The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science
The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science
Peter Harrison examines the role played by the Bible in the emergence of natural science. He shows how both the contents of the Bible, and more particularly the way it was interpreted, had a profound influence on conceptions of nature from the third century to the seventeenth. The rise of modern science is linked to the Protestant approach to texts, an approach that spelled an end to the symbolic world of the Middle Ages, and established the conditions for the scientific investigation and technological exploitation of nature.
- The best contribution to studies of early modern religion and science
- Important insights for both biblical scholars and historians of ideas
- Widely and highly praised by reviewers in hardback
Reviews & endorsements
"The achievements of this ambitious book should be debated by scholars." Religious Studies Review
"Harrison has written a very interesting addition to the literature about Protestants and science, one that expands our understanding of the history of science and of ideas about nature." Mark Stoll, Environmental History
"Harrison's book is well written and his arguments are easy to follow...I am convinced of the importance and fruitfulness of his approach in investigating the study of nature and the study of the Bible as inextricably linked." Church History
"peter Harrison's splendid new book adds to the mounting evidence that the relationship between science and religion has been much more complicated than the military metaphor of an incessant "warfare" allows." Journal of Religion
Product details
August 2001Paperback
9780521000963
328 pages
228 × 153 × 19 mm
0.443kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1. Worlds visible and invisible
- 2. Sensible signs and spoken words
- 3. The two reformations
- 4. Re-reading the two books
- 5. The purpose of nature
- 6. Eden restored
- Conclusion
- References
- Index.
