Science and its limits: Natural Sciences In Christian Perspective

Science, especially naturalistic science, has come under fire of late. No longer does it command the near universal respect it once held. From the right has come a fresh attack on Darwinism and arguments for intelligent design. From the left postmodernist theorists have attacked the very notion of objective truth claims, scientific or otherwise. Into the fray Del Ratzsch breathes a breath of calm. He asks, What is science? What can it tell us? What can it not tell us? What challenges does it offer to Christian faith? How should a Christian respond?

Del Ratzsch earned a PhD in philosophy at the University of Massachusetts. He is professor of philosophy at Calvin College and author of The Philosophy of Science, as well as several other books. Much of Ratzsch's work over the last seventeen years at Calvin College has sought to relate science and religion (and more recently creation and evolution) in a way that is philosophically informed, scientifically defensible and theologically meaningful. Although Ratzsch is optimistic that design theory can avoid past mistakes in the creation-evolution controversy, he stresses that fundamental clarifying work remains to be done in this area.