A User's Guide to Our Present World: What Everyone Should Know about Religion and Science

by Herb Gruning, Bruce Toombs (Foreword by)

Overview

The reader is about to embark on a journey of discovery and perhaps even reckoning. Religion and science have been understood as inherently at odds and inimical toward each other. However, both employ metaphor: religion when it calls the spirit descending upon Jesus a dove, science when it describes electrons as a current flowing through a wire, for only fluids flow and electrons are not a fluid. Both use myths: some religions in the sense that there was a Golden Age of humans in a garden, science when it promises unlimited progress. Both enlist hypothetical entities: some religions when a storm heralds that the gods are angry, science with the existence of a vacuum and a frictionless surface. And each bears its fundamentalist contingent: just observe a debate between creationists and evolutionists and the zeal and fervor with which the Bible and Darwin must be defended at any cost, no matter what. Given all this, it becomes readily apparent that religion and science display more in common than was once expected. And that is precisely what is in peril in the following pages--our expectations. May the intrepid traveler benefit from the voyage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725293045
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	04/14/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Herb Gruning is an assistant professor of theological ethics at the Seminary Theology Department of Huron University College at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of four other books plus one chapter and has taught religion and science and several additional courses at five colleges and universities in both Canada and the U.S.

Herb Gruning is an assistant professor of theological ethics at the Seminary Theology Department of Huron University College at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of four other books, How in the World Does God Act?, God and the New Metaphysics, God Only Knows: Piecing Together the Divine Puzzleand Who Do We Think We Are?, plus one chapter and has taught religion and science and several additional courses at five colleges and universities in both Canada and the U.S.
Caption for photo:
This is our version of Canadian Gothic. Please note that I am on the right.
Photo Credit:
Ken Bignell

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is for anyone who wants to reconsider conventional paradigms of faith and science, God and humanity. Challenging yet accessible, Gruning leads us from familiar paths into unfamiliar territory like an experienced guide, with tremendous grace and wit. More than simply advancing a thesis, he gives us the opportunity to think with him in approaching ideas that will be new for many readers. You might not follow his conclusions, but you will better understand your own.”

—Kevin Krumrei, Brock University



“In a playful tone put to a serious purpose, Herb Gruning draws upon science, religion, and philosophy to probe our received conceptions of God, the world, and our own human nature. He offers readers a witty and illuminating appraisal of old religious questions, and some new ones as well.”

—Andrew Fullerton, minister, Presbyterian Church in Canada



“Gruning’s approach to understanding science and religion is thoroughly enjoyable. His wide-ranging chapters, with forays into the paranormal, pet peeves, fake ads, baseball, and thoughts as a raisin hits the floor, taken together create a broad-minded whole that will push readers beyond their preconceptions, leaving them with much to ponder. To use one of Gruning’s writing devices, alliterative lists, I’d characterize his book as: illuminating, incisive, inquisitive, intelligent, and inspiring.”

—Paul van Arragon, Siemens Healthineers



“For some decades now, the conflict between religion and science in Western culture has raged in a multitude of forums. Here, in his latest book, Dr. Herb Gruning examines this debate with his as-ever clear vision of the things of this world, and his perceptions of the domain of religion. The connection between the metaphors of religion and the hypothetical entities of science are examined.”

—Keith Sudds, retired industrial worker

Editorial Reviews

This book is for anyone who wants to reconsider conventional paradigms of faith and science, God and humanity. Challenging yet accessible, Gruning leads us from familiar paths into unfamiliar territory like an experienced guide, with tremendous grace and wit. More than simply advancing a thesis, he gives us the opportunity to think with him in approaching ideas that will be new for many readers. You might not follow his conclusions, but you will better understand your own.”

—Kevin Krumrei, Brock University



“In a playful tone put to a serious purpose, Herb Gruning draws upon science, religion, and philosophy to probe our received conceptions of God, the world, and our own human nature. He offers readers a witty and illuminating appraisal of old religious questions, and some new ones as well.”

—Andrew Fullerton, minister, Presbyterian Church in Canada



“Gruning’s approach to understanding science and religion is thoroughly enjoyable. His wide-ranging chapters, with forays into the paranormal, pet peeves, fake ads, baseball, and thoughts as a raisin hits the floor, taken together create a broad-minded whole that will push readers beyond their preconceptions, leaving them with much to ponder. To use one of Gruning’s writing devices, alliterative lists, I’d characterize his book as: illuminating, incisive, inquisitive, intelligent, and inspiring.”

—Paul van Arragon, Siemens Healthineers



“For some decades now, the conflict between religion and science in Western culture has raged in a multitude of forums. Here, in his latest book, Dr. Herb Gruning examines this debate with his as-ever clear vision of the things of this world, and his perceptions of the domain of religion. The connection between the metaphors of religion and the hypothetical entities of science are examined.”

—Keith Sudds, retired industrial worker

From the Publisher