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Christian Influence on Science (Copious Resources)

Last updated on: June 6, 2026 at 12:26 am   by Dave Armstrong

Christian Influence on Science (Copious Resources) 2026-06-06T00:26:22-04:00 Dave Armstrong

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell ((1831-1879): Scottish Presbyterian mathematical physicist, who formulated the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation. Engraving by George J. Stodart from a photograph by Fergus of Greenock [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

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(8-4-10)

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This constitutes Chapter Fifteen of my book, Science and Christianity: Close Partners or Mortal Enemies? (2010, 301 pages).

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Bibliographical Sources (Books)

John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge, 1991).

John Hedley Brooke & Christopher Southgate, God, Humanity and the Cosmos: A Textbook in Science and Religion (T. & T. Clark Publishers, 2nd ed., 2005).

John Hedley Brooke and Geoffrey Cantor, Reconstructing Nature: The Engagement of Science and Religion (T. & T. Clark, 1998).

Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science (Free Press, rev. ed., 1997).

Thomas Cahill, Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe (Nan A. Talese, 2006).

Heidi Campbell and Heather Looy, editors, A Science and Religion Primer (Baker Academic, 2009).

I. Bernard Cohen, editor, Puritanism and the Rise of Modern Science: The Merton Thesis (Rutgers Univ. Press, 1990).

Marshall Clagett, The Science of Mechanics in the Middle Ages (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1959).

Francis S. Collins, Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (Free Press, 2007).

A. C. Crombie, Medieval and Early Modern Science (2 volumes, Doubleday Anchor, 1959)

A. C. Crombie, Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science 1100-1700, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971).

A. C. Crombie, The History of Science From Augustine to Galileo (Dover Pub., 1996).

Richard C. Dales, The Scientific Achievement of the Middle Ages (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1973).

Tihomir Dimitrov, editor, 50 Nobel Laureates and Other Great Scientists Who Believe in God (online book, 2008)

Elaine Howard Ecklund, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).

Nancy K. Frankenberry, editor, The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own Words (Princeton Univ. Press, 2008).

Amos Funkenstein, Theology and the Scientific Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century (Princeton Univ. Press, 1989).

Karl Giberson, Worlds Apart: The Unholy War Between Religion and Science (Beacon Hill Press, 1993).

Michael Allen Gillespie, The Theological Origins of Modernity (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2009).

Thomas F. Glick, Steven Livesey, and Faith Wallis, editors, Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia (Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages) (Routledge, 2005).

Edward Grant, The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts (Cambridge, 1996).

Edward Grant, God and Reason in the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 2001).

Dan Graves, Scientists of Faith: 48 Biographies of Historic Scientists and Their Christian Faith (Kregel Resources, 1996).

Dan Graves, Doctors Who Followed Christ: 32 Biographies of Historic Physicians and Their Christian Faith (Kregel Pub., 1999).

James Hannam, God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science (Icon Books, 2010).

Peter Harrison, The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001).

R. Hooykaas, Religion and the Rise of Modern Science (Regent College Pub., 2000).

Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West (Cambridge, 1993).

Charles E. Hummel, The Galileo Connection: Resolving Conflicts Between Science and the Bible (InterVarsity Press, 1986).

J. Wentzel Vrede van Huyssteen, editor, Encyclopedia of Science and Religion [online] (Macmillan: 2nd ed., 2003).

Stanley L. Jaki, Cosmos and Creator (Scottish Academic Press, 1981).

Stanley L. Jaki, Science and Creation (Scottish Academic Press, 1974).

Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution (New York: Vintage Books / Random House, 1959).

David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1978).

David Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2nd ed., 2008).

David Lindberg and Robert Westman, editors, Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution (Cambridge, 1990).

David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, editors, God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science (Univ. of California Press, 1986).

David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, editors, When Science and Christianity Meet (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003).

Donald M. MacKay, Science, Chance and Providence (Oxford Univ. Press, 1978).

Donald M. MacKay, Open Mind and Other Essays (InterVaristy Press, 1988).

Alister E. McGrath, Science and Religion: A New Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2nd ed., 2009).

J. P. Moreland, Christianity and the Nature of Science: A Philosophical Investigation (Baker Books, 2nd ed., 1999).

Robert P. Multhof, The Origins of Chemistry (F. Watts, 1967).

Ronald L. Numbers, editor, Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion (Harvard Univ. Press, 2009).

Arthur Peacocke, Creation and the World of Science: The Re-Shaping of Belief (Oxford Univ. Press, 2nd ed., 2004).

John C. Polkinghorne, The Faith of a Physicist (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1996).

