Divine Action and Modern Science

Rating:
Summary: useful for college students
Review: I found this book really useful - I am currently studing religion and science and this book contains the best discussion of the divine action issue that I have been able to find. Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Good analysis of scientific theology
Review: In the last decades, different theological theories have tried to give an explanation of God's action in terms of modern scientific advances. In particular, quantum mechanics and chaos theory are two physical tools preferred for this objective, the first because of the ontological determinism subjacent to some of its interpretations, the second as it entails an epistemological impossibility of making long-range predictions. We must remember, however, that scientific theories are always provisional, and using them for theological explanations means a certain risk.

Most of the theories discussed in this book have to do with a certain type of divine action. SDA (Special Divine Action) applies to concrete actions of God to change the cosmos, and may be divided into "interventionist" (miracles) or "non-interventionist" (providence). The latter may also be subdivided in "compatibilist" (indistinguishable from coincidence) and "incompatibilist" (where God causes independent causal chains). Finally, this last type may be "continuous" or "discontinuous." The book looks in depth at theological theories that try to explain non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action using quantum mechanics and chaos theory.

Two chapters show inconsistencies in present theories, or point out errors of interpretation in the physical basis they use. The conclusion is pessimistic: in the state of the art, we don't have a valid theological theory that explains this type of divine action. Only Peacocke's holistic explanation escapes somewhat. However, the future possibility of a new theory is not excluded. Explanations of quantum mechanics alternative to the orthodox Copenhagen version are still appearing.

This book's analysis of theories based upon quantum mechanics and chaos theory is complete and scientifically impeccable. However, since it looks at a single type of SDA, others are not considered. There are a few loose ends in the analysis that would allow a discontinuous explanation of SDA, or one that makes use of randomness. Perhaps theologians don't like the latter because they are too influenced by the famous Einstein phrase ("God doesn't play dice"). In "The laws of nature" (1945), C.S. Lewis proposes another explanation for the efficacy of prayer: God could trim the initial conditions of the universe to take into account future prayers of human beings. This compatibilist explanation of SDA is not considered in Saunder's book.

In summary: "Divine Action and Modern Science" is useful, because it describes a set of recent theological theories that make use of scientific advances, but contain inconsistencies and weaknesses. Remember, however, that this book only addresses non-interventionist compatibilist continuous special divine action. Other possible forms and interpretations are out of its field of study.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent contribution to the debate
Review: This is an excellent contribution to the continuing debate over the relationship between science and theology and should be of interest to philosophers of science as well. This is an important book and it has implications for the theology of miracles, the philosophy of the laws of nature, and other fields outside the classical locus of theology.

totally recommended, and for a CUP book not too expensive either!

Rating:
Summary: Very important!!
Review: Without doubt this is one of the most important books on divine action of recent years. Except for some theologians within more evangelical circles, the amount of studies explicitly addressing theological, philosophical, and scientific issues of divine action is small. Moreover, many classic studies on the subject (such as Keith Ward's "Divine Action," Michael Langford's "Providence," and Vernon White's "The Fall of a Sparrow") have been out of print for years now and are very hard to come by. (Why does nobody protest against that!? Are publishers simply blind to the many opportunities here?) Saunders gives an overview of the most important studies, and shows that the discussion about divine action has many dimensions which are still relatively unexplored and which are in dire need of further clarification. Moreover, he makes it clear that if one takes divine action in a realist sense (i.e. that God's action has real causal effects in the world), one cannot ignore the many scientific issues involved. Miracles, laws of nature, determinism, quantum mechanics, chaos theory (Polkinghorne) and top-down causation (Peacocke) -- Saunders manages to make the crucial scientific and theological issues concerning these concepts quite clear.

The book is highly readable and does not presuppose too much knowledge of science or theology on the part of the reader (though if one has some background knowledge of science and/or theology this will aid in making the context of many discussions more lucid). While I am not totally convinced that Saunders' approach does full justice to the theological intricacies involved, and while I am critical of the fact that he simply skips many methodological issues -- I will elaborate on these points more fully in a review which in due time will appear in the online journal for Philosophy of Religion: Ars Disputandi, see -- I believe that anyone interested in the issues surrounding the concept of divine action must not ignore this book. Though it is always tricky to make predictions, I am convinced that Saunders' valuable book will remain a standard work for issues surrounding divine action for a long time.