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John Polkinghorne

John Polkinghorne Books

Physicist

John Polkinghorne, born on October 16, 1930, is a renowned theoretical physicist and an active religious philosopher. He made significant contributions to quantum field theory and cosmology, and later turned to the study of religious philosophy, exploring the relationship between science and religion.

One World: The Interaction of Science a...

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Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses...

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Serious Talk: Science and Religion in D...

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“If we are seeking to serve the God of truth then we should really welcome truth from whatever source it comes. We shouldn’t fear the truth. Some of it will be from science, obviously, but by no means all of it. It will sometimes by perplexing, how this bit of truth relates to that bit of truth; we know that within science itself often enough and we find it outside of science as well. The crucial thing is to be honest.”

Science Religious Faith

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Those theologians who are beginning to take the doctrine of creation very seriously should pay some attention to science's story.”

Should Stories Pay Attention Creation Doctrine Theologian

Author:John Polkinghorne

“At present, too much theological thinking is very human-centered.”

Thinking Humans Too Much Theological Logical Thinking

Author:John Polkinghorne

“It is the faithfulness of God that allows epistemology to model ontology.”

Models Faithfulness Epistemology Ontology

Author:John Polkinghorne

“So Whitehead's metaphysics doesn't fit very well on to physics as we understand the process of the world.”

World Wells Process Fit Physics Metaphysics

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Of course, nobody would deny the importance of human beings for theological thinking, but the time span of history that theologians think about is a few thousand years of human culture rather than the fifteen billion years of the history of the universe.”

Thinking Years Humans Culture Universe Courses Human Beings Thousand Importance Deny Billions Fifteen Thousand Years Theologian Theological Logical Thinking

Author:John Polkinghorne

“However, as the Eastern churches have always maintained, through Christ creation is intended eventually to share in the life of God, the life of divine nature.”

Christ Church Share Creation Divine Eastern Divine Nature

Author:John Polkinghorne

“If the experience of science teaches anything, it's that the world is very strange and surprising. The many revolutions in science have certainly shown that.”

Ifs World Teach Strange Revolution Surprising

Author:John Polkinghorne

“God is not a God of the edges, with a vested interest in beginnings. God is the God of the whole show.”

Whole Shows Interest Edges Vested Interests

Author:John Polkinghorne

“God didn't produce a ready-made world. The Creator has done something cleverer than this, making a world able to make itself.”

World Made Done Able Produce Ready Creator

Author:John Polkinghorne

“I need the binocular approach of science and religion if I am to do any sort of justice to the deep and rich reality of the world in which we live.”

Ifs World Needs Reality Justice Rich Approach Science And Religion

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Theology differs from science in many respects, because of its different subject matter, a personal God who cannot be put to the test in the way that the impersonal physical world can be subjected to experimental enquiry. Yet science and theology have this in common, that each can be, and should be defended as being investigations of what is, the search for increasing verisimilitude in our understanding of reality.”

World Way Should Different Matter Reality Understanding Common Subjects Tests Theology Investigation Subject Matter Enquiry Different Subjects

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Evolution, of course, is not something that simply applies to life here on earth; it applies to the whole universe.”

Whole Earth Universe Courses Evolution

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Chance doesn't mean meaningless randomness, but historical contingency. This happens rather than that, and that's the way that novelty, new things, come about.”

Way Mean Happens Chance Historical Meaningless New Things Novelty Randomness Contingency

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Science cannot tell theology how to construct a doctrine of creation, but you can't construct a doctrine of creation without taking account of the age of the universe and the evolutionary character of cosmic history.”

Character Age Universe Creation Accounts Theology Doctrine Cosmic Constructs

Author:John Polkinghorne

“I was very much on the mathematical side, where you probably do your best work before you're forty-five. Having passed that significant date, I thought I would do something else.”

Sides Five Significant Mathematical Forty Best Work

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Whitehead reacted strongly against the idea of God as a cosmic tyrant, one who brings about everything.”

Ideas Tyrants Cosmic

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Yes, I was a parish priest for five years. I was a curate in a large working class parish in Bristol and the Vicar of a village in Kent.”

Years Class Five Five Years Priests Village Working Class Parish Kent Vicars Bristol Parish Priest

Author:John Polkinghorne

“After all, the universe required ten billion years of evolution before life was even possible; the evolution of the stars and the evolving of new chemical elements in the nuclear furnaces of the stars were indispensable prerequisites for the generation of life.”

Years Universe Stars Generations Evolution Ten Elements Nuclear Billions Evolve Chemicals Indispensable Prerequisites Furnaces

Author:John Polkinghorne

“I very much enjoyed my career in science. I didn't leave science because I was disillusioned, but felt I'd done my bit for it after about twenty-five years.”

Years Done Felt Bits Careers Five Twenties Enjoyed Five Years Twenty Five Disillusioned Disillusion

Author:John Polkinghorne

“People, and especially theologians, should try to familiarize themselves with scientific ideas. Of course, science is technical in many respects, but there are some very good books that try to set out some of the conceptual structure of science.”

