Turner,  Frank  M.   Review of David  C.  Lindberg; 
Ronald  L.   Numbers  (Editors).  God  and  Nature: 
Historical   Essays   on  the   Encounter   between 
Christianity  and Science.   xi + 5l6  pp.,  bibl., 
index.   Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of 
California  Press,   l986.   $50  (cloth);   $17.95 
(paper).  In ISIS 78:2:292 (l987), pp. 269-270.

[Frank M. Turner is Professor of History at Yale.  
The author of Between Science  and Religion: The 
Reaction to Scientific Naturalism in Late Victorian 
England (1974) and The Greek Heritage in Victorian 
Britain (1981), he is pursuing research on the 
Oxford Movement and a history of Victorian 
intellectual life.]  

Put  quite  simply,  this  collection is  the  most 
outstanding treatment now in print of the theme  of 
the  conflict  of science and religion  in  Western 
culture.   The editors have achieved that rarest of 
all  scholarly accomplishments in the humanities--a 
genuinely  state-of-the-art collection  of  essays.  
No  one henceforth can either teach the subject  or 
engage  in new research without thoroughly studying 
and assimilating these papers.
       
This  volume,  which originated in a conference  at 
the  University of Wisconsin in  1981,  covers  the 
various  seminal  issues  of  the  relationship  of 
Western  science  and Christianity from  the  early 
Church  through  present-day  creationists  in  the 
United  States.   The quality of the papers and  of 
the   research   informing   them  is   very   high 
throughout.   Especially  excellent  are  those  of 
David Lindberg on the early Church, William Shea on 
Galileo,   Richard   Westfall  on  the   Scientific 
Revolution  and the decline  of  orthodoxy,  Martin 
Rudwick  on  earth  history,  James  Moore  on  the 
interpretation  of  Genesis,  Frederick Gregory  on 
Darwin and Protestant theology,  and Ronald Numbers 
on the creationists.

Taken  as  a  whole  the  collection  rejects   what 
(despite  considerable scholarship to the contrary) 
has  long  remained  the working  premise  of  much 
intellectual  history--that  there  has  existed  a 
necessary and natural conflict between Christianity 
and  the  development of the natural  and  physical 
sciences.   This  assumption,  itself a product  of 
late  nineteenth-century  cultural  tensions,   has 
generally stood as an unexamined, uncriticized, and 
presumably  self-evident truth.   In place of  this 
polemic-become-explanation,  the  authors  of  this 
volume  emphasize  the  cultural  and  sociological 
grounds  for debate between spokesmen  for  science 
and  religion.   Their conflicts over the centuries 
are  portrayed as disputes arising between  persons 
with  different  cultural,  professional,  or  even 
political  goals,   rather  than  as   intellectual 
clashes between adherents of different ideas.  This 
general approach to the alleged conflict of science 
and  religion is possible because these  historians 
now  view  both  science  and  religion  as  social 
entities  or  social enterprises.   Rather  than  a 
natural or inevitable conflict of epistemologies or 
of  naturalism versus mythopoetic views of  nature, 
they  discover differing social goals that lead  to 
conflict.   Even  Galileo's  fate might  have  been 
different had he enjoyed better political alliances 
in Rome.

I  have myself contributed to,  and I subscribe to, 
this  analysis  of  the  conflict  of  science  and 
religion.   However,  with the publication of  this 
seminal  volume it is perhaps appropriate to  begin 
to  exercise just a bit more caution.   It would be 
ironic and wrongheaded for intellectual  historians 
and  historians  of science to conclude or even  to 
imply that ideas are not important or do not in and 
of  themselves  produce  social,   political,   and 
cultural   consequences  that  may  give  rise   to 
conflict.   Intellectual conflict can and does have 
its  basis in society,  but the outcome  of  social 
conflict  can and does influence what ideas may  be 
acceptable,   debatable,   and   even  publishable.  
Various  modes of religious faith and  science  can 
and have coexisted, but is is far from certain that 
the scientific enterprise can flourish in a church-
directed culture.

With this caveat (which is a self-criticism as much 
as  a criticism of the colleagues who have produced 
these  remarkable  essays),  this volume  with  its 
splendid  bibliography should be given  the  widest 
possible   circulation   in  classes  and  in   the 
profession.
