Polkinghorne, John Charlton 1930- (J.C. Polkinghorne, Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne)

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Polkinghorne, John Charlton 1930- (J.C. Polkinghorne, Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne)

PERSONAL:

Born October 16, 1930, in Weston-Super-Mare, England; son of George Baulkwell and Dorothy Evelyn Polkinghorne; married Ruth Isobel Martin (a statistician and nurse), March 26 1955 (deceased, March 29, 2006); children: Peter, Michael, Isobel Polkinghorne Morland. Education: Trinity College, Cambridge, M.A., 1956, Ph.D., 1955, Sc.D., 1974; studied for the Anglican Priesthood at Westcott House, 1979-81. Religion: Church of England. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cambridge, England. Office—74 Hurst Park Ave., Cambridge CB4 2AF, England.

CAREER:

Writer, theoretical physicist, theologian, editor, scientist, educator, lecturer, college administrator, and Anglican priest. California Institute of Technology, Commonwealth Fund Fellow, 1955-56; University of Edinburgh, Scotland, lecturer in mathematical physics, 1956-58; Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, lecturer in applied mathematics, 1958-65, reader in theoretical physics, 1965-68, professor of mathematical physics, 1968-79; Trinity College, Cambridge, England, fellow, 1954-86; Trinity Hall, dean and chaplain, 1986-89; Queens' College, Cambridge, England, president, 1989-96, fellow, 1996—; Gifford Lecturer, 1993. Ordained deacon of the Church of England, 1981; St. Andrew's, Chesterton, England, curate, 1981-82; St. Michael's, Bedminster, England, curate, 1982-84; ordained priest of the Church of England, 1982; vicar in Kent, England, 1984-86; canon theologian, Liverpool Cathedral, 1994-2005; six preacher, Canterbury Cathedral, 1996—. Member, Science Research Council, 1975-79; chairman, Nuclear Physics Board, 1978-79; chairman, Committee to Review the Guidance on the Research Use of Fetuses and Fetal Material, 1988-89; chairman, ad hoc study group on the food use of organisms from transgenic breeding programs, 1992-93; chairman, task force to review services for drug mis-users, 1994-96; chairman, advisory committee on genetic testing, 1996-2000. Member, Church of England Doctrine Commission, 1989-95; member, General Synod of the Church of England, 1990-2000; member, BMA Medical Ethics Committee, 1989-98. International Society for Science and Religion, founding president, 2002; Society of Ordained Scientists, founding member. National Service, RAEC, 1948-49.

MEMBER:

Royal Society (fellow), Human Genetics Advisory Commission.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.), 1997; Von Humboldt Foundation Award, 1999. Recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Kent, University of Durham, University of Exeter, University of Leicester, Hong Kong Baptist University and Marquette University; honorary fellow of St. Chad's College, Durham, and St. Edmund's College, Cambridge.

WRITINGS:

(With R.J. Eden, P.V. Landsholt, and D.I. Olive) The Analytic S-Matrix, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1966.

The Particle Play: An Account of the Ultimate Constituents of Matter, W.H. Freeman (New York, NY), 1979.

Models of High-Energy Processes, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1980.

The Way the World Is: The Christian Perspective of a Scientist, Triangle (London, England), 1983, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1984.

The Quantum World, Longman (London, England), 1984, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1987.

One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology, SPCK (London, England), 1986, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1987.

Science and Creation: The Search for Understanding, SPCK (London, England), 1988, New Science Library (Boston, MA), 1989.

Science and Providence: God's Interaction with the World, New Science Library (Boston, MA), 1989.

Rochester Roundabout: The Story of High Energy Physics, W.H. Freeman (New York, NY), 1989.

Reason and Reality: The Relationship between Science and Theology, Trinity International (Valley Forge, PA), 1991.

The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1994, published as Science and Christian Belief: Theological Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker, SPCK (London, England), 1994.

Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion, Triangle (London, England), 1994, Crossroad (New York, NY), 1996, revised and updated edition, 2005.

Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue, Trinity International (Valley Forge, PA), 1995.

Beyond Science: The Wider Human Context, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1996.

Scientists as Theologians, SPCK (London, England), 1996.

