Divine Action and Modern Science

Divine Action and Modern Science considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the concept of God acting in the world. Nicholas Saunders examines the Biblical motivations for asserting a continuing notion of divine action and identifies several different theological approaches to the problem. He considers their theoretical relationships with the laws of nature, indeterminism, and probabilistic causation. His book then embarks on a radical critique of current attempts to reconcile special divine action with quantum theory, chaos theory and quantum chaos. As well as considering the implications of these problems for common interpretations of divine action, Saunders also surveys and codifies the many different theological, philosophical and scientific responses to divine action. The conclusion reached is that we are still far from a satisfactory account of how God might act in a manner that is consonant with modern science despite the copious recent scholarship in this area.

• A key intervention in contemporary ‘science and religion’ studies • A book that will move forward debates about the relationship between scientific reason and divine action • Winner of the prestigious Biennial Prize of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology

Preface; 1. Motivations; 2. Theological approaches to divine action; 3. The laws of nature and miracles; 4. Determinism and SDA; 5. Divine action and quantum theory; 6. Does God cheat at dice?; 7. Chaos theory and divine action; 8. Whole-part models of SDA; 9. Is SDA really tenable?; References; Index.

‘Concern with questions of divine action has been at the top of the agenda in the field of science and theology over the past ten years. Nicholas Saunders offers a comprehensive and insightful review of this activity that will be a valuable guide to many readers.’

– John Polkinghorne, University of Cambridge

‘This is an important book. Without presupposing technical training in physics, it introduces the reader to enough of the scientific details that he or she can evaluate claims to special divine action in light of science. Saunders, who understands both the physical theories and the theological literature, manages to bring the discussion to a new level. His argument has already provoked controversy in the field; the book’s appearance is certain to extend it.’

– Philip Clayton, Harvard University