THIS book (extract, Comment, 10 March) is subtitled The entangled histories of science and religion, and that is what it is — a pretty comprehensive account of the many different relationships of science and religion throughout history. The account is comprehensive. It ranges from the murder of Hypatia by a Christian mob in 415 to attempts by contemporary post-humanists to replace humans with artificial intelligences. Along the way, it visits the condemnation of Galileo, the golden age of Muslim science, the physico-theological works of Paley, the Oxford debates about Darwin, the Scopes “monkey” trial, and much more.

The author patiently deconstructs many of the legends and polemical readings of these events, and demonstrates that they were much more nuanced and complex than is often thought. The scholarship is impeccable, and the style always readable and informative. Anyone who wishes to read an unbiased treatment will be able to dip into this book and will almost certainly see what happened in a new light.

Many good books about the varied relationships between science and religion have appeared recently, and this must be accounted as among the best. Sometimes, scientific findings have been used to bolster religious claims, and, sometimes, they have been used to undermine religion. This is not a book that does either of those things. On the contrary, it shows how many complex issues have been at stake, and what diversity there has always been among those who have been involved.

Of course, the author has a view, but he consistently pleads for greater understanding of the facts, and points to the underlying issues at stake. These, he says, are basically twofold: who has the authority to speak on specific subjects, and what the nature of human personhood is.

As far as authority goes, relevantly qualified scientists have authority to speak about the physical nature of things. But they do not have sole authority to pronounce on the ethical or spiritual dimensions of reality, even though physical factors may certainly affect such pronouncements. When it comes to human nature, the author emphasises the embodied, vulnerable, dependent, social, and mortal nature of human beings. He is not much in favour of dualism (by which he means the possession of an immortal but invisible soul), but is unconvinced by one-dimensional accounts of humanity which seem to reduce it to purely genetic, cognitive, or physical components.

That, in this book, is as far as the author goes in revealing his personal views — quite properly; for this is a history of a whole set of complex issues which has all too often been marred by ideological propaganda, whether for or against religion. In my view, this history is illuminating, judicious, scholarly, and reliable. It deserves to be a canonical text for all who take an interest in this vitally important topic, and who wish to avoid prejudiced or ill-informed opinions about it.
 

Canon Keith Ward is Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford.

Magisteria: The entangled histories of science and religion
Nicholas Spencer
Oneworld £25
(978-0-86154-461-5)
Church Times Bookshop £20