Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church

232 Pages·2016·2.69 MB·English

by  Buxhoeveden, Daniel, Woloschak, Gayle E.

SCIENCE AND THE EASTERN
ORTHODOX CHURCH
Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church explores core theological and
philosophical notions and contentious topics such as evolution from the vantage
point of science, Orthodox theology, and the writings of popular recent Orthodox
critics as well as supporters.
Examining what science is and why Eastern Orthodox Christians should be
concerned about the topic, including a look at well-known twentieth-century
(cid:191)(cid:74)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:50)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:91)(cid:3)(cid:38)(cid:75)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)
their relationship and thoughts about science, contributors analyse the historical
contingencies that contribute to the relationship of the Orthodox Church and
science both in the past and present. Part II includes critiques of science and
considers its limitations and strengths in light of Orthodox understandings of the
experience of God and the so called miraculous, together with analysis of two
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it’s foundations and metaphysical assumptions. Part III looks at selected topics
in science and how they relate to Orthodox theology, including evolution, brain
evolution and consciousness, beginning of life science, nanotechnology, stem cell
research and others.
Drawing together leading Orthodox scientists, theologians, and historians
confronting some of the critical issues and uses of modern science, this book
will be useful for students, academics and clergy who want to develop a greater
understanding of how to relate Orthodoxy to science.
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Science and the Eastern
Orthodox Church
Edited by
DANIEL BUXHOEVEDEN
University of South Carolina, USA
and
GAYLE WOLOSCHAK
Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, USA
RO Routledge
U
T
LE
D Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by (cid:53)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:74)(cid:72)
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Daniel Buxhoeveden and Gayle Woloschak 2011
Daniel Buxhoeveden and Gayle Woloschak have asserted their right under the Copyright,
(cid:39)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:28)(cid:27)(cid:27)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:191)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:78)(cid:17)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notices..
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
1. Orthodox Eastern Church. 2. Religion and science.
I. Buxhoeveden, Daniel. II. Woloschak, Gayle.
261.5’5’0882819-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church / Daniel Buxhoeveden and Gayle Woloschak.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-0574-0 (hardcover)
1. Religion and science. 2. Orthodox Eastern Church--Doctrines.
I. Buxhoeveden, Daniel, 1947- II. Woloschak, Gayle E.
BX342.9.S35S35 2011
261.5’5--dc22
2011009816
ISBN: 9781409405740 (hbk)
Contents
Notes on Contributors vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
PART I SCIENCE AND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY:
COMPATIBILITY AND BALANCE
1 Living with Science:
Orthodox Elders and Saints of the Twentieth Century 3
Daniel Buxhoeveden
2 Science and the Cappadocians:
Orthodoxy and Science in the Fourth Century 29
Valerie Karras
3 Divine Action and the Laws of Nature:
An Orthodox Perspective on Miracles 41
Christopher Knight
4 Ecology, Evolution, and Bulgakov 53
Gayle Woloschak
PART II SCIENCE AND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY:
LIMITATIONS AND PROBLEMS
5 Science and Reductionism 65
Thomas Mether
(cid:25)(cid:3) (cid:47)(cid:76)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:191)(cid:70)(cid:3)(cid:46)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:90)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:50)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:91)(cid:3)
Religious Experience 91
Daniel Buxhoeveden
7 Discerning the Spirit in Creation:
Orthodox Christianity and Environmental Science 105
Bruce Foltz
vi Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church
8 Orthodox Bioethics in the Encounter Between Science and Religion 119
John Breck
PART III SCIENCE AND ORTHODOXY CHRISTIANITY:
SELECTED TOPICS
9 The Broad Science–Religion Dialogue:
Maximus, Augustine, and Others 133
Gayle Woloschak
10 Technology: Life and Death 141
Gayle Woloschak
11 Apophaticism and Political Economy 151
C. Clark Carlton
12 Toward an Orthodox Philosophy of Science 167
Thomas Mether
Concluding Remarks 195
Bibliography 197
Index 211
Notes on Contributors
Fr John Breck, MDiv, ThD, is an archpriest and theologian of the Orthodox Church
in America specializing in Scripture and ethics. He has been Professor of Biblical
Exegesis and Patristics at the St Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Paris,
France), and Director of the Saint Silouan Retreat on Wadmalaw Island, South
Carolina, since 1995. Breck received his BA in Religious Studies from Brown
University (1960), an MDiv from Yale Divinity School (1965), and a Doctorate of
Theology from the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in Germany (1972). In
2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cluj-Napoca
in Romania.
Daniel Buxhoeveden, JD, PhD, is a physical anthropologist with a specialty in the
columnar organization of the neocortex as applied to evolution and developmental
disorders of the human brain. He holds a BA in philosophy from the State
University of New York, Stony Brook, and received his PhD from the University
of Chicago, and a JD from Loyola University, New Orleans. He was a McDonnell-
Pew Cognitive Science Fellow recipient at the University of California, San Diego.
He has published in numerous science journals on the columnar organization of
the neocortex and has been co-investigator on grants from the (National Institutes
of Health and Medicine (NIMH) and grants from private foundations for the study
of autism, schizophrenia, and comparative neuroscience. He is currently director
of the Religion and Science Initiative, University of South Carolina, Columbia,
SC, and the principal investigator, for a John Templeton Foundation planning
grant entitled Science and the Orthodox Church in North America (SOCNA).
C. Clark Carlton, PhD, is currently in the Department of Philosophy at Tennessee
Technical University, Cookeville, Tennessee. Dr Clark received his MDiv from
St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY, and an MA
and PhD from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Dr Clark
specializes in patristic epistemology with a focus on the rhetorical structure of
doctrinal polemics, as well as the political economy as the material foundation for
