How one judges this collection will depend to some extent on what one expects from a book with the term “handbook” in its title. If one expects “a concise reference book covering a particular subject” (Merriam-Webster), this collection does not exactly fit that definition. Yet it makes valuable contributions to the field of religion/theology and science.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is a historical section of eleven chapters covering Hebrew Scripture; various historical philosophers and theologians and their attitudes toward the natural world and their philosophies of “science”; and the editor's own study of the emergence of neo-scholasticism in the Roman Catholic tradition. Part 2, consisting of three chapters, surveys the development of the field of theology and science in twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theologians. Part 3, consisting of ten chapters, addresses areas in which the field might creatively develop today and in the future.
Although its articles are of varying quality, focus, and breadth, this collection is unique, innovative, and valuable in several ways. It deliberately gives equal attention to the three major Christian traditions, whereas one rarely sees the Orthodox tradition represented in other science-theology collections. It includes chapters (10, 18, 21) on race in relation to science-religion/theology issues, an innovative contribution. It has chapters attending to issues of science and religion/theology in medicine, psychology, and social science, which one rarely encounters in other collections. Finally, several of the chapters in part 3 point toward directions in which the conversation between Christian theology and the sciences might productively develop in the future. Paul J. Schutz's chapter (24) on “Environmental Sciences and Christian Theology” is especially valuable and an excellent survey of the topic.
The historical section (part 1) is mainly where this collection departs from what one might reasonably assume the purpose of a handbook to be. The editor chose not to include any discussion of the actual historical development of the dialogue between modern science and religion/theology (except for the chapter on neo-scholasticism in Roman Catholicism). A reader looking for a concise introduction to this history would have to look elsewhere. I think this is a major omission of this handbook. It could have profitably included at least a survey chapter or two covering Copernicus, Galileo, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, John Ray, William Paley, Darwin, Asa Gray, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and the development and downfall of classical “natural theology.” Instead of studies of historical figures who had little actual influence on the history of this discussion, I think it would have been more useful to devote much of the space, in an expanded part 2, to detailed studies of those theologians and scientists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries whose work significantly contributed to the development of the science-theology/religion conversation. However, one could argue that the creative chapters on Hebrew Scripture (by J. Richard Middleton and William P. Brown) and the studies of the various philosophers and theologians are resources for the theological traditions to mine for positive approaches and attitudes toward science.
The three chapters of part 2, on developments in twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theology in relation to modern science (by Paul J. Schutz, Elizabeth Theokritoff, and Christopher C. Knight, and Sarah Lane Ritchie, respectively) are uniformly excellent and fully contribute to the purpose of a “handbook.” It would be very hard to improve on these survey chapters, and someone seeking a concise discussion of these developments will be well served by studying them. These chapters orient the reader well to the state of the science-religion/theology discussion at the present time. I found Ritchie's chapter to be especially insightful in the sweep of its reflection.
Finally, I think another major omission in the collection is the absence of contemporary scientific voices. There are many scientists today who are also Christians and who might have contributed creatively to such a collection, enhancing the value and contributions of this book. Instead, the editor intentionally looked away from the “hard” sciences in the interests of expanding the discussion in other directions (see pages 2 to 4 of his introduction).
Despite these omissions, this book makes important contributions to the field of theology/religion and modern science and would be a valuable addition to any library collection.
