Theology and Science: The Historical Relationship and a Contemporary Controversy

Module Description:

The lecturer to be appointed in systematic theology will offer a module in that discipline in the Senior Sophister year. The following module may be considered. The first part of this module studies the historical relationship between theology and science.
Students will be invited to specialise in one important episode in this history, amongst others the re-entry of Aristotelian philosophy of science in the thirteen century, the Galileo affair, the rise of conflict theory in the debates around Darwin, and debates about time in the modern period from Newton, to Einstein, to Hawkins.
The second part of the module will study the debates that have much currency in the contemporary public square arising mainly from a reading of neo-darwinism that argues for ‘the God delusion’. The literature of both sides in this debate will be closely studied.

Indicative Bibliography:

Clayton, P. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
Dawkins, R., The God Delusion (London: Bantam Press, 2006).
Eagleton, T., Reason, Faith and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate (New Haven, CT.: Yale Univerity Press, 2009).
Ferngen, G., (ed), History of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition (New York: Garland, 2000).
Hart, D.B., Atheist Delusions, the Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enermies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009).
Harrison, P., The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Hawking, S., A Brief History of Time (London: Bantam Press, 1988).
Midgely, M., Science as Salvation (London: Routledge, 1992).
Polkinghorne, J., Science and the Trinity (London: SPCK, 2004).
Polkinghorne, J., Encountering Scripture: A Scientist Explores the Bible (London: SPCK, 2010).

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• Assess the interaction between theology and science a key historic period.
• Argue for a personal position on the conflict theory debates about the relationship between science and religion, in its historic or contemporary forms.
• Evaluate the arguments in the contemporary God debate.

Methods of Assessment and Student Workload:

Examination.