John Polkinghorne Quotes

John Polkinghorne

John Polkinghorne

British Physicist

Born: Oct 16, 1930

Creation God Life Science Think World

Related authors: Aaron Klug Cecil Frank Powell Charles Glover Barkla Geoffrey West Paul Dirac Peter Higgs William Henry Bragg

I think it's very important to maintain the classical Christian distinction between the Creator and creation. John Polkinghorne

Important Creation Christian Think Distinction Classical Maintain Between Very Creator

At present, too much theological thinking is very human-centered. John Polkinghorne

Too Much Thinking Too Very Much Theological Present

Bottom up thinkers try to start from experience and move from experience to understanding. They don't start with certain general principles they think beforehand are likely to be true; they just hope to find out what reality is like. John Polkinghorne

Theologians have a great problem because they're seeking to speak about God. Since God is the ground of everything that is, there's a sense in which every human inquiry is grist to the theological mill. Obviously, no theologian can know everything. John Polkinghorne

However, as the Eastern churches have always maintained, through Christ creation is intended eventually to share in the life of God, the life of divine nature. John Polkinghorne

Life God Nature Christ Creation Churches Eastern Through Divine Divine Nature Share Maintained Always However Intended Eventually

So Whitehead's metaphysics doesn't fit very well on to physics as we understand the process of the world. John Polkinghorne

Physics World Well Understand Metaphysics Fit Very Process

Whitehead reacted strongly against the idea of God as a cosmic tyrant, one who brings about everything. John Polkinghorne

God Everything Tyrant Cosmic About Strongly Idea Against Who Brings

After all, the universe required ten billion years of evolution before life was even possible; the evolution of the stars and the evolving of new chemical elements in the nuclear furnaces of the stars were indispensable prerequisites for the generation of life. John Polkinghorne

Of course, Einstein was a very great scientist indeed, and I have enormous respect for him, and great admiration for the discoveries he made. But he was very committed to a view of the objectivity of the physical world. John Polkinghorne

Great Respect World Made Enormous Indeed Admiration Physical Objectivity Physical World He Him Course Scientist Discoveries Very Committed Einstein View

Of course, nobody would deny the importance of human beings for theological thinking, but the time span of history that theologians think about is a few thousand years of human culture rather than the fifteen billion years of the history of the universe. John Polkinghorne

Time History Culture Few Think Thinking Universe Thousand Would Thousand Years About Rather Nobody Importance Course Years Deny Than Human The History Of Human Beings Span Fifteen Theologians Theological Billion Beings

Well, it's because I gladly acknowledge some ideas that are part of process theology, but which I think are not tied to all the details of process thought, and are very illuminating and helpful. John Polkinghorne

Thought Think Details Some Gladly Part Ideas Well Tied Because Very Acknowledge Process Which Theology Helpful Illuminating

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