	Evolution: a brief history of the idea Read C8 (parts 4-7 and Appendix) and C6 (parts 9-11)
Mon 3/30	Evolution and the Christian faith: conflict, accommodation, separation, and doctrinal reformulation Read C7 Discussion of readings; questions due on selection P7
Wed 4/1	Evolution and human nature: social Darwinism and sociobiology First draft of essay #2 DUE
Fri 4/3	NO CLASS: Small group meetings to discuss drafts
Mon 4/6	Protestant modernism and scientific naturalism: wholesale accommodation Read C9 (parts 1-3)
Wed 4/8	Fundamentalism, evolution, and biblical criticism: the conflict model Read C9 (part 4) Discussion of readings; questions due on selection S3
Fri 4/10 and Mon 4/13	NO CLASS: Easter Break!
Wed 4/15	Is religion opposed to science? Four ways of relating science and faith: introduction to Haught's book Discussion of Haught (preface, introduction, and chap 1) Summaries due (chap 1 is REQUIRED)
Fri 4/17	Does science rule out a personal God? Discussion of Haught (chap 2) Summaries due (chap 2)
Mon 4/20	Does evolution rule out God's existence? Discussion of Haught (chap 3) Summaries due (chap 3)
Wed 4/22	Is life reducible to chemistry? Discussion of Haught (chap 4) Summaries due (chap 4)
Fri 4/24	Film, "Stephen Hawking's Universe," episode on Lemaitre and big bang cosmology Final draft DUE, essay #2
Mon 4/27	Was the universe created? Discussion of Haught (chap 5) Summaries due (chap 5)
Wed 4/29	Do we belong here? Discussion of Haught (chap 6) Summaries due (chap 6) Does the universe have a purpose? Discussion of Haught (chap 8) Summaries due (chap 8)
Fri 5/1	Why is there complexity in nature? Discussion of Haught (chap 7) Summaries due (chap 7)
Mon 5/4	Is religion responsible for the ecological crisis? Discussion of Haught (chap 9) Summaries due (chap 9)
Finals week	QUIZ and EXAMINATION on UNIT TWO

THE FOLLOWING READINGS HAVE ALSO BEEN USED AT OTHER TIMES IN THIS COURSE:

Ian Barbour, "Ways of Relating Science and Theology." In Physics, Philosophy, and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding, ed. Robert J. Russell et al. (Vatican Observatory, 1988), pp. 21-45.

John H. Brooke, "Natural Law in the Natural Sciences: the Origins of Modern Atheism?" Science and Christian Belief 4 (1992), 83-103.

John H. Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Richard Bube, "The Failure of the God-of-the-Gaps," in Horizons of Science: Christian Scholars Speak Out, ed. Carl Henry (New York: Harper, 1975), pp. 21-35.

Edward B. Davis, "Chrisitanity and Early Modern Science: The Foster Thesis Reconsidered." Forthcoming in The Evangelical Engagement with Science, ed. Mark Noll, David Livingstone, and Daryl Hart (Oxford University Press, 1998).

Edward B. Davis, "Newton's Rejection of the `Newtonian World View': The Role of Divine Will in Newton's Natural Philosophy." Science & Christian Belief 3 (1991), 103-117.

Edward B. Davis, "Fundamentalism and Folk Science Between the Wars." Religion and American Culture 5 (1995), 217-48.

Preface from John William Draper, History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. New York, 1897.

Carol Iannone, "The Truth About Inherit the Wind," First Things (February 1997), 28-33.

Leon R. Kass, "Evolution and the Bible: Genesis Revisited," Commentary (November 1988), 29-39.

Jerome J. Langford, Galileo, Science, and the Church. 3rd edition. University of Michigan Press, 1992.

David C. Lindberg, "Science and the Early Christian Church." Isis 74 (1983), 509-30.

David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, "Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and Science." Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 39 (1987), 140-49.

David N. Livingstone, Darwin's Forgotten Defenders: The Encounter between Evangelical Theology and Evolutionary Thought (Eerdmans, 1987), chapter 4. ("Darwin and the Divines," pp. 100-145.)

David N. Livingstone, "Evolution as Metaphor and Myth." Christian Scholar's Review 12 (1983), 111-25.

George M. Marsden, "Creation versus Evolution: No Middle Way." Nature 305 (13 October 1983), 571-4.

Robert K. Merton, Science, Technology, and Society in Seventeenth-Century England (Harper & Row, 1970), chap. 5. ("Motive Forces of the New Science," pp. 80-111.)

Mark A. Noll, "Theology, Science, Politics: What Darwin Meant." The Christian Century (26 August-2 September 1992), 776-9.

Ronald L. Numbers, "Creationism in 20th-Century America." Science 218 (1982), 538-44.

Colin A. Russell, "The Conflict Metaphor and its Social Origins." Science & Christian Belief 1 (1989), 3-26.