Searching for Truth: Lenten Meditations on Science and Faith, Crossroad (New York, NY), 1996.

Belief in God in an Age of Science, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1998.

Science and Theology: An Introduction, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

Faith, Science, and Understanding, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2000.

(Editor, with M. Welker) The End of the World and the Ends of God, Trinity International (Harrisburg, PA), 2000.

(Editor) The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.

(With Michael Welker) Faith in the Living God: A Dialogue, Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press (Oxford; New York), 2002.

The God of Hope and the End of the World, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2002.

Traffic in Truth: Exchanges between Science and Theology, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Living with Hope: A Scientist Looks at Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2003.

Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2004.

Science and Providence: God's Interaction with the World, Templeton Foundation Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2005.

Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2005.

Science and Creation: The Search for Understanding, Templeton Foundation Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2006.

One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology, Templeton Foundation Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2007.

Quantum Physics and Christian Theology Compared, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2007.

Polkinghorne's books have been translated into eighteen foreign languages.

SIDELIGHTS:

In 1979 John Charlton Polkinghorne surprised his peers by announcing he intended to begin studying to become a clergyman for the Church of England. Many are called to "the cloth," but Polkinghorne was different from most, for he was leaving behind a successful career as a theoretical physicist, including pioneering work on subatomic particles. Polkinghorne did not abandon science, however. In his new role as an Anglican priest and author, he found a way to integrate theoretical physics into his religious life. His numerous critically acclaimed books for general readers attempt a reconciliation between science and religion, particularly physics and Christianity. Today, Polkinghorne is the only Fellow of the Royal Society (England's most prestigious science fraternity) who is also an Anglican priest.

Polkinghorne's publications include Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue, Beyond Science: The Wider Human Context, Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion, Belief in God in an Age of Science, and Faith, Science, and Understanding—all published between 1995 and 2000. He is an engaging speaker as well, having been profiled in Newsweek magazine in 1998 while participating in a scholarly conference on science and religion. Christian Century correspondent Philip Hefner wrote: "In the current flourishing market for books by scientists who are friendly toward religion, Polkinghorne stands out as perhaps the most celebrated scientist of his generation to have taken holy orders. His scientific credentials, his intellectual brilliance, his writing and speaking—both lucid and prolific—and his identification with the core elements of Christian belief and practice have enabled him to embody in his own person one of the most important cultural shifts in the last 50 years—the rapprochement between religion and science."

Especially in the twentieth century, religious belief and scientific endeavor seemed more and more to be mutually exclusive. Certain noted scientists openly disdained religious faith as a superstitious throwback to a pre-scientific worldview, and certain religious fundamentalists worsened the situation by calling for strict Biblical interpretations of the age of the earth and the creation of its flora and fauna. The situation had become so charged by the 1980s and 1990s that some scientists felt that it would be professional suicide to profess a faith in an almighty Creator. As the twenty-first century dawned, however, scholars such as Polkinghorne began to use the very tenets of advanced particle physics, astronomy, and even evolution to demonstrate that the universe could indeed be run by the design of a Creator. In Sciences, Margaret Wertheim noted: "Central to Polkinghorne's argument is the so-called anthropic principle … [that] proposes that the universe has been specially tailored, or ‘fine-tuned,’ to enable the emergence of life. Proponents of the principle ask one to imagine all the physical laws to which the universe might conceivably have been subject, and all the possible values that important physical constants, such as the mass of the proton, might have assumed." Wertheim further stated: "Yet, the proponents continue, the laws and constants that happen to hold in our universe are virtually the only ones that could give rise to a universe hospitable to intelligent life. For people who accept the anthropic principle and are also of a theological bent, such fine-tuning is almost surely the deliberate act of a cosmic designer, a Creator who set up the universe so that we (or some life-form like us) would inevitably emerge." Wertheim added: "According to Polkinghorne, such a reading of the physical world constitutes a triumphant new natural theology…. For Polkinghorne, then, the very existence and nature of the physical universe is testimony both to its divine origin and to its inherent cosmic purposefulness." National Review correspondent Patrick Glynn concluded that Polkinghorne's "intermarriage of scientific and theological insight may well presage a new ‘post-secular’ stage in Western thought."

