Modern Physics and Ancient Faith » (1)

A considerable amount of public debate and media print has been devoted to the "war between science and religion." In his accessible and eminently readable new book, Stephen M. Barr demonstrates that what is really at war with religion is not science itself, but a philosophy called scientific materialism. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos, and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism. Scientific discoveries from the time of Copernicus to the beginning of the twentieth century have led many thoughtful people to the conclusion that the universe has no cause or purpose, that the human race is an accidental by-product of blind material forces, and that the ultimate reality is matter itself. Barr contends that the revolutionary discoveries of the twentieth century run counter to this line of thought. He uses five of these discoveries -- the Big Bang theory, unified field theories, anthropic coincidences, Godel's Theorem in mathematics, and quantum theory -- to cast serious doubt on the materialist's view of the world and to give greater credence to Judeo-Christian claims about God and the universe. Barr's clear and elegant writing is in the best tradition of science for the non-physicist or non-mathematician and will appeal to anyone interested in science and religion.

Library Journal

Barr (physics, Univ. of Delaware) provides a well-written and logically argued presentation on the relationship between religion and science, particularly modern physics. Barr's background in theology, apparent in his discussions of Thomas Aquinas, serves him well as he shows that the argument is not between religion and science per se but between religion and scientific materialism, the philosophy that sees as real only what can be measured and observed. Writing in a popular style, Barr makes both modern physics and theology understandable to the lay reader. He believes that a person can accept the Big Bang and other discoveries of modern physics and still believe in a creator God, further arguing that recent discoveries in physics would seem to support Judeo-Christian teachings and not materialism. While not everyone will be convinced by Barr's arguments, he offers a cogent discussion of a very popular topic. A much more scholarly work than Frank J. Tipler's The Physics of Immortality, this is a worthy successor to P.C.W. Davies's God and the New Physics and John D. Barrow and Tipler's The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Highly recommended for all collections.-Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.