Serious Talk

Once again, scientist-theologian John Polkinghorne has written a lucid and accessible treatment of the relationship between science and religon. "Serious Talk" is just what its title implies: a conversational, but by no means superficial, discussion of key issues in the ever-growing dialogue between science and theology, to which Polkinghorne himself has made significant contributions. These issues include the interpretation of quantum theory, parallel features of the two disciplines, creation, resurrection,and eschatology. The chapter on "Providence" is especially helpful, as it relates developments in chaos theory to our understanding of God's interaction with the world. Overall, this book makes an essential contribution to the Polkinghorne corpus and to the larger science-theology debate; readers of his earlier works will not be disappointed, as some material here (again, note the "Providence" chapter} marks clear advances in his consideration of these issues.