John Haught

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Dr. John (Jack) F. Haught is a Roman Catholic theologian and the Landegger Distinguished Professor of Theology at Georgetown University. His area of expertise is systematic theology, with a special interest in issues of science, cosmology, ecology, and reconciling evolution and religion. He graduated from St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore and subsequently received his PhD in theology from The Catholic University of America in 1970[1] and was the winner of the 2002 Owen Garrigan Award in Science and Religion and the 2004 Sophia Award for Theological Excellence.[2] He was the chair of Georgetown's theology department between 1990 and 1995.[3]

Haught, who established the Georgetown Center for the Study of Science and Religion, is the author of several important books on the creation-evolution controversy, including Deeper Than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution, God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, and Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution. A theistic evolutionist, he sees no conflict between science and religion because they explore different levels of explanation. Therefore, "Science and religion cannot logically stand in a competitive relationship with each other."[4]

He testified as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. His opinion was that the effect of the intelligent design policy adopted by the Dover School board would "be to compel public school science teachers to present their students in biology class information that is inherently religious, not scientific in nature."[2] However, he also said that materialism, the philosophy that only matter exists, is "a belief system, no less a belief system than is intelligent design. And as such, it has absolutely no place in the classroom, and teachers of evolution should not lead their students craftily or explicitly to ... feel that they have to embrace a materialistic world-view in order to make sense of evolution."[5]

Contents

[edit] God and the New Atheism

The book contains eight chapters. Haught presents responses to various books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. These books present the case for atheism and disparage religion as a being the cause for many of the worlds problems. Haught does not attempt to argue against this conclusion, but instead attacks the validity and the methods by which he believes Dawkins,Harris and Hitchens have come to "New Atheism." This "New Atheism" is the atheism which Haught believes is distinct from the atheism proposed by Nietzsche,Camus, and Sartre. The difference being, according to Haught, that the atheism proposed by Nietzsche,Camus, and Sartre realized the devastation the absence of religion would cause,whereas the "New Atheists" do not. The book also explores how Dawkins,Harris and Hitchens ignore theology, regarding it as a product of religion not derived from science. Haught explores why theology is indeed valid in the discussion of atheism. Haught points out that theology expands religion and presents a valid defense which atheists often ignore instead of posing a response. Haught also responds to the idea of God being a hypothesis, and if this is even possible, ultimately asserting that the idea of God, theologically, cannot be reduced to a series of propositions that can compete with science as proposed by Dawkins.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Templeton Foundation. Participant biography. Accessed 8 Dec. 2006
  2. ^ a b Report of John F. Haught, PhD. Expert Witness Pre-Trial Statement for Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. April 1, 2005.
  3. ^ John F. Haught. Georgetown University site. Accessed Dec. 8, 2006
  4. ^ Associated Press. "Theologian says intelligent design is religion." Sept. 30, 2005
  5. ^ Transcript of Proceedings of Bench Trial. Testimony of John F. Haught, PhD. Sept. 30, 2005. p. 29

[edit] Books

  • The Cosmic Adventure: Science, Religion and the Quest for Purpose, 1984, Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-2599-4
  • What Is God?: How to Think about the Divine, 1986, Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-2754-7
  • Science & Religion: From Conflict to Conversation, 1995, Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-3606-6
  • Science and Religion: In Search of Cosmic Purpose, 2000, Georgetown University Press 2001 reprint: ISBN 0-87840-865-7
  • God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, 2000, Westview Press 2001 reprint: ISBN 0-8133-3878-6
  • Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution, 2001, Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-3989-8
  • In Search of a God for Evolution: Paul Tillich and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 2002, American Teilhard Association, ISBN 0-89012-088-9
  • Deeper Than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution, 2003, Westview Press, hardcover: ISBN 0-8133-6590-2, paperback: ISBN 0-8133-4199-X
  • The Promise of Nature: Ecology and Cosmic Purpose, 2004, Wipf & Stock Publishers, ISBN 1-59244-945-X
  • Is Nature Enough?: Meaning and Truth in the Age of Science, May 2006, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-60993-3
  • God and the New Atheism: A Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, December 2007, Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0664233044

[edit] External links

[edit] Testimony in Kitzmiller