People Should Trying Book Ideas Courses Structure Very Good Theologian Good Book Brilliant Ideas

Author:John Polkinghorne

“The physical fabric of the world had to be such as to enable that ten billion year preliminary evolution to produce the raw materials of life. Without it there would not have been the chemical materials to allow life to evolve here on earth.”

World Years Has Beens Earth Produce Materials Evolution Ten Billions Evolve Chemicals Fabric Raw Materials

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Theologians have a great problem because they're seeking to speak about God. Since God is the ground of everything that is, there's a sense in which every human inquiry is grist to the theological mill. Obviously, no theologian can know everything.”

Knows Humans Problem Speak Seeking Inquiry Theologian Theological Mills

Author:John Polkinghorne

“When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.”

Ideas Reason Happens Law Purpose Universe Nature Realizing Behinds Produce Evolution Plant Theologian Physicist Laws Of Nature Everything Happens For A Reason Conspiring Anthropic Principle

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Science and religion...are friends, not foes, in the common quest for knowledge. Some people may find this surprising, for there's a feeling throughout our society that religious belief is outmoded, or downright impossible, in a scientific age. I don't agree. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if people in this so-called 'scientific age' knew a bit more about science than many of them actually do, they'd find it easier to share my views.”

“The test of a theory is its ability to cope with all the relevant phenomena, not its a priori 'reasonableness'. The latter would have proved a poor guide in the development of science, which often makes progress by its encounter with the totally unexpected and initially extremely puzzling.”

Science Ability Poor Progress Theory Development Tests Guides Encounters Unexpected Latter Relevant Puzzling Reasonableness

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Mathematics is the abstract key which turns the lock of the physical universe.”

Turns Universe Teaching Keys Mathematics Math Abstract Locks

Book:One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology

Source: One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology

“I think it's very important to maintain the classical Christian distinction between the Creator and creation.”

Thinking Important Christian Creation Creator Distinction

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Bottom up thinkers try to start from experience and move from experience to understanding. They don't start with certain general principles they think beforehand are likely to be true; they just hope to find out what reality is like.”

Thinking Trying Reality Moving Certain Understanding Principles Bottom Being True Thinker

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Nevertheless, all of us who work in quantum physics believe in the reality of a quantum world, and the reality of quantum entities like protons and electrons.”

World Believe Reality Physics Quantum Entity Nevertheless Quantum Physics Electrons Proton

Author:John Polkinghorne

“I'm a very passionate believer in the unity of knowledge. There is one world of reality - one world of our experience that we're seeking to describe.”

World Reality Unity Passionate Seeking Believer

Author:John Polkinghorne

“The remarkable insights that science affords us into the intelligible workings of the world cry out for an explanation more profound than that which itself can provide. Religion, if it is to take seriously its claim that the world is the creation of god, must be humble enough to learn from science what that world is actually like. The dialogue between them can only be mutually enriching.”

Ifs World Enough Cry Creation Claims Profound Humble Insight Dialogue Explanation Remarkable Be Humble Enriching

Book:Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue

Source: Serious Talk: Science and Religion in Dialogue

“Well, it's because I gladly acknowledge some ideas that are part of process theology, but which I think are not tied to all the details of process thought, and are very illuminating and helpful.”

Thinking Wells Ideas Process Details Theology Acknowledge Helpful Tied Illuminating

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Of course, Einstein was a very great scientist indeed, and I have enormous respect for him, and great admiration for the discoveries he made. But he was very committed to a view of the objectivity of the physical world.”

World Made Courses Views Discovery Scientist Committed Enormous Admiration Objectivity Aeroplanes Great Scientist

Author:John Polkinghorne

“I also think we need to maintain distinctions - the doctrine of creation is different from a scientific cosmology, and we should resist the temptation, which sometimes scientists give in to, to try to assimilate the concepts of theology to the concepts of science.”

Thinking Needs Giving Should Trying Different Sometimes Creation Concepts Scientist Theology Doctrine Temptation Distinction Cosmology

Author:John Polkinghorne

“Quantum theory also tells us that the world is not simply objective; somehow it's something more subtle than that. In some sense it is veiled from us, but it has a structure that we can understand.”

World Theory Structure Objectives Subtle Quantum Quantum Theory

Author:John Polkinghorne

“The rational transparency and beauty of the universe are surely too remarkable to be treated as just happy accidents.”

Universe Accidents Treated Rational Remarkable Transparency Happy Accidents

Book:Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief

Source: Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief

“Hope is much more than a mood. It involves a commitment to action.... What we hope for should be what we are prepared to work for...as far as that power lies in us.”

Should Action Lying Commitment Prepared Mood

Author:John Polkinghorne

About the Author

Born: October 16, 1930
Known for: Physicist
Quotes: 38

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Books & Sources

One World: The Interaction of Science and TheologyRelated source material

Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and BeliefRelated source material

Serious Talk: Science and Religion in DialogueRelated source material

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