Professor Alister McGrath

Professor of Science and Religion

Research Interests

historical and conceptual issues relating to science and religion
natural theology as a legitimate field of theological reflection, and as a framework for furthering the dialogue between science, religion, and literature
critical realism in science and theology
the theological utility of scientific philosophies of explanation
theological models of engagement with the natural sciences, especially those of T. F. Torrance and Emil Brunner
the application of biological models of evolution to cultural contexts, especially the development of Christian doctrine
C. S. Lewis on science and religion, especially his critiques of naturalism and scientism
the use of science in the “New Atheism”
“two cultures” issues, especially defending the value of humanities in a scientific culture

Publications

A Fine-Tuned Universe? The Quest for God in Science and Theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2009). The 2009 Gifford Lectures, University of Aberdeen.

Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). The 2009 Hulsean Lectures at the University of Cambridge.

“The Natural Sciences and Apologetics”, in Andrew Davison (ed.), Imaginative Apologetics: Theology, Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition (London: SCM Press, 2011), 142-57.

“Biology in a Christian University,” in Oliver D. Crisp, Gavin D’Costa, Mervyn Davies, and Peter Hampson (eds), Christianity and the Disciplines: The Transformation of the University (London: T&T Clark, 2012), 56-70.

The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis. (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013).

“An Enhanced Vision of Rationality: C. S. Lewis on the Reasonableness of Christian Faith.” Theology 116 No. 6 (2013): 410-17.

“Evidence, Theory, and Interpretation: The “New Atheism” and the Philosophy of Science.” Midwest Studies in Philosophy 37 (2013): 179-89.

“The Doctrine of Creation: Some Theological Reflections,” in Jonathan Moo and Robin Routledge (eds), “As Long as Earth Endures”: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Creation and the Environment. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 32-49.

“Five Questions”, in Gregg D. Caruso (ed.), Science and Religion: Five Questions (Copenhagen: Automatic Press, 2014), 129-35.

Emil Brunner: A Reappraisal. (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).