Excerpt:
he Christian church has had a continuing concern for the for the relation between God, man, and nature. Western science emerged in cultures dominated by Christianity. The question arises how Christianity influenced attitudes toward nature and the practice of what was later to be called science. It is also important to discover the ways that an increasing knowledge of nature has influenced Christian thought.
Our keynote paper by English, Chemist-Historian Colin Russell aptly focuses on the value of history in understanding toady's science/faith concerns. American historians of science David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers offer a seminal statement on the 'conflict thesis' in Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and Science.