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Naturalism in the Christian Imagination Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination By Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination by Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)


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Summary

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination explores the writings of key thinkers from early modern England who wrestled with the challenge of situating natural causes inside a providential vision of the world. The book compellingly explores the theological judgements at stake, making an important contribution to current science and religion debates.

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination Summary

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination: Providence and Causality in Early Modern England by Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)

Science today is often seen as providing the definitive frame of reference for understanding what goes on in nature. Furthermore, the history of science has frequently been portrayed as the story of steady progress in overturning religious explanation in favour of scientific truth. This narrative has been challenged by those who like the author of this book recognise that a naturalistic way of looking at the world, which lies at the heart of modern science, has a far richer relationship to religion than many have allowed. Peter Jordan now takes this recognition in fresh and exciting directions. Focusing on key thinkers in early modern England, who located causality within a divine and providential view of the cosmos, he shows how they were able to integrate ideas which today might be dichotomised as 'scientific' and 'religious'. His book makes a compelling contribution to current science and religion debates and their history.

Naturalism in the Christian Imagination Reviews

'This exceptional book is not simply a laudable historical essay on past times. It will acquire a larger and special significance for all who philosophise about science and religion, exposing the many dangers of oversimplification. It will be of special interest to historians and philosophers of religion as well as historians and philosophers of science.' John Hedley Brooke, Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford
'Naturalism in the Christian Imagination is a very interesting, well-researched book built around a central, profound question: 'What bearing should religious convictions have on how phenomena in nature are understood and explained?' This question touches on some of the deepest issues in the study of science and religion, and could be answered in a variety of ways. Peter Jordan argues that it is best answered through a series of grounded historical studies focused on early modern England. That place and time, he contends, provides us with 'flesh-and-blood' thinkers grappling with the problem who are more helpful than purely philosophical or theological analysis. As well as preventing loose speculation, this kind of historical analysis also helps foreground one of Jordan's primary concerns: how answers to this guiding question should change the way people live their lives in the here and now. The book asks important things and answers them in very interesting ways. The focus on how intellectual issues of providence can affect actual life and practice today will be of great interest to philosophers as well as historians of science.' Matthew Stanley, New York University

About Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)

Peter N. Jordan earned a PhD in Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology from Cornell University and then a PhD in Studies in Religion from the University of Queensland. He is now a research fellow of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the Faculty of Theology and Religion in the University of Oxford, where he is the primary researcher on the 'Intellectual World of John Templeton' project, sponsored by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. He is also Director of Grants and Research at Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO). He is a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion.

Table of Contents

Part I. Setting the Scene: 1. Explanation before science and religion; 2. Providence in Early Modern England; Part II. Expanding the Explanatory Scope of Natural Causality: 3. Chance, lots, and games; 4. Prodigies; Part III. Curtailing the Explanatory Ambitions of Naturalistic Philosophies: 5. Atomism; 6. Theories of the Earth; Part IV. Conclusion: 7. Explanation after science and religion.

Additional information

NPB9781009211987
9781009211987
1009211986
Naturalism in the Christian Imagination: Providence and Causality in Early Modern England by Peter N. Jordan (University of Oxford)
New
Hardback
Cambridge University Press
2022-07-14
236
N/A
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