Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 208 pages
- Published by: Oxford University Press, USA May 20, 1999
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0195119908
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0195119909
-
Book Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 13.9 ounces
Product Review
Paul Brockelman's
Cosmology and Creation is a good introduction to contemporary trends in the relationship between religion and science. Brockelman, a professor of religious studies and philosophy at the University of New Hampshire, spends much of the book summarizing Big Bang creation theory, comparing it to traditional creation myths, and considering what the Big Bang suggests about the spiritual meaning of life. Brockelman argues that both theologians and scientists are reaching a consensus that "God is neither nature itself nor located apart from it, but is available to mystical experience
within it," and he teases out the implications of this world view for transforming moral, political, and spiritual life. If Brockelman's vision of the future is somewhat short on specifics, the principles he articulates are always quite sound: "The wonder we experience before the mysterious emergence of all of reality [from the Big Bang] enables us not just to master and control nature, but also to find our meaningful home and destiny within it."
From Publishers Weekly
"For too long," writes Brockelman (The Greening of Faith), "science and religion have lived in separate and often antagonistic worlds." He argues that this separation has grown from falsely dividing humankind into groups of thinkers and knowers (science) and spiritual and moral agents (religion)Ayet each group sets out to discover meaning and purpose in the universe. In addition, he contends that religion often blames science for robbing people of their awe and wonder for the majesty of the universe. Brockelman's thesis is that the scientific cosmology developed over the last 50 years or so by physicists can be regarded as a creation myth that "reveals a wider reality to which we belong, a reality that is ultimate and against which we can see the significance and purpose of our own lives." The author begins by looking at creation myths from various religions in order to show that the cosmology of the Big Bang contains many of the elements of these myths. He then proceeds to demonstrate that humans feel connected to the universe because our stories, a key element in mythologies, are embedded in the story of the universe, even today's new scientific cosmology. As a result of his investigation, Brockelman concludes, "the new scientific cosmology shows us a universe in which we have an origin, an inclusive home, and a meaningful destiny." Far from deadening our wonder for the universe, science, the author says, reanimates the wonder and the awe with which we look at it. The book serves as an great introduction to the dialogue between science and religion, offering a passionate plea for the integration of science and religion.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reader Reviews[I initially reviewed COSMOLOGY AND CREATION in March 2002. I'm editing my review to reflect changes in my self-identification only. I continue to refer to COSMOLOGY AND CREATION and still recommend it highly.] I would have liked to give this book 4-1/2 stars but seeing as I couldn't I opted for the higher rating. It's not that COSMOLOGY AND CREATION doesn't deserve 5 stars, it's just that it opens several doors but doesn't pass through. And I suspect that's what the author intended, that this book be a prolegomenon and not a systematic -- an overture and not a symphony. Nevertheless, it is the only book I have read through cover to cover 4 times over the space of two years and it is the only approach to spirituality that I, a post-modern Humanistic Jew can wholeheartedly assent to. Put rather baldly, Paul Brockelman's God is my God. Which may be no God at all to many people and certainly to one other reviewer. And I would like the opportunity to query the author further as to his feelings on the traits of this God: intelligent? aware? loving? none of the above? who knows? irrelevant? I hope Paul Brockelman feels called to continue in the vein of COSMOLOGY AND CREATION and flesh out his spirituality for the benefit of we, the inspirationally bereft!
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