जॉन कार्लटन पोल्किंगहॉर्न, ब्रिटिश सैद्धांतिक भौतिक विज्ञानी, धार्मिक विचारक, लेखक और एंग्लिकन पुजारी, 1930 में पैदा हुए, 1988 से 1996 तक क्वींस कॉलेज कैम्ब्रिज के अध्यक्ष के रूप में, पोल्किंगहॉर्न ने भौतिकी पर पांच पुस्तकें और विज्ञान और धर्म के बीच संबंधों पर छब्बीस पुस्तकें लिखीं। उनकी पुस्तकों में क्वांटम वर्ल्ड 1989, क्वांटम फिजिक्स एंड थियोलॉजी: एन अनपेक्षित कनेक्शन 2005, एक्सप्लोरिंग ट्रुथ: द इंटरट्विनिंग ऑफ साइंस एंड रिलिजन 2007, क्वेश्चन ऑफ ट्रुथ 2009, ए पोलिंगहॉर्न रीडर (थॉमस जे। ऑर्ड द्वारा संपादित) और पोलिंगहॉर्न के प्रमुख सारांश प्रदान करना शामिल है। सबसे प्रभावशाली पुस्तकें, 1997 में नाइट की उपाधि प्राप्त की और जीवन के आध्यात्मिक आयाम की पुष्टि करने में उनके उत्कृष्ट योगदान के लिए 2002 में £1m टेम्पलटन पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया गया।
The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker पीडीएफ जॉन पोल्किंगहॉर्न
Is it possible to think like a scientist and yet have the faith of a Christian? Although many Westerners might say no, there are also many critically minded individuals who entertain what John Polkinghorne calls a "wistful wariness" toward religion--they feel unable to accept religion on rational grounds yet cannot dismiss it completely. Polkinghorne, both a particle physicist and Anglican priest, here explores just what rational grounds there could be for Christian beliefs, maintaining that the quest for motivated understanding is a concern shared by scientists and religious thinkers alike. Anyone who assumes that religion is based on unquestioning certainties, or that it need not take into account empirical knowledge, will be challenged by Polkinghorne's bottom-up examination of Christian beliefs about events ranging from creation to the resurrection.
The author organizes his inquiry around the Nicene Creed, an early statement that continues to summarize Christian beliefs. He applies to each of its tenets the question, "What is the evidence that makes you think this might be true?" The evidence Polkinghorne weighs includes the Hebrew and Christian scriptures--their historical contexts and the possible motivations for their having been written--scientific theories, and human self-consciousness as revealed in literary, philosophical, and psychological works.
He begins with the words, "We believe," and presents understandings of the nature of humanity, showing, for example, that Cartesian theory, evolution, and natural selection do not tell the entire story of what humans are about, especially in light of many sources that attest to our spirituality. Moving through the Creed, Polkinghorne considers the concept of divinity and God as creator in discussions that cover the Theory of Everything, the Big Bang Theory, and the possibility of divine presence within reality so that God is not simply an outside observer. Chapters on Jesus analyze the different ways events are described in the Gospels and the way motivation for belief is conveyed--for example, how do these writings explain why a young man killed in public disgrace could inspire a following, when other major world religious leaders lived to become highly revered elders in their communities?
"Faith seeking understanding" is, according to Polkinghorne, like the scientific quest. Both are journeys of intellectual discovery in which those who survey experience from an initially chosen point of view must be open to correction in the light of further experience. "Religion," he writes, "has long known that ultimately every human image of God proves to be an inadequate idol." The Faith of a Physicist, based on the prestigious 1993 Gifford Lectures, delivers a powerful message to scientists and theologians, theists and atheists alike.