Is Nature Enough

233 Pages·2012·1.597 MB·English

by  john F Haught

IsNatureEnough?
Isnatureallthereis?JohnHaughtexaminesthisquestionandindoingso
addressesafundamentalissueinthedialogueofsciencewithreligion.Thebelief
thatnatureisallthereisandthatnooverallpurposeexistsintheuniverseis
knownbroadlyas“naturalism.”Naturalism,inthiscontext,deniestheexistence
ofanyrealitiesdistinctfromthenaturalworldandhumanculture.Sincetheriseof
scienceinthemodernworldhashadsomuchinfluenceonnaturalism’s
intellectualacceptance,theauthorfocuseson“scientific”naturalismandtheway
inwhichitsdefendersarenowattemptingtoputadistancebetweencontemporary
thoughtandhumanity’sreligioustraditions.Haughtseekstoprovideareasonable,
scientificallyinformedalternativetonaturalism.Hisapproachwillprovidethe
basisforlivelydiscussionamongstudents,scholars,scientists,theologiansand
intellectuallycuriouspeopleingeneral.
JohnF.HaughtisDistinguishedResearchProfessorofTheologyatGeorgetown
University.Hisareaofspecializationissystematictheologywithparticular
interestinissuespertainingtoscience,cosmology,evolution,ecologyandreligion.
Heistheauthorofthirteenbooksandnumerousarticlesandreviews.

Is Nature Enough?
Meaning and Truth in the
Age of Science
John F. Haught
  
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo
Cambridge University Press
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© John F. Haught 2006
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To the memory of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
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Contents
Acknowledgments page viii
Introduction 1
1 Is Nature Enough? 4
2 Religion 21
3 Intelligence 32
4 Life 55
5 Emergence 77
6 Purpose 98
7 Seeing 117
8 Cosmos 130
9 Morality 143
10 Suffering 167
11 Death 191
12 Anticipation 209
Index 216
Acknowledgments
IwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetotheJohnTempletonFounda-
tion for the grant that allowed me to complete this book. Likewise
I am indebted in a special way to Kate Brett, Gillian Dadd and
Elizabeth Davey at Cambridge University Press for their skill and
generosityinguidingthebooktopublication.
Introduction
In 1715 Isaac Watts wrote a Christian hymn beginning with this
stanza:
IsingthemightypowerofGod
Thatmadethemountainsrise
Thatspreadtheflowingseasabroad
Andbuilttheloftyskies.
Isingthewisdomthatordained
Thesuntoruletheday;
Themoonshinesfullathiscommand
Andallthestarsobey.
In1975KennethBouldingofferedanewversion:
Whatthoughthemountainsarepushedup
Byplate-tectoniclift,
Andoceansliewithinthecup
Madebythelandmassdrift.
Theskiesarebutearth’sairyskin
Rotationmakestheday;
Sun,moon,andplanetsareakin
AndKepler’sLawsobey.1
Bouldingdoesnotsaywhetherthesentimentsexpressedinhis
update arereallyhisown, buthis renditionexpresses succinctly the
1 KennethBoulding,“TowardanEvolutionaryTheology,”inTheSpiritoftheEarth:a
TeilhardCentennialCelebration,editedbyJeromePerlinski(NewYork:TheSeabury
Press,1981),pp.112–13.