Ian Graeme Barbour (1923–2013) was an American scholar on the
relationship between science and religion
The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern ...
. According to the
Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s ''
Issues in Science and Religion'' "has been credited with literally creating the contemporary field of science and religion."
In the citation nominating Barbour for the 1999
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...
,
John B. Cobb wrote, "No contemporary has made a more original, deep and lasting contribution toward the needed integration of scientific and religious knowledge and values than Ian Barbour. With respect to the breadth of topics and fields brought into this integration, Barbour has no equal."
Biography
Barbour was born on October 5, 1923, in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China,
the second of three sons of an American
Episcopal mother (who was the daughter of the
obstetrician
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...
Robert Latou Dickinson
Robert Latou Dickinson (1861–1950) was an American obstetrician and gynecologist, surgeon, maternal health educator, artist, sculptor and medical illustrator, and research scientist.
Early life
Robert Latou Dickinson was born on February 21, 1 ...
) and a Scottish
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
father.
[ His family left China in 1931 and Barbour spent the remainder of his youth in the United States and England. A conscientious objector, he served in the ]Civilian Public Service
The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, willing to serve their ...
for three years during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
He received his Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
from Swarthmore College and his Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
degree in physics from Duke University in 1946.[ In 1950, he received a ]Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree in physics from the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
,[ where he worked as a teaching assistant to Enrico Fermi.][ He earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1956 from Yale University's Divinity School.][
Barbour taught at Carleton College beginning with a joint appointment in the departments of physics and philosophy. He began teaching religion full-time in 1960, when the university established a religion department. In the 1970s, he co-founded of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at Carleton, which later became the Environment and Technology Studies program. He retired in 1986 as the Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and Society.
Barbour gave the ]Gifford lectures
The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...
from 1989 to 1991 at the University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
. These lectures led to the book ''Religion in an Age of Science''. He was awarded the Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...
in 1999[ for Progress in Religion in recognition of his efforts to create a dialogue between the worlds of science and religion.
Barbour was married to Deane Kern from 1947 until her death in 2011.] They had four children.
Barbour suffered a stroke on December 20, 2013, at his home in Northfield, Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, and remained in a coma at Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Abbott Northwestern Hospital is a 686-staffed bed teaching and specialty hospital based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a part of the Allina Health network of hospitals and clinics.
History
Abbott Northwestern Hospital was founded in 1882 as ...
until his death four days later.
Philosophy and theology
In his efforts to link science and religion in '' Issues in Science and Religion'', Barbour coined the term '' critical realism''. This has been adopted by other scholars. He claimed the basic structure of religion is similar to that of science in some ways but also differs on some crucial points. They are part of the same spectrum in which both display subjective as well as objective features. The subjective include the theory on data, the resistance of comprehensive theories to falsification, and the absence of rules for choice among paradigms. Objective features include the presence of common data, evidence for or against a theory, and criteria which are not paradigm-dependent. The presence of subjective and objective features in both science and religion makes his thinking valuable and original. Barbour's arguments have been developed in significant and diverse ways by a variety of scholars, including Arthur Peacocke, John Polkinghorne, Sallie McFague
Sallie McFague (May 25, 1933 – November 15, 2019) was an American feminist Christian theologian, best known for her analysis of how metaphor lies at the heart of how Christians may speak about God. She applied this approach, in particular, to ...
, and Robert John Russell. His subjective / objective approach is prominent in the evolving paradigm of religious naturalism
Religious naturalism combines a naturalist worldview with ideals, perceptions, traditions, and values that have been traditionally associated with many religions or religious institutions. "Religious naturalism is a perspective that finds religi ...
.
Barbour considered critical realism an alternative to the competing interpretations of scientific theories: classical or naive realism, instrumentalism, and idealism. A critical realist perspective sees scientific theories yielding partial, revisable, abstract, but referential knowledge of the world that can be expressed through metaphors and models.
During the 1970s Barbour presented a program of interdisciplinary courses that dealt with ethical issues in the applications of science, exploring the social and environmental consequences of a variety of technologies. In 2000 in ''When Science Meets Religion'' (2000) he used a fourfold typology (Conflict, Independence, Dialogue, Integration) to relate religion and science that he had developed in his earlier writings. In his works, Barbour writes from a Christian perspective.
Barbour compared methods of inquiry in science and religion, and has explored the theological implications of the natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
and social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
s. He also has lectured widely on ethical issues in such fields as climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
, technology policy, energy, agriculture, computers, and cloning
Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...
.
Forrest Clingerman ties Barbour to the religious naturalism movement via his theology of nature. His subjective/objective approach to religious is prominent in this evolving paradigm. Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd (born November 19, 1958) is an American progressive Christian minister, author, and eco-theologian known as an advocate of Big History, religious naturalism, sustainability, climate activism, and the epic of evolution.
His evange ...
calls Barbour the grandfather of the evolutionary Christianity movement.Grandddaddy of Evolutionary Christianity
retrieved April 15, 2011
In his acceptance speech for the 1999 Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...
, Barbour spoke about the need to break down barriers, using cloning as an example of science's ability to say what is possible and of religion to reflect on what is desirable.
Bibliography
*''Christianity & the Scientists'' (1960)
*'' Issues in Science and Religion'' (1966)
*''Science & Religion'' (1968)
*''Science & Secularity: The Ethics of Technology'' (1970)
Review of ''Science & Secularity'' with discussion of other books
from ''Journal of Religion
''The Journal of Religion'' is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press founded in 1897 as ''The American Journal of Theology''. The journal "embraces all areas of theology (biblical, historical, ethical, and constructive) ...
''
*''Myths, Models and Paradigms'' (1974),
*''Religion in an Age of Science'' (1990),
*''Ethics in an Age of Technology'' (1993),
*Foreword in ''Religion & Science: History, Method, Dialogue'' (1996), W. Mark Richardson (ed.) and Wesley J. Wildman (ed.),
*''Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues'' (1997) (revised and expanded version of ''Religion in an Age of Science'')
*''When Science Meets Religion'', (2000),
''Nature, Human Nature, and God''
(2002),
See also
* List of scholars on the relationship between religion and science
References
Footnotes
Works cited
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*
*
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*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
His biography
at PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
online with links to:
** May 28, 1999 Elizabeth Farnsworth
Elizabeth Farnsworth (born 1943) is an American journalist and author of the memoir, A Train Through Time – A Life, Real and Imagined' (February, 2017).
Early life and education
Farnsworth was born Elizabeth Fink in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an ...
interview
Templeton Prize press release
on Carleton College website.
Ian Barbour -Introduction to the Teleseries on Evolutionary Christianity, Followed by, “God and Evolution”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Ian G.
1923 births
2013 deaths
20th-century American physicists
American Christian writers
American religion academics
Carleton College faculty
Christian scholars
Duke University alumni
Members of the Civilian Public Service
Members of the International Society for Science and Religion
Particle physicists
People from Northfield, Minnesota
Process theologians
Religious naturalists
Swarthmore College alumni
Templeton Prize laureates
United Church of Christ members
University of Chicago alumni
Writers about religion and science
Yale Divinity School alumni
Yale University faculty
American expatriates in China
American expatriates in England