Beginning in 1983 Polkinghorne honed his themes through a series of books, all of which received favorable reviews, including The Way the World Is: The Christian Perspective of a Scientist, published in 1983, and One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology. Polkinghorne's 1988 work, Science and Creation, fleshes out his opposition to a "God of the gaps" theology which looks at the Supreme Being who created the universe but then does not participate in the ongoing life of the universe. Keith Ward, writing for Religious Studies, called Science and Creation "a book at the frontiers of philosophy, theology, and physics, which combines a passionate concern for truth with a firm commitment of faith." Science and Providence: God's Interaction with the World, appearing in 1989, picks up threads developed in Science and Creation, namely that creation is a continual act. David Gosling, a critic for the Ecumenical Review, valued Polkinghorne's achievement: "Having established a scientifically credible basis for God's way of interacting with the world, John Polkinghorne has little difficulty with conventional areas of Christian theology."

In Serious Talk, Polkinghorne lays out a series of arguments about why scientists and theologians should engage in a dialogue. Polkinghorne expresses the belief that theology offers a "reasonable response" to the larger questions that science raises. Charles L. Currie, S.J, of St. Joseph's University, praised Serious Talk in Theological Studies: "This book is Polkinghorne at his best … earnestly trying … to demonstrate the possibility of a fruitful consonance between science and theology in the quest for understanding."

The topics discussed in Beyond Science range from evolution to the end of the universe. Polkinghorne believes, for example, that far from flying in the face of God, the theory of evolution provides evidence of an underlying design wrought by a Supreme Being. Bryce Christensen, reviewing Beyond Science for Choice, noted Polkinghorne's belief that "science opens a genuine understanding of the harmonies of the universe." While taking exception to some of Polkinghorne's arguments, David Mermin, a physicist at Cornell University, wrote in Nature that "Polkinghorne's literate sense of wonder at the magical richness of things shines out on almost every page, whether or not one agrees that it implies a creator."

In his 1994 work The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker, Polkinghorne adopts a novel approach to his subject: each chapter matches a phrase from the Nicene Creed to one of his scientific concerns. He calls himself a "bottom-up" thinker, one who starts with tangible physical evidence to build his theological conclusions. Thus he uses science to shed light on the nature of humanity, God, and creation; on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and on Trinitarian theology. Chet Raymo of Commonweal thought that "on the whole, Polkinghorne steers a marvelously adept course between the Scylla of top-down theology and the Charybdis of naive scientism" in The Faith of a Physicist. Tony Bridge of Contemporary Review called it an "impressive and important book," and Patrick H. Samway of America commented that "Polkinghorne shows that ‘faith seeking understanding’ is not reserved to the realm of theology alone."

One of Polkinghorne's best-known books is Belief in God in the Age of Science. Based on the Terry Lectures Polkinghorne delivered at Yale University, the book summarizes some of the information from his earlier works and further develops his theology of nature. He also points to the wave/particle dual nature of light as an apt metaphor for Christ's dual divinity and humanity.

In his review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, Glynn commented: "The West is entering a new chapter in its intellectual history, and John Polkinghorne is one of a handful of scientists who have already, so to speak, managed to read several pages ahead in the text…. [The book] presages a new style of thinking that takes us beyond not only the modern but also the postmodern—a sophisticated, scientifically informed outlook which is nonetheless animated by a firm, rationally supported religious faith." Calling the author "one of the most effective contributors in recent years to the rapidly growing literature of the domain where science and religion meet," Ernan McMullin in Commonweal concluded of Belief in God in an Age of Science: "[Polkinghorne's] graceful literary style and his skill in making difficult technical issues accessible commend his work to the general reader. His success in finding possible points of contact between thought-forms usually considered remote from one another cannot fail to impress."

Polkinghorne extends the duality metaphor in Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity, rationalizing that the dual nature of light is also a good analogy for the existence of good and evil in the world. "Applied to theological language, this is analogy that could begin to limp all too soon," Edward T. Oakes pointed out in Commonweal, "but I think Polkinghorne is fundamentally right: like early particle physicists, believers really don't understand how God can be good and yet there be evil in the universe—it's just that it proves impossible to give up either experience. But as they continue to grope for answers, these … believers may at least be grateful that this gentle physicist-priest has illumined inherently dark mysteries with his own radiant trust."

