Arthur Peacocke

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Arthur Robert Peacocke , MBE (born November 29, 1924 in Watford , England , † October 21, 2006 in Oxford , Oxfordshire ) was an English biochemist and theologian .

Life

After completing his studies, Peacocke took a position as a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Birmingham , where he worked until 1959 and became a senior lecturer in biochemistry. During this time he and his colleagues in Birmingham made important contributions to the study of the molecular structure of DNA , building on the discoveries of James Watson and Francis Crick . In 1959 he moved to the University of Oxford .

Peacocke, who had been an agnostic in his youth , now became interested in Christian theology. He was influenced by the liberal theologian Geoffrey Lampe and by a scientific controversy with the biologist Jacques Monod about the laws of evolution . Peacocke was now studying Anglican theology in parallel to his work as a scientist and was ordained in 1971 . In the following years he devoted himself to his new main concern, the reconciliation of Christian teaching with the natural sciences. Similar to John Polkinghorne , he gave sophisticated scientific arguments for the view that biological evolution ( understood in the Darwinian sense ) is part of a divine plan of creation, although Peacocke categorically excludes direct control of evolution by God. Rather, an omnipotent and omniscient God merely sets the framework for the evolutionary process by means of the laws of nature , the results of which he can foresee. In doing so, Peacocke developed a panentheistic view of the world, which he carefully differentiated from pantheism . Although he began teaching as a theologian after his ordination, beginning with a position as dean of Clare College in Cambridge , he continued to closely follow the latest developments in biochemistry and published reviews in their journals.

Peacocke's efforts to promote dialogue between theology and the natural sciences earned him great recognition and won several awards. In 1993, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Order of the British Empire at the MBE level . In 2001 he received the Templeton Prize endowed with 700,000 pounds . Occasional criticism of his theses came mainly from representatives of the extreme positions in the polarized debate. Creationists like Phillip Johnson, for example, flatly rejected Peacocke's theses on the compatibility of religion and the theory of evolution . The religion critic Richard Dawkins , who claims to have had many “amiable conversations” with Peacocke, was “amazed” at his willingness to recognize Christian doctrine in all its details; however, even Dawkins Peacocke admitted that he was one of the "real examples of good scientists who are honestly believers in the full, traditional sense" .

Peacocke, who wrote 63 articles and nine books on theological and philosophical subjects alone, died in October 2006. His son is the well-known philosophy professor Christopher Peacocke.

Works (selection)

  • Persons and personality. A contemporary inquiry. Oxford et al. a. 1987.
  • God's work in the world. Theology in the Age of Science. Mainz 1998.
  • Creation and the world of science. The re-shaping of belief. Oxford et al. a. 2004.
  • In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God's Presence in a Scientific World , 2004
  • Evolution: The Disguised Friend of Faith? , 2004

See also

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ See The Rev Arthur Peacocke , in: The Daily Telegraph , October 25, 2006
  2. ↑ Cf. Gayle E. Woloschak: Chance and Necessity in Arthur Peacocke's Scientific Work , in: Zygon, Vol. 43, No. 1, March 2008, pp. 75-87; doi : 10.1111 / j.1467-9744.2008.00900.x
  3. ^ John W. Burgeson: Pathways & Crossroads: Reviews of Books by Peacocke & Barbour ( Memento of June 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Cf. Richard Dawkins : Der Gotteswahn , 5th edition, Ullstein 2007, p. 139 f.
personal data
SURNAME Peacocke, Arthur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peacocke, Arthur Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English biochemist and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Watford , England
DATE OF DEATH October 21, 2006
Place of death Oxford