Take Advantage Of Myths, Models, And Paradigms: A Comparative Study In Science And Religion Envisioned By Ian G. Barbour Shared As Brochure

written. I really like the I, G. Barbour's style. The subtitle states that it is a "comparative study of science and religion, " I chanced upon a copy in the Cupertino library, and from the title, felt an obligation to read it, It remains one of my favorite books, Carefully structured, cleanly written, profound in the insights offered, and richly applicable to current debates, I've quoted this many times in my own writing, and often recommend it to friends, Barbour hopes to dissect religion using scientific ideas,

"Perhaps the new views of science described in this volume can offer some encouragement to such a combination of commitment and enquiry in religion.
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The author notes that myths are thought of as expressions of the cosmic order, but in western religion, myths are based on historical events rather than on nature.
He asserts that biblical faith isn't blind faith, but based on experience,

For me, the book was a bit tedious, I found chapter two about myth and symbol the most interesting,
Written by a pioneer in the field exploring the relationship of science and religion, Barbour was both physicist and theologian, The book explores the nature of scientific and religious language in the construction of models and paradigms used in each discipline, As it turns out, from this angle, the difference in science and religion is more one of degree than absolute contrast, I read this for a Religious Studies course when I was an undergraduate, I'm rereading now for an update, to follow

I can't believe how much I had forgotten about this book, I thought that I remembered if favourably from my course, I don't like it. It's just a lot of postmodern claptrap, Written by someone with no earthly idea how science actually works, Barbour starts from his Religious Philosophy tradition and just digs a very deep logical hole, He has a very sloppy use of language in his references to the practice of the science enterprise, He apparently cannot tell the difference between an hypothesis and a theory, He apparently thinks Physics is science, He grants far too much latitude to Kuhn and Feyerabend and none to Popper, I have no use for such sillyness as Feyerabendian relativity and Barbour does, Scientist and philosophers have more in common than might first appear, especially when the language used in the two disciplines receives a closer scrutiny, Ian G.
Barbour treats three scientific viewpoints that can clarify the specific nature of religious language, The first theme is the diverse function

of language, Science and religion each has its own task and its own applicable logic and language, Religious symbols and their expression in myths imply a perspective and interpretation of human history and experience, directing attention to particular patterns in events, The second theme is the role of models in both scientific and religious language, What the "billiard ball model" of a gas and the biblical model of personal God both achieve is an interpretation of experience, a restructuring of how one sees the world.
The third area in which science and religion have a common stake is the role of paradigms, Paradigms are standard examples of scientific investigation which embody a set of assumptions and becomes a research tradition until replaced by other assumptions, Religions has its paradigms, like the covenant of Sinai, wich have issued in traditions, Dr. Barbour concludes that scientific and religious language bother offer knowledge of reality based on experience, In determining the appropriate data and criteria for this experience the philosopher of religion can profit greet from the work of the scientist, .