Polkinghorne has also written several books of straight science. The Particle Play: An Account of the Ultimate Constituents of Matter, published in 1979, is a book for laymen on recent developments in sub-atomic physics. Models of High-Energy Processes, published in 1980, covers much of the same ground as The Particle Plays, but for a more technical audience. Polkinghorne's 1984 book The Quantum World falls between the other two works—more sophisticated in discourse than The Particle Play, but not as technically challenging as Models of High-Energy Processes.

Rochester Roundabout: The Story of High-Energy Physics, Polkinghorne's 1989 work, chronicles the 1947-77 Rochester Conferences—gatherings, sometimes annual, sometimes semi-annual, of high-energy physicists. Robert G. Colodny, writing for Science Books and Films, referred to Rochester Roundabout as "an insider's book for experts." Robert W. Seidel held a similar view. Reviewing the book for Isis, Seidel said, "Rochester Roundabout is not the book from which to obtain one's first introduction to the intellectual history of high energy physics from 1950 to 1980. But for those who have a minimal acquaintance with the field the book will be useful."

The End of the World and the Ends of God, a volume edited by Polkinghorne and Michael Welker, explores the interchange between science and the field of eschatology, which considers the doctrine of final things and the end of the world. The book is the result of several meetings and conferences involving a diverse group of scholars, scientists, theologians, and other intellectuals who gathered together to consider the end of the world from the perspective of Christian theology and scientific investigation. It "focuses on the natural sciences, the cultural sciences and ethics, the biblical traditions, theology and spirituality," commented Gregory S. Cootsona in the Christian Century. Cootsona further observed that Polkinghorne's own contribution to the book "masterfully introduces the basic scientific issues related to the Christian doctrines about the last things." Polkinghorne and Welker "divide the book into four sections, beginning with scientific explanations establishing the expectation of the inevitable decay and death of the universe, and moving through issues raised by cultural sciences, biblical traditions, and spirituality," noted Daisy Miller, reviewing the work in Utopian Studies. The editors' "elegant collection of essays explores the subject of the world's end from the perspectives of physics, brain research, psychology, biblical studies, systematic theology and philosophy," noted Cootsona. The authors represented in the book address questions such as how to approach and argue a subject that requires a belief in a world beyond the material realm; the nature of despair as imposed by scientific cosmology; and the difficulties of applying theological and literary analysis to the same piece. "For those interested in the ongoing discussions between eschatology and science, this book will provide an engaging summation" of the approach taken by Polkinghorne and his colleagues, Miller concluded.

The God of Hope and the End of the World, is a shorter summation of the issues presented in The End of the World and the Ends of God, as assembled and written by Polkinghorne. He is "well suited to the task, writing in an easy, accessible style about the difficult study of eschatology—the doctrine of final things," remarked John Omicinski, writing in America. "Polkinghorne sees in modern cosmology's grim predictions of universal decay the absolute necessity for a theological affirmation of human hope," based on the faithfulness of God as reflected in the death and resurrection of Christ, noted Bryce Christensen in Booklist. The author analyzes scriptural evidence and concludes, ultimately, that the life in Heaven awaiting the faithful might not be radically different from their lives as they exist now. He also posits that we will have life-after-death experiences similar to those of Jesus Christ. In a review for Utopian Studies, Michael J. Tolley commented that Polkinghorne's summation volume is "admirably clear and very easy to read for a lay person." The book "is both challenging and comforting. It is an excellent work, providing gallons of fuel for debates or personal pondering about the probable or possible shapes of the life of the world to come," stated Omicinski. "This is a delightful, enlightening and edifying book," remarked Wayne A. Hoist in Catholic New Times, "written for thoughtful Christians whose faith requires an intelligent defense as their intelligence yearns for the comforts of faith." Readers who are "interested in the ongoing explorations of Christian faith and cosmology will not want to miss this volume," concluded a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality expands on matters discussed by Polkinghorne during the series of Warfield Lectures he delivered at Princeton University in 2003. Combining his vast experience in both science and theology, Polkinghorne asserts that science is a useful tool in shedding light on Christian religious belief, just as religious belief can offer insights into science that are unavailable in any other venue. Through science, theology can better "understand the physical nature of the universe, while theology helps science with the spiritual reality," commented Library Journal reviewer Gary P. Gillum. Polkinghorne advances the dialogue between science and religion with this work, arguing that "going beyond the basics of theism can make belief more credible to nonbelievers," noted Stephen M. Barr, writing in First Things. In presenting his discussion, "Polkinghorne writes masterfully. He can be accurate without becoming technical, simple without becoming simplistic, orthodox without posturing as a defender of the faith," stated a contributor to Publishers Weekly. Polkinghorne's "life and writings have given eloquent testimony that one may be both a man of science and a man of God," concluded Barr.

With Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion, Polkinghorne approaches another set of problems and questions at the point where science and religion meet. He offers detailed discussions of topics such as the historical Jesus, human nature, the problem of evil, the relationship between Christianity and other faiths from around the world, and other issues addressed through theology and religious study. He also includes essays on topics derived from his work as a physicist, including quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and the nature of space-time. Combining the two approaches, the author also "persuasively" argues that "human experience comes fully into focus only in religious belief," noted Bryce Christensen in another Booklist review. A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that Polkinghorne's "reflections will engage both thoughtful believers and inquirers into issues of faith and reason." His "brilliant, if controversial, thoughts on faith and science make this scholarly book well worth the effort," commented Cindy Crosby in Christianity Today.

In an interview published in World and I, Polkinghorne said, "I think there is a natural friendship between religion and science in the sense that they share the search for truth. Of course there are puzzles and there will be an antagonism if each of them doesn't recognize that the other has its own sovereign domain." He added: "It's a slightly crude thing to say, but it has an element of truth in it, that science is concerned with how things happen, the process of the world, and religion is concerned with why things happen, the meaning and purpose of what's going on in the world. And each of them has its own domain. I think that you need both; you need two eyes to see in order to understand the world. I would understand the world less without my science or without my religion."

Polkinghorne once told CA: "I am a passionate believer in the unity of knowledge. In my life and in my writing I have sought to take the insights of science and the insights of religion with equal seriousness. Together this ‘binocular vision’ gives me a deeper understanding of reality than I would gain from either on its own."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

AB Bookman's Weekly, October 10, 1994, review of The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker, p. 1402.

America, March 19, 1994, Patrick H. Samway, review of The Faith of a Physicist, p. 22; August 12, 2002, John Omicinski, "A Few Things before You Go," review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 26.

American Scientist, November-December, 1998, Edward B. Davis, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 572.

Booklist, June 1, 1994, Patty O'Connell, review of The Faith of a Physicist, p. 1732; September 1, 1996, Bryce Christensen, review of Beyond Science, p. 48; October 1, 2000, Steven Schroeder, review of Faith, Science, and Understanding, p. 306; March 15, 2002, Bryce Christensen, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 1191; October 1, 2002, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 289; October 1, 2004, Bryce Christensen, review of Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality, p. 305; November 1, 2005, Bryce Christensen, review of Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion, p. 6.

Books & Culture, July 1, 2005, Catherine Crouch and Andy Crouch, "God the Economist: John Polkinghorne's Trinitarian Reality," review of Science and the Trinity, p. 22.

Catholic New Times, October 6, 2002, Wayne A. Hoist, "Science and Religious Hope," review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 18.

Choice, March, 1997, Bryce Christensen, review of Beyond Science, p. 1179.

Christian Century, December 16, 1987, review of One World, p. 1155; February 7, 2001, Stephen J. Pope, review of Faith, Science, and Understanding, p. 38; April 4, 2001, Gregory S. Cootsona, review of The End of the World and the Ends of God: Science and Theology on Eschatology, p. 25.

Christian Science Monitor, April 30, 1998, David K. Nartonis, "The Divine in Time and Nature: Two Authors Draw Different Conclusions about Humanity's Search for God," p. B1; March 28, 2002, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 16; November 21, 2002, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 14.

