The Faith of Biology and the Biology of Faith

"Robert Pollack argues that an alliance between religious faith and science is not necessarily an argument in favor of irrationality: the two can inform each other's visions of the world.". "Pollack begins by reflecting on the large questions of meaning and purpose - and the difficulty of finding either in the orderly world described by the data of science. Next, the book focuses on matters of free will, from the choice of a scientist to accept evidence to the choice of a religious person to accept a revelation to a patient's loss of free will in medical treatment. In closing, Pollack considers the promise of genetic medicine in enabling us to glimpse our own future and offers a reconsideration of the possible utility of the so-called placebo effect in curing illness." "Whether refuting a DNA-based biological model of Judaism or discussing the Darwinian concept of the species, Pollack, under the banner of free inquiry, presents a genuine, vital, and well-argued assay of the intersection of science and religion."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.