dennisf (04/08/83)
Discussion about the validity and/or plausibility of
the Christian (abbr. Xn) word-view may be enhanced by
reference to some books which address issues brought up on
this net. For extra-biblical sources on Jesus, see *Jesus
and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament*, F.F.
Bruce, Eerdmans, 1974. Dr. Bruce is generally considered a
leading N.T. historian. Also by him is *The New Testament
Documents: Are They Reliable?*, Eerdmans, 1971, for those
who could use an introduction to textual criticism and what
is involved in determining the authenticity of an historic
writing.
Of more general interest may be works dealing with the
relationship of Christian faith and natural science. The
"classic" by Ian Barbour is *Issues in Science and Reli-
gion*, Harper, 1966. This work is fairly comprehensive and
is a good general introduction to the issues. Another wide
treatment is *The Scientific Enterprise and Christian
Faith*, edited by Malcolm Jeeves, IVP, 1969. This book is a
sort of proceedings of a conference at Oxford U. in 1965 of
many leading Xn thinkers in the sciences.
One of them, Donald MacKay, effectively deals with some
common objections to Xn faith by uncovering their fallacies.
One of them is "scientific reductionism", which has been
demonstrated several times on this net. From him, see *Sci-
ence, Chance, and Providence*, Oxford U. Press, 1978, or his
latest book, *Science and the Quest for Meaning*, Eerdmans,
1982. MacKay draws somewhat from Prof. R. Hooykaas, his-
torian of science, at the U. of Utrecht, Netherlands. For a
good balance to the "classic" by White on the history of
(and unfortunately too limited to) the warfare between the
scientific community and the church, read his *Religion and
the Rise of Modern Science*, Eerdmans, 1974. A more recent
book on this subject is *Religious Origins of Modern Sci-
ence*, Eugene Klaaren, Eerdmans, 1977. Also, see Owen
Gingerich's recent article in *Scientific American* on
Galileo.
Finally, the *Journal of the American Scientific Affil-
iation* is a good source of articles on science/
Christianity. The ASA is an organization of (evangelical)
Xns interested in the relationship of science and Xn faith.
Dennis Feucht Tektronix Laboratories