John Polkinghorne

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John Polkinghorne

John Charlton Polkinghorne , KBE , (born October 16, 1930 in Weston-super-Mare ) is an English theoretical particle physicist and theologian .

Life

Polkinghorne went to school near Cambridge and studied at Cambridge University , where he was Senior Wrangler in the Tripos Exams in 1952 , became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1954, and received his PhD in 1955. In the same year he went to Caltech in Pasadena on a scholarship . In 1956 he was lecturer in mathematical physics in Edinburgh , from 1958 lecturer in applied mathematics in Cambridge. Since 1964 Reader and since 1968 Professor of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974. As early as 1975 he was Licensed Reader of the Diocese of Ely . After resigning from his professorship in 1979 and receiving theological training at Westcott House in Cambridge, he was ordained a priest of the Church of England in 1982 . He then made a steep career in the Anglican Church. He has been Canon Theologician of Liverpool Cathedral since 1994 and Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral since 1996 .

Between 1965 and 1968 Polkinghorne visited Princeton , Berkeley and Stanford in the USA and CERN near Geneva in Switzerland.

From 1986 to 1989 he was a Fellow, Dean and Chaplain at Trinity Hall College, Cambridge. In 1989 he became a member of the Dogma Commission and, at the same time, in 1988/9 he chaired a committee on research with embryos ( Polkinghorne Report ) and from 2000 a member of the British Government's human genetics commission. He is also a member of the British Medical Association's Ethics Committee . From 1990 to 2000 he was a member of the General Synod of the Anglican Church. In 1997 he was ennobled (KBE). He is known for numerous publications on the dialogue between natural sciences and theology. In 2002 he was awarded the lavish Templeton Prize for his efforts to link theology and science .

As a physicist, Polkinghorne mainly worked on theoretical models for high-energy scattering processes, which from the late 1960s and 1970s led to confirmations of the quark model and quantum chromodynamics . He has published two textbooks about this, one of which is a standard work on the S-matrix theory , which was very popular in the 1960s .

As a theologian with a physical background, he is particularly impressed by the formal mathematical beauty of quantum mechanics and relativity, especially the - in the words of Eugene Wigner - the inexplicable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences (Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences). He sees in it the working of a higher, regulating power. He sees a further indication of this in the special requirements that must be met so that intelligent life can arise in the universe ( anthropic principle ).

Quotes

“The belief in God, which is in conformity with the Western religious tradition, implies the knowledge: Behind the patterns and structures of the universe stands the plan of a divine Creator. Behind the unfolding history of the universe is the will of a divine Creator. There is one who is worthy of our worship and obedience. There is one whom we can trust as the basis of our constant hope. "

“Physics has discovered that the world is more subtle, softer and more interesting than the physicists of the 18th century thought. It is not difficult to believe that biology will make a similar discovery in due time. "

“The world of physics has proven to be less mechanistic than many had first assumed in the wake of the deterministic discoveries of Newtonian physics. The world is more refined and subtle than a comparison of the universe with a clockwork suggests. If physics teaches us anything, it is surely that reality is surprising. It forces us to think processes that we would never have imagined if nature had not encountered them. "

“Laws of nature raise questions that can no longer be answered scientifically: Why is the natural world so understandable to us? Why are their laws so finely tuned that a fruitful story can unfold? Why is science possible? Why does the universe have such a special shape? "

“Religion without science is limited; you fail to be completely open to reality. Science without religion is incomplete; you fail to reach the deepest possible understanding. "

Works

Physics:

Physics, popular:

  • The particle play , Freeman, San Francisco 1979 (high energy physics)
  • The quantum world , Princeton Science Library, 1984, 1986
  • Quantum Theory - an introduction , Stuttgart 2006, English Quantum theory - a very short introduction Oxford 2002
  • Contribution to Rochester Roundabout - the story of High Energy Physics 1989

Theology, SPCK is the Society for promoting christian knowledge :

  • Quantum physics and theology - an unexpected kinship SPCK 2007
  • Science and Creation - the search for understanding 2006
  • Exploring reality - the inertwining of Science and Religion , Yale, SPCK 2005
  • Science and the Trinity - a Christian encounter with reality , Yale 2004
  • Living with Hope - a scientist looks at Advent, Christmas and Epiphany , SPCK 2003
  • The god of hope and the end of the world , SPCK 2002
  • Ed. (With Robert Russell et al.) Quantum Mechanics , Scientific Perspectives of Divine Action Series, Vol. 5, 2002, Vatican Observatory
  • with Michael Welker Believe in the living God , Gütersloher Verlagshaus 2005, ISBN 3-579-05187-3 (English Faith in the living god - a dialogue SPCK 2001)
  • Ed. The work of love - creation as Kenosis SPCK 2001
  • Faith, science and understanding Yale 2000
  • with Michael Welker ed. The End of the World and the Ends of God - Science and Theology on Eschatology , Trinity 2000
  • Traffic in truth - exchanges between science and theology Canterbury Press 2000
  • God is the Ultimate , Image of Science, December 1999
  • Theology and Natural Science , Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2001, ISBN 3-579-05180-6 (English edition Science and Theology SPCK 1998)
  • Believe in God in the Age of Science , Gütersloh 2000, Belief in god in an age of science , Yale 1998
  • Beyond science - the wider human context , Cambridge 1996, Cantor 1998
  • Searching for truth - Lenten meditations on Science and Faith , SPCK 1997
  • Knowledge and understanding - themes in the study of science and theology , SPCK
  • Scientists as Theologicians - a comparison of the writings of Ian Barbour, Arthur Peacocke and John Polkinghorne , SPCK, 1996
  • Quarks, Chaos and Christianity - questions to science and religion , Triangle 1994, 2006 (introduction to his thinking)
  • Science and Christian Belief. SPCK 1994 (Gifford Lectures)
  • Reason and reality. SPCK 1991
  • Science and providence - God's interaction with the world. SPCK 1989, 2005 (lectures in Oxford)
  • Science and creation - the search for understanding. SPCK 1988, 2006 (lectures in Dundee)
  • One world - interaction of science and theology. SPCK 1986, 2007
  • The way the world is - a Christian perspective of a scientist. Triangle 1983, 1992

literature

  • Astrid Dinter: On the belief of a physicist. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-7867-2194-7 . (developed from a dissertation)
  • Andreas Losch: Beyond the conflicts. A constructive-critical examination of theology and science. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, especially Chapter 2, ISBN 3-525-56366-3 .
  • Johannes Steinke: John Polkinghorne- consonance of science and theology. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-525-56976-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ JJ O'Connor, EF Robertson: John Charlton Polkinghorne . MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. July 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  2. ^ Polkinghorne John: Theology and Sciences. Gütersloh 2002. ISBN 3-579-05180-6 (out of print)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Polkinghorne, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Polkinghorne, John Charlton; Polkinghorne, John C .; Polkinghorne, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English physicist and theologian
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Weston-super-Mare