Introduction

Theologian James Wm. McClendon used to study the tell his graduate students, “A scholar who knows the work of only one philosopher is prepared to be ideological. But a student who knows the work of two begins to be a critical thinker.” There is a message here for those who study the interface between religious and scientific reflection: knowing the history of the theology-science relationship—the patterns that endure as well as the unique adaptations to changing circumstances—provides an indispensable perspective for understanding current activity in this interdisciplinary field. Thus, this volume opens with historical essays that examine the science-religion relationship from the Enlightenment forward, even into the twenty-first century.