Living between Science and Belief
The Modern Dilemma
Foreword by John W. de Gruchy
Imprint: Cascade Books
Most thoughtful people live in an interregnum between science and religion. Traditional religious answers concerning the beginning, purpose, and end of life are questioned by the natural sciences, with neuroscience conceivably constituting the last frontier where skeptics and believers explore common ground. The question concerns the nature of reflective and creative moments in life. Can these be reduced to the intersect between the nerve cells and molecules of the physical brain? Does this account for the human sense of mystery, or even spirituality? Is there a nexus between the physical and unknown dimensions of existence? The mutation in the history of theism suggests that progressive theology in the West may be set for further change.
Charles Villa-Vicencio is Emeritus Professor of Religion and Society at the University of Cape Town and currently Visiting Professor in the Conflict Resolution Program at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He is the former National Research Director of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“Villa-Vicencio takes us on a penetrating and exciting multidisciplinary exploration of personal faith, weaving skillfully in and out of science and formal religions. He guides us with such mastery and insight, that we experience sudden and unexpected ‘aha!’ moments. This is an invaluable read and deserves a wide audience.”
—Fathali Moghaddam, Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science, Georgetown University
“As always, Charles finds himself, quite literally, in the thick of things where he has always been most comfortably uncomfortable. But that is also the place from which he chooses to explore the common ground that connects science and belief as a participant rather than an aloof outsider regurgitating the tired arguments that keep them apart. His aim is not to score points or take sides, but to find meaning that gives value and direction to life, his life and ours. For binding it all together is his own journey from faith to skepticism and disillusionment, his liberating engagement with secular humanism and science, and his slow but profound rediscovery of the mystery of life to which all religious traditions and scientific enquiry point.”
—John W. de Gruchy, from the Foreword