Can Science Explain Religion?

The "New Atheist" movement of recent years has put the science-versus-religion controversy back on the popular cultural agenda. Anti-religious polemicists are convinced that the application of the new sciences of the mind to religious belief gives them the final weapons in their battle against irrationality and superstition. What used to be a trickle of research papers scattered in specialized scientific journals has now become a torrent of books, articles, and commentary in the popular media pressing the case that the cognitive science of religion can finally fulfill the enlightenment dream of shrinking religion into insignificance, if not eliminating it altogether. James Jones argues that these claims are demonstrably false. He notes that cognitive science research is religiously neutral; it can be deployed in many different ways in relation to the actual belief in and practice of religion: to undermine it, to simply study it, and to support it. These differences are differences in interpretation of the data and, Jones suggests, a reflection of the background assumptions and viewpoints brought to the data. The goal of this book is not to defend either a general religious outlook or a particular religious tradition but to make the case that while there is much to learn from the cognitive scientific study of religion, attempts to use it to "explain" religion are exaggerated and misguided. Drawing on scientific research and logical argument Can Science Explain Religion? directly confronts the claims of these debunkers of religion, providing an accessibly written, persuasive account of why they are not convincing.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction: A Voice from the Border of Religion and Science Chapter One: Explanations -How Science Seeks to Explain Religion Chapter Two: Explaining-What does it Mean to Explain Religion? Chapter Three: Physicalism-Is a Purely Physicalist Account Compelling? Chapter Four: Beyond Physicalism-Mind and Nature Chapter Five: Our Pluralistic Universe - Living on the Border of Science and Religion Appendix: Sources, References, and Further Discussions Bibliography of Sources Used In Preparing the Text

About the Author :
James W. Jones is Distinguished Professor of Religion at Rutgers University. He is the author of fifteen books and numerous professional papers, and the editor of several volumes of collected papers dealing with religion, psychology, and science. He serves on the editorial boards of several publications. He is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church USA and has maintained a private practice of clinical psychology, specializing in psychophysiology and behavioral medicine.

Review :
"[T]his volume will be useful to students and scholars alike interested in deepening their engagement with the field of cognitive approaches to religion and will be a useful addition to course or module materials for students studying in this area."-Paul-François Tremlett, Religion "This is a tour de force. Jones takes the reader through the full range of debates concerning the use and abuse of cognitive science with respect to religion, displaying both expertise and panache. His unique perspective comes from his work as a clinical psychologist. He calls the different parties to take responsibility for their abstract theories in an argument that is both compelling and morally serious." --Timothy Jenkins, Reader in Anthropology and Religion, University of Cambridge "Few scholars are better suited than James W. Jones to explore the new frontiers of science and religion. He brings philosophical acumen, psychotherapeutic experience, and spiritual sensitivity to bear on the question of what, if anything, new findings in brain-mind science can tell us about religious beliefs and practices. A necessary book for anyone interested in the future of scientific approaches to religion." --Kelly Bulkeley, author of The Wondering Brain: Thinking about Religion With and Beyond Cognitive Neuroscience "This stimulating book on the attempts of cognitive science to explain away religion has the virtue of being fair-minded and comprehensive, without the too-common fault of being boring. Bringing together a knowledge of contemporary science and a sympathy for religion, there is much of value to both believers and those who doubt. It may not be, as the author rather hopes, the last word on the subject. But it is certainly much more than the first word." --Michael Ruse, author of Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know