“ Science cannot tell theology how to construct a doctrine of creation, but you can't construct a doctrine of creation without taking account of the age of the universe and the evolutionary character of… John Polkinghorne
“ Chance doesn't mean meaningless randomness, but historical contingency. This happens rather than that, and that's the way that novelty, new things, come about. John Polkinghorne
“ If the experience of science teaches anything, it's that the world is very strange and surprising. The many revolutions in science have certainly shown that. John Polkinghorne
“ I very much enjoyed my career in science. I didn't leave science because I was disillusioned, but felt I'd done my bit for it after about twenty-five years. John Polkinghorne
“ I'm a very passionate believer in the unity of knowledge. There is one world of reality - one world of our experience that we're seeking to describe. John Polkinghorne
“ Claims for theoccurrence of miraculous events will have to be evaluated ona case-by-case basis. There can be no general theory to coverthe character of unique events, but the refusal to contemplatethe… John Polkinghorne
“ Those theologians who are beginning to take the doctrine of creation very seriously should pay some attention to science's story. John Polkinghorne
“ I also think we need to maintain distinctions - the doctrine of creation is different from a scientific cosmology, and we should resist the temptation, which sometimes scientists give in to, to try to… 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… John Polkinghorne
“ 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… John Polkinghorne
“ 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 t… John Polkinghorne
“ People, and especially theologians, should try to familiarize themselves with scientific ideas. Of course, science is technical in many respects, but there are some very good books that try to set out… John Polkinghorne
“ The doctrine of creation of the kind that the Abrahamic faiths profess is such that it encourages the expectation that there will be a deep order in the world, expressive of the Mind and Purpose of th… John Polkinghorne
“ As a consequence, scientists who are carefully reflectiveabout their activity do not instinctively ask the question ‘Is itreasonable?’ as if they were confident beforehand what shaperationality had to… John Polkinghorne
“ Inthe scientific community, the adjective ‘theological’ is some-times used pejoratively to refer to a vague or ill-formulatedbelief. I believe this usage to be very far from the truth. It sad-dens me… John Polkinghorne
“ If we are seeking to serve the God of truth then we should really welcome truth from whatever source it comes. We shouldn’t fear the truth. Some of it will be from science, obviously, but by no means… John Polkinghorne
“ The widespread success of science is too significantan issue to be treated as if it were a happy accident that we arefree to enjoy without enquiring more deeply into why this isthe case. Critical real… John Polkinghorne
