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John Polkinghorne is a physicist and priest. He was born on October 16,1930 in Somerset, England. He has earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a masters and doctorate in quantum physics and a doctorate in theoretical elementary particle physics at Trinity College, Cambridge (Turner, 2018). He was later appointed as a professor in mathematical physics at Cambridge. In 1979, Polkinghorne retired his studies in mathematics and began his studies in theology at Westcott House in Cambridge. -
Publications
Throughout his years working as a mathematician, a particle physicist and as a deacon, he published over forty books!
Here are just a few of Polkinghorne's publications: The Analytic S-Matrix (1966), The Particle Play (1979), The Quantum World (1984), One World : The interaction of science and theology (1986), Reason and Reality : The relationship between science and religion (1991), Faith, Science and Understanding (2000), and Quantum Physics and Theology (2007). -
Templeton Prize
In 2002, John Polkinghorne was awarded the Templeton Prize for Science and Religion. He also became the president of the International Society for Science and Religion.
Polkinghorne has written a multitude of publications relating Christianity, Science and their deeper relations. He is quick to point out that science and religion view one reality in differing ways. His follow-on works concentrated on describing the way God's actions are truly consistent with science. -
Key event: Quantum Physics and Theology
In Quantum Physics and Theology, John Polkinghorne studied thought experiments and compared their role in quantum physics to that of Christian theology. Polkinghorne drew to the fact that thought experiments are necessary in both physics and in theology. Quantum physics and theology both seek truth. Together, they create a fundamental unity of knowledge. (Polkinghorne, 2007).
Polkinghorne, J. C. Quantum Physics and Theology an Unexpected Kinship . Yale University Press, 2007. -
Did God Create from Nothing? - Video
John Polkinghorne - Did God Create from Nothing?
In this video, Polkinghorne discusses his views of cosmology from a theological, as well as a natural and physical standpoint. He also discusses the brain's reaction to causality.