Christianity Today, May 21, 2002, Karl W. Giberson, "Bottom-up Apologist: John Polkinghorne—Particle Physicist, Gifford Lecturer, Templeton Prize-winner, and Parish Priest," profile of John Polkinghorne, p. 64; January, 2006, Cindy Crosby, review of Exploring Reality, p. 70.

Commonweal, March 10, 1989, Ernan McMullin, review of One World, p. 149; May 20, 1994, Chet Raymo, review of The Faith of a Physicist, p. 31; August 16, 1996, Edward T. Oakes, review of Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion, pp. 23-24; May 20, 1998, Philip Hefner, "Confessions of a Scientist-Theologian," p. 533; October 9, 1998, Ernan McMullin, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 22; March 11, 2005, Michael H. Barnes, "Christian Scientists," review of Science and the Trinity, p. 36; December 1, 2006, Robert E. Proctor, review of Science and the Trinity, p. 20.

Contemporary Review, June, 1994, Tony Bridge, review of Science and Christian Belief, p. 327.

Currents in Theology and Mission, August 1, 2006, Cheryl Peterson, review of Faith in the Living God, p. 333.

Ecumenical Review, January, 1990, David Gosling, review of Science and Providence, p. 76.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, May 1, 2005, Stephen M. Barr, "Theology for Physicists," review of Science and the Trinity, p. 39.

Interpretation, January 1, 2002, review of Faith in the Living God, p. 122.

Isis, June, 1992, Samuel S. Schwebber, review of Rochester Roundabout, p. 359; December 1, 2005, Thaddeus J. Trenn, review of Science and the Trinity, p. 680.

Journal of the American Academy of Religion, March 1, 2003, Eric L. Weislogel, review of The End of the World and the Ends of God, p. 237.

Library Journal, February 1, 1998, John R. Leech, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 89; November 15, 2000, David I. Fulton, review of Faith, Science, and Understanding, p. 76; November 15, 2004, Gary P. Gillum, review of Science and the Trinity, p. 66.

National Review, March 22, 1985, Stanley L. Jaki, review of The Way the World Is, p. 53; June 27, 1994, Howard J. Van Till, review of The Faith of a Physicist, p. 54; April 6, 1998, Patrick Glynn, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, pp. 55-59.

Nature, May 26, 1983, review of The Way the World Is, p. 353; May 4, 1989, Fred Hoyle, review of Science and Providence, p. 23; October 31, 1996, David Mermin, review of Beyond Science, p. 772.

New Republic, August 5, 2002, Simon Blackburn, "An Unbeautiful Mind," review of Faith, Science, and Understanding, p. 29.

Newsweek, July 20, 1998, Sharon Begley, "Science Finds God," p. 46.

New York Review of Books, March 28, 2002, Freeman J. Dyson, "Science and Religion: No Ends in Sight," review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 4.

Publishers Weekly, January 26, 1998, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 84; September 11, 2000, review of Faith, Science, and Understanding, p. 85; February 25, 2002, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 61; July 22, 2002, "Science and Faith," review of Traffic in Truth: Exchanges between Science and Theology, p. 175; August 30, 2004, review of Science and the Trinity, p. 52; September 26, 2005, review of Exploring Reality, p. 81.

Religious Studies, December, 1989, Keith Ward, review of Science and Creation, p. 537.

Science Books and Films, January-February, 1991, review of Rochester Roundabout, p. 7.

Sciences, March, 1999, Margaret Wertheim, review of Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 38.

Theological Studies, June, 1996, Charles L. Currie, review of Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue, p. 383.

Theology Today, January 1, 2001, Ted Peters, review of The End of the World and the Ends of God, p. 560; April 1, 2002, Philip Robnick, review of Faith in the Living God, p. 168; January 1, 2003, Alan G. Padgett, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 664.

Times (London, England), May 28, 1998, Roger Scruton, "How to Have the Best of Both Worlds," p. 40.

Utopian Studies, spring, 2002, Daisy Miller, review of The End of the World and the Ends of God, p. 197; winter, 2003, Michael J. Tolley, review of The God of Hope and the End of the World, p. 249.

Washington Times, November 19, 2000, Larry Witham, "How a Theologian, Two Biologists See Darwin," p. 6.

World and I, July, 2000, James C. Roberts, "Reconciling Science with God," p. 162.