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About Us
CTNS is an international non-profit organization dedicated
to research, teaching and public service.
The central scientific focus of CTNS is on developments in
physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, and genetics, with
additional topics in the neurosciences, the environmental
sciences, and mathematics. With regard to the theological
task, CTNS engages in both Christian and multi-religious reflection.
The Christian theological agenda focuses on the various doctrinal
loci of systematic theology. The
multi-religious agenda attends primarily to theological issues
arising from the engagement between the sciences and religious
traditions such as Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
Taoism, and indigenous spiritualities.
In partnership with Taylor & Francis, a division of Routledge publishing, CTNS publishes the journal Theology and Science. CTNS members receive this peer-reviewed journal as a benefit of membership. To become a member of CTNS, visit the "Get Involved" section. To view a free E-Trial electronic sample copy of the journal, register at the Taylor & Francis (Informa) site for the Theology and Science journal request.
Introductory Resources
To begin your learning journey in the science and religion dialogue, CTNS has listed outstanding introductory books to get you started. For additional resources, visit the CTNS Brief Bibliography.
Barbour, Ian G.
When Science Meets Religion. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000.
Ian Barbour, whose work in the 1950s and 1960s served as a catalyst for the current dialogue between science and theology, presents four ways for understanding the relationship between science and religion: conflict, independece, dialogue, and integration. Barbour then surveys areas of scientific and theological concern using this typology, including quantum physics, evolution, genetics, divine action, astronomy, and creation. Buy now
Peters, Ted, Ed.
Science & Theology: The New Consonance. Boulder, Colorado:
Westview Press, 1998.
This edited volume includes essays by fifteen authors on topics ranging from physics and divine action to evolution, ethics, and ecology. The opening chapter by Ted Peters, "Science and Theology: Toward Consonance" offers an overview of recent discussions in science and theology as well as a description of the various ways in which science and theology relate.
Buy now Science And Theology: The New Consonance
Polkinghorne, John.
Belief in God in an Age of Science. London/New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
The Dwight Harrington Terry Foundation Lectures on Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy.
John Polkinghorne, a theoretical physicist and theologian, explores natural theology, divine action, critical realism, and prospects for future dialogue between science and theology. The book comprises variations on a theme, as Polkinghorne writes in the introduction: "if reality is generously and adequately construed, then knowledge will be seen to be one; if rationality is generously and adequately construed, then science and theology will be seen as partners in a common quest for understanding." Buy now
From the Founder and
Director
 The universe is more mysterious than either science and religion can ever fully disclose, and the urgencies of humankind and the natural environment demand an honest interaction between the discoveries of nature, the empowerment afforded us by appropriate technology, the inherent value of the environment, and the demand that we commit ourselves to a future in which all species can flourish. We can no longer afford the stalemate of past centuries between theology and science, for this leaves nature Godless and religion worldless. When this happens, our culture, hungering after science for something to fill the void of its lost spiritual resources, is easy prey to New Age illusions wrapped in science-sounding language — the 'cosmic self-realization movement' and the 'wow of physics' — while our 'denatured' religion, attempting to correct social wrong and to provide meaning and support for life's journey, is incapable of making its moral claims persuasive or its spiritual comfort effective because its cognitive claims are not credible. Nor can we allow science and religion to be seen as adversaries, for they will be locked in a conflict of mutual conquest, such as "creation science" which costs religion its credibility or "scientific materialism" which costs science its innocence.
Instead it is time to begin a new and creative interaction between theology and science — an interaction which honors and respects the integrity of each partner, an interaction in which convictions are held self-critically and honest engagement is prized, an interaction which focuses specifically on the most rigorous theories of mainstream natural science and the most central positions of mainline theology, an interaction which aims at serving the broader concerns of the global human and ecological communities. This, then, is the mission of CTNS.
Robert John Russell
Founder and Director, CTNS
Professor of Theology and Science in Residence, GTU
More information:"Bridging Science and Religion: Why it Must Be Done" |
