Anglican Physicist-Turned-Clergyman Wins Templeton Prize

John C. Polkinghorne, a British mathematical physicist who resigned his professorship in 1979 to become an Anglican priest, is the winner of the 2002 Templeton Prize, valued at about $1 million (700,000 pounds-intentionally more than the Nobel Prize). A widely published author on “faith and science,” Polkinghorne is most proud of his book The Faith of a Physicist(1994), which purports to defend the rationality of orthodox Christian creeds. The announcement states,

“His approach to the fundamentals of Christian orthodoxy-including the Trinity, Christ’s resurrection after death, and God’s creation of the universe-using the habits of a rigorous scientific mind have brought him international recognition as a unique voice for understanding the Bible as well as evolving doctrine. …

“In contrast to [other physicists who have been] Templeton Prize recipients, however, Polkinghorne has established himself as a scientist-theologian much more comfortable with traditional interpretations of Christian scripture and dogma. Still, he steadfastly defends the role of science in advancing understanding of the workings of the universe. He has written, for example, that belief in the Big Bang is compatible with belief in God as the Creator and that evolution is a perfect fit with the concept of a God-given gift of creation that continues to be and to make itself.”

Consistent with the above, Polkinghorne is on record slamming Biblical creation. But it’s not surprising that he would be awarded the prize, considering that many of its recipients were even more hostile to the Bible, including outright agnostics. Templeton Prize goes to panentheistic Darwinist.-->