culture with a focus on the conditions necessary for the Orthodox Church to exist
and thrive in the modern West (especially North America).
Bruce Foltz, PhD, is currently in the Department of Philosophy, Eckerd
College, Tampa, Florida. Dr Foltz has published numerous articles on
Heidegger, Russian and Byzantine philosophy, mysticism, and the philosophy
(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:89)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:69)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:80)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:22)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:191)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3)
viii Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church
encyclopedias. He founded or cofounded three professional societies (including
the International Association for Environmental Philosophy and the Society
for Nature, Philosophy, and Religion), and his writings have been translated
into Greek, Arabic, and Portuguese. Together with John Chryssavgis, Foltz is
also co-editor of a major collection of articles by Orthodox philosophers and
theologians, forthcoming from Fordham University Press, entitled Toward an
(cid:40)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:74)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:191)(cid:74)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:29)(cid:3)(cid:50)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:91)(cid:3)(cid:38)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:40)(cid:81)(cid:89)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:15)(cid:3)
(cid:49)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:38)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81).
Christopher Knight, PhD, BTh, MA, is the Executive Secretary for the
International Society for Science and Religion, Cambridge, UK. He received a
PhD in astrophysics from the University of Manchester, a BTh from the University
of Southampton/Salisbury and Wells Theological College, and an MA from the
University of Cambridge. He has published many journal articles on religion
and science and several books including (cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:42)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:49)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:29)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)
(cid:38)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:80)(cid:83)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:72) (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007).
Valerie Karras, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Church History at the Perkins
School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Her areas of research
interest include women in early and Byzantine Christianity, gender in early
church theology, and Orthodox Christianity in ecumenical, interreligious, and
feminist conversation. She has published articles, translations, and book reviews
in numerous scholarly journals and edited volumes, and is completing revisions
(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:191)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:78)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:37)(cid:92)(cid:93)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:47)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:92), to be published by Oxford
University Press. Dr Karras previously held teaching or research positions at
Saint Louis University, Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of
Theology, Washington University in St Louis, and the University of California,
Irvine, and has served on the boards of several academic organizations. Valerie
Karras has earned doctorates in patristic theology from the Aristotle University
of Thessaloniki and in church history from The Catholic University of America in
Washington, DC.
Thomas Mether, PhD, is a philosopher (PhD, Vanderbilt University, 1995) and
researcher associated with the Science and Orthodox Church in North America
(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:77)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:51)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:89)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:191)(cid:70)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:88)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:72)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)
universities, including Vanderbilt University, Aquinas College, University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga, and University of South Carolina. He has organized
and hosted international conferences on research ethics that made research
policy recommendations to Department of Health and Human Services and
(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:49)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:88)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:11)(cid:39)(cid:43)(cid:43)(cid:54)(cid:3)(cid:49)(cid:44)(cid:43)(cid:12)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:88)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:179)(cid:36)(cid:73)(cid:191)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:3)
Between Dewey’s Pragmatism and Plotinian Philosophy” in (cid:51)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:85)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:3)
(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:55)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:87), ed. Jay Bregman and Melanie Mineo, International Society
for Neoplatonic Studies Series (2008).
Notes on Contributors ix
Gayle Woloschak, PhD, is a Professor in the departments of Radiology and Cell
and Molecular Biology. Her area of research is nanocomposites, genes controlling
radiosensitivity, and motor neuron dysfunction. There are two main areas of
research in the Woloschak laboratory: studies of DNA-TiO2 nanoparticles and
studies of radiosensitivity/motor neuron disease. She is a member of the editorial
boards of a number of professional journals, including the(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:45)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)
(cid:53)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:37)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:74)(cid:92), (cid:49)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:72), and is also a member of the National Academy
of Sciences Committee Decadal Study on Microgravity and Physical Sciences. Dr
Woloschak is also the director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science, and
(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:90)(cid:76)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:191)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:17)(cid:3)(cid:39)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:3)
one of only a few Orthodox scholars to have been actively engaged in the religion
and science dialogue over the last two decades.