John C. Polkinghorne, Belief in God in an Age of Science (Yale Univ. Press, 2003).

John C. Polkinghorne, Science and Providence: God’s Interaction with the World (Templeton Press, 2005).

John C. Polkinghorne, Quarks, Chaos & Christianity: Questions to Science And Religion (Crossroad Pub. Co., revised ed., 2006).

John C. Polkinghorne, One World: The Interaction of Science and Theology (Templeton Press, 2007).

John C. Polkinghorne, Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion (Yale Univ. Press, 2007).

John C. Polkinghorne, Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship (Yale Univ. Press, 2008).

John C. Polkinghorne and Nicholas Beale, Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief (Westminster John Knox, 2009).

John C. Polkinghorne, Theology in the Context of Science(Yale Univ. Press, 2010).

Bernard Ramm, The Christian View of Science and Scripture (Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1978).

Del Ratzsch, Philosophy of Science: the Natural Sciences in Christian Perspective (InterVarsity, 1986).

Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians (Praeger Paperback, 1997).

Samuel Sambursky, The Physical World of Late Antiquity (Princeton Univ. Press, 1988).

Michael H. Shank, editor, The Scientific Enterprise in Antiquity and Middle Ages (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996).

Rudolf Simek, Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages: The Physical World Before Columbus (Boydell Press, 1997).

Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery (Princeton University Press, 2003).

G. Tanzella-Nitti, A. Strumia and P. Larrey, editors, Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (online; updated monthly)

Andrew D. White, A History of the Warfare of Science With Theology in Christendom (New York: George Braziller, 1955; originally 1895).

Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World (New York: Macmillan, 1925; rep. Free Press, 1997).

Thomas E. Woods Jr., How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (Regnery Pub., 2005)

Internet Sources (Articles)

Chris Armstrong, “Christian fathers of the scientific revolution.”

Roger Bacon, “On Experimental Science” (from the year 1268).

Kenneth A. Boyce, “Do Science and Christianity Conflict?”

John Hedley Brooke, “Science and Religion: Lessons From History?” (Science, Vol. 282, no., 5386, 11 December 1998)

Michael Bumbulis, “Christianity and the Birth of Science.”

Donald DeMarco, “The Christian Roots of Modern Science.”

Elaine Howard Ecklund, “How Religious People Misunderstand Scientists,” Science + Religion Today website (14 August 2009).

Elaine Howard Ecklund, “How Scientists Misunderstand Religious People,” Science + Religion Today website (21 October 2009).

Elaine Howard Ecklund, “What Scientists Think About Religion,” Huffington Post, 28 June 2010.

Elaine Howard Ecklund, “Scientists in the Pews,” The Washington Post (7 April 2010).

 

Robert C. Fay, “Science and Christian Faith: Conflict or Cooperation?”

Greg Grooms, “Science and World View.”

N. Gross, S. Simmons‌, “The Religiosity of American College and University Professors,” Sociology of Religion 70:2, 101-129 (June 2009).

Loren Haarsma, “Christianity as a Foundation for Science” (PDF).

Loren Haarsma, “Chance from a Theistic Perspective.”

James Hannam, “Christianity and the Rise of Science.”

James Hannam, “The Myth of the Flat Earth.” [“What can be stated categorically was that a flat Earth was at no time ever an element of Christian doctrine and that no one was ever persecuted or pressured into believing it. . . . all educated people in the Middle Ages were well aware the Earth was a sphere”]

James Hannam, “The Mythical Conflict Between Science and Religion.”

James Hannam, “Copernicus and his Revolutions.”

James Hannam, “Medieval Science, the Church and Universities.”

Brian W. Harrison, “Bomb-Shelter Theology,” Living Tradition (May 1994).

Otto J. Helweg, “Scientific Facts and Christian Faith: How Are They Compatible?,” USA Today, March 1997.

Pope John Paul II, “Truth Cannot Contradict Truth: Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences” (October 22, 1996).

Donald H. Kobe, “Luther and Science.”

Erwin Laszlo, “A Meeting Place for Religion and Science,” Huffington Post, 22 June 2010.

Arnold V. Lesikar, “Some of Einstein’s Writings on Science and Religion.”

David C. Lindberg, “The Christian Face of the Scientific Revolution: Christian History Interview – Natural Adversaries?”

David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, “Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and Science,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 39.3:140-149 (September 1987).

John F. McCarthy, “Not the Real Genesis 1,” Living Tradition (March 1994).

John F. McCarthy, “The Myth of the Self-Made Universe,” Living Tradition (March 2006).

Sara Joan Miles, “From Being to Becoming: Science and Theology in the Eighteenth Century,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 43 (December 1991).

