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Christianity Today, May 21, 2002 |

Bottom-Up Apologist

"John Polkinghorne—particle physicist, Gifford lecturer, Templeton Prize–winner, and parish priest"

Karl W. Giberson | posted 5/21/2002 12:00AM

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There are thinkers whose achievement lies in opening new vistas and taking us where we have never been. There are thinkers whose achievement lies in showing us the true value of what has gone before. With his seminal contributions to both physics and Christian theology, John Polkinghorne is one of those rare individuals who has succeeded in doing both.

Karl Giberson is editor of Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology and professor of physics at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts.

The Templeton Prize

The Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion was founded in 1972 by the legendary global financial pioneer, Sir John Templeton, to address the failure of the Nobel Prizes to recognize the importance of religion. The award honors an outstanding living individual who has shown great originality in advancing our understanding of God or spirituality. The monetary value of the prize, currently just over a million dollars, is adjusted each year so it exceeds that of the Nobel Prize.

Mother Teresa was the first recipient of the prize, in 1972. She was recognized for her "extraordinary effort to