When Worlds Converge What Science and Religion Tell Us about the Story of the Universe and Our Place in It

by Matthews, Clifford N.; Tucker, Mary Evelyn; Hefner, Philip

• ISBN13: 9780812694512
• ISBN10: 0812694511
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: Open Court

Summary

In this book, over 30 prominent scientists, theologians, and philosophers explore three main convergences: the convergence of different sciences to give a coherent story of mankind, religious convergence whereby different traditions work together toward global harmony, and the convergence of science and religion.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
PART I THE UNIVERSE STORY	1	(228)
The New Story of the Cosmos	3	(19)
Eric Carlson
Life in Our Universe and Others	22	(19)
Martin Rees
Cosmochemistry and the Origin of Life	41	(18)
Clifford N. Matthews
The Conscious Universe	59	(14)
Elisabet Sahtouris
The Probability of Human Origins	73	(25)
Matt Cartmill
From Ape-Man to Wise-Man	98	(10)
Ronald J. Clarke
A Century of Surprises in Human Evolution	108	(28)
Phillip V. Tobias
How I Gave up the Ghost and Learned to Love Evolution	136	(19)
Terrence Deacon
How Close is Science to Understanding Consciousness?	155	(8)
George Johnson
Cosmology and Religion	163	(24)
George F.R. Ellis
Space and Spirit	187	(20)
Margaret Wertheim
Images of Enlightenment: Slanted Truths	207	(22)
Clifford N. Matthews
PART II THE EMERGING ALLIANCE OF RELIGION AND ECOLOGY	229	(96)
Beyond the Enlightenment Mentality	231	(12)
Tu Weiming
Living in a Universe: Native Cosmologies and the Environment	243	(18)
John A. Grim
Judaism and the Ecological Crisis	261	(12)
Mark X. Jacobs
Christianity and Ecological Awareness	273	(10)
Stephen Bede Scharper
Jainism and Ecology	283	(10)
Christopher Key Chapple
Green Buddhism	293	(17)
Stephanie Kaza
Confucian Ethics and the Ecocrisis	310	(15)
Mary Evelyn Tucker
PART III SCIENCE AND RELIGION: RESOURCE AND CHALLENGE FOR EACH OTHER	325	(42)
A Hindu View on Science and the Spiritual Vision	327	(11)
Varadaraja V. Raman
Buddhism---an Ally of Science?	338	(5)
Pinit Ratanakul
Being Human: A Personal and Mostly Catholic Perspective	343	(14)
Ingrid Shafer
Science and Religion as World-Builders	357	(10)
Philip Hefner
Epilogue: On Convergence	367	(8)
Jim Kenney
This Book's Story	375	(6)
Clifford N. Matthews
About the Authors	381	(10)
Index	391