John Millam, “Christianity and the Origin of Modern Science” (.doc / html)

J. P. Moreland, “Is Science a Help or Threat to Faith?”

George L. Murphy, “Possible Influences of Biblical Beliefs Upon Physics,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 48:2 (June 1996).

George L. Murphy, “Reading God’s Two Books” (PDF), Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 58 (March 2006).

Ted Peters, “Theology and Science: Where Are We?”

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “Religion and Science: Conflict or Harmony?” (4 May 2009).

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, “Scientists and Belief” (5 November 2009).

Alvin Plantinga, “Religion and Science,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Alvin Plantinga, “Methodological Naturalism?,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 49 (September 1997).

Bernard Ramm, “The Bible and Science: The Relation of Science, Factual Statements and the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy,” Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, 21 (December 1969).

Colin Russel, “Without a Memory,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 45 (March 1993).

Jeffrey Burton Russell, “The Myth of the Flat Earth” (1997).

Robert J. Schneider, “Does the Bible Teach a Spherical Earth?,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 53 (September 2001).

Paul Seely, “Reading Modern Science Into Scripture” (PDF), Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 59 (March 2007).

Eric V. Snow, “Christianity: A Cause of Modern Science?”.

Joseph L. Spradley, “Changing Views of Science and Scripture: Bernard Ramm and the ASA.”

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Medieval Theories of Causation.”

 

G. Tanzella-Nitti, “The Two Books Prior to the Scientific Revolution” (PDF), Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 57 (2005).

Wikipedia, “Age of the Earth.”
Wikipedia, “Antipodes.”
Wikipedia, “Byzantine Science.”

Wikipedia, “Catholic Church and Science.”

Wikipedia, “Christianity and Science.”
Wikipedia, “Flat Earth.”
Wikipedia, “Heliocentrism.”

Wikipedia, “History of Astronomy.”

Wikipedia, “History of Physics.”
Wikipedia, “History of Science.”
Wikipedia, “History of Scientific Method.”

Wikipedia, “Philosophy and Science.”
Wikipedia, “Relationship between religion and science.”

Wikipedia, “Roman Catholicism and Science.”

Wikipedia, “Science in the Middle Ages.”

Wikipedia, “Scientific Revolution.”

Wikipedia, “Spherical Earth.”

Wikipedia, “Timeline of the History of Scientific Method.”

Ken Yeh, “Reclaiming the Christian Roots of Modern Science.”

Lists and Overviews of Christian Scientists

List of Christian Thinkers in Science (Wikipedia)

Scientists of the Christian Faith — Alphabetical Index (over 1600 Christian Scientists; compiled by J. P. Holding): [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P-Q][R] [S] [T] [U-V][W] [X, Y, Z]

The Galileo Project: Catalog of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries (collection of 631 detailed biographies, by Richard S. Wetstfall)

Scientists of the Christian Faith: From the Era of Galileo (522 scientists who were Christians: linked to The Galileo Project database)

Scientists and Their Gods (Henry F. Schaefer III)

Christian Influences in the Sciences (Dan Graves)

List of Jesuit Scientists (Wikipedia)

The 35 Lunar Craters Named to Honor Jesuit Scientists

Adventures of Some Early Jesuit Scientists (Joseph F. MacDonnell, S. J.)

Jesuit Geometers (online book by Joseph F. MacDonnell, S. J.)

Seismology, The Jesuit Science

Roman Catholic Scientist-Clerics (Wikipedia)

Scientists of the Christian Faith: A Presentation of the Pioneers, Practitioners and Supporters of Modern Science (compiled by W. R. Miller)

Archaeologists of the Christian Faith (W. R. Miller)

Science and Faith (many links; Arnold Neumaier)

List of Byzantine Scientists (Wikipedia)

Significant Scots: Scots Pioneers in Medicine: A Cornucopia of Pharmacopeia (George W. Rutler)

 

Internet Sources (Websites)

Christians in Science

Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion (Oxford)

Philosophy, Science, and Christianity (web page: Dave Armstrong)

The Technotheology Project (W. J. Laudeman)

Christian Faith and Science (Loren Haarsma)

Gifford Lectures (University of Edinburgh)

The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences

Zygon Center for Religion and Science

John Templeton Foundation

Metanexus Institute

Fellowship of Scientists

The Fellowship of Christian Optometrists

Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences

The John Ray Initiative: connecting Environment, Science and Christianity

Society, Religion and Technology Project

The Society of Ordained Scientists

American Scientific Affiliation: A Fellowship of Christians in Science

The International Society for Science and Religion

Vatican Observatory

Counterbalance: New Views on Complex Issues 

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