The Edge of Reason: Science and Religion in Modern Society

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Should scientists challenge religious beliefs Is religion inevitable in human society Is religion harmful to society Can science itself inspire spiritual wonder Confrontation between science and religion has defined much public debate about religion in recent years, most lately in bestsellers portraying a clash between scientists and religious believers, such as Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Sam Harris's The End of Faith or Letter to a Christian Nation. But what does this 'us versus them' divide mean for society This collection of essays gives voice to social scientists, natural scientists and theologians whose experience holds direct relevance on these major issues, and clarifies the position of science in the modern debate. Includes contributions by Mary Midgley (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK), Denis Alexander (Cambridge University, UK), Richard Roberts (Lancaster University, UK), Bob Layton (Durham University, UK), Simon Coleman (Sussex University, UK), Michael Shermer (Executive Director of the Sceptics Society and monthly columnist for Scientific American), Lewis Wolpert (University College London, UK), Andrew Newberg (University of Pennsylvania), Timothy Taylor (University of Bradford, UK), Steven Mithen (University of Reading, UK), David Sloan Wilson (Binghamton University), Herbert Maschner (Idaho State University), Ian Reader (University of Manchester, UK), Hiroko Kawanami (Lancaster University, UK), Andrian Kreye (Sddeutsche Zeitung), John Hedley Brooke (Oxford University, UK), Gordy Slack (Author of The Battle Over The Meaning Of Everything), Seth Shostak (Seti Institute), William Calvin (University Of Washington), and David Wilkinson (Durham University, UK).

Reviews

"A stimulating series of brief forays into the science-theology-atheism border lands which will send the reader off to follow up leads here and there. Highlights are the discussions of evolution in terms that go beyond the individual gene or creature (and the observation that these inter preta tions were frowned upon by Thatcherites), and of the part played by "mirror neurons" in the fledgling evolution ary history of selfhood." - Church Times
Overall, this is an imaginative volume with plenty of food for thought... this book is an informative, engaging and very enjoyable read. -- Reviews in Science and Religion, No. 58, Nov 2011
"Systems of logic and belief never split into neat oppositions between science and religion, but are mediated by cultural, philosophical, and contextual forces that shape these systems - all of them - as reasonable and natural. It is the making and mobilisation of the givens of human knowledge, rather than its perfection to grasp a preordained cosmology, that must be understood if we are to break free of the impasse that has come to prevail between Creationists and Evolutionists, as revealed in this fascinating dialogue between leading anthropologists, archaeologists, philosophers, theologians, biologists and physicists. Inter-disciplinarity at its best!" Professor Ash Amin, Director of the Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, UK
Title reviewed inPublishing News, 2008.
Mention -Book News, February 2009
"It will challenge not only ideological atheists but also religious theists ...the contributors have minimized jargon and each essay has been written with the interested layperson in mind." - Reform
Title mention in Church Times.
"A bundle of interesting insights by scholars who contribute not only academic but personal experience to the discussion." - ESSAT-News (European Society for the Study of Science and Theology)

Author Bio

Alex Bentley isReader in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University, UK.