Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

scientism

Science Book Review: Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?

MIT physicist Ian Hutchinson thinks so. (Cover by InterVarsity Press)

Yes! But you probably want more details. In that case, I recommend reading Ian Hutchinson’s new book by that title, Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles? He answers that and over 220 other questions, all of which were posed to him during his years speaking to university audiences on science and theology topics through the Veritas Forum. The result is a wide-ranging exploration of issues both specific to the present science-faith conversation and perennially of interest to skeptics and curious seekers, like how a good & loving omnipotent God can be reconciled with suffering. Hutchinson offers his personal answers, rather than attempting to survey the entire history of each topic–many of which could fill multiple volumes all on their own. This provides the opportunity to see an example of how one can assemble a coherent understanding across so many of life’s biggest questions.
[Read more…] about Science Book Review: Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?

Science Book Review: Scientism and Secularism

Scientism and Secularism cover
© Crossway

The acknowledgments of J. P. Moreland’s Scientism and Secularism include a nod to colleague Garry DeWeese, followed by a parenthetical comment about how Moreland has never understood the second ‘R’. It’s a throwaway line, possibly tossed in for some private levity to break up the intense, thoughtful process of writing. Yet it helped crystallize for me how I think differently than Moreland and thus why some parts of his book clicked for me while others did not. To me, the answer is obvious: because name spelling drifts over time as parents express personal taste, conflate multiple related names (it’s Larry and Barry so why not Garry?), or simply make mistakes. Granted, I don’t know the exact details of Ma & Pa DeWeese’s thought process, but understanding some general mechanisms is adequate for me. I’m similarly not certain what kind of explanation Moreland would prefer, but based on his writing I’d guess it would involve reasoning from commonsense principles rather than starting with the brute data.
[Read more…] about Science Book Review: Scientism and Secularism