Lexington Books Between Science and Religion: The Engagement of Catholic Intellectuals with Science and Technology in the Twentieth Century

In exploring the role of Catholic intellectuals in engaging science and technology in the twentieth century, this book initially provides a background context for this evolution by examining the Modernism crisis in the first chapter. In order to unpack the subsequent evolution, Thompson then concentrates in separate chapters on the distinctive contributions of four specific Catholic intellectuals, Jacques Maritain (1882-1973), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984), and Thomas Merton (1915-1968). All of these intellectuals experienced some degree of official restraint in their efforts but through their distinctive intellectual trajectories, they contributed to a different engagement of the Church with science and technology. In the final chapters, the book first reviews the changes within the institutional Church in the twentieth century toward science and technology. Finally, it then applies some key ideals of the four intellectuals to anneal and extend John Paul II's approach of "critical openness" to suggest how the Church can now engage science and technology. Review Phillip Thompson has contributed a very important study of four Catholic intellectuals--Jacques Maritain, Teilhard de Chardin, Bernard Lonergan, and Thomas Merton--in an analysis of their efforts to develop a constructive dialogue of theology and science in the period between the Modernist crisis and Vatican II. Animated by John Paul II's efforts to create a new kind of dialogue of 'critical openness' of Catholic theology to modern science and technology, this wide-ranging book both describes these historical engagements, and at the same time offers a valuable framework for further development of this dialogue. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the dialogue of science and religion.--Phillip R. Sloan, University of Notre Dame In his clear-headed, thoughtful study, Thompson helps us to appreciate the complex dynamic between the Catholic Church and the forces of science. How did the Church move from condemnation to critical dialogue and become a defender of scientific research that is mindful of ethical limits and aware of its social obligations? His is an important contribution to intellectual history, a voice of critical moderation in a field in which extreme rhetoric too often prevails.--Jean Bethke Elshtain, The Laura Spelman Rockeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago; author of Just War Against Terror In an age of uncertainty about the role of religion in science, Phillip Thompson provides a bright light and a bridge for understanding how these concepts can (and should) coexist. This book will interest anyone with a keen and inquiring mind; it is thoroughly researched, beautifully written, and will undoubtedly become the standard for understanding the intersection of science and faith.--Aine Donovan, Dartmouth College About the Author Phillip M. Thompson is executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University.