Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a road map pointing out different directions being followed by the science-religion interaction. It shows how the very study of the natural world at the quantum level leads to questions about spirit, questions about the divine dimension of reality. The book argues that human nature is continuous with the rest of the living world, a continuity established by the process of evolution. It also shows confidence in the dialogue between science and theology by affirming that “truth cannot contradict truth". Human history, replete with social and religious traditions, transcends the biological history that gave it birth. The rise of technological civilization and the rise of religion demonstrate that human culture, though dependent upon its evolutionary history, has transcended the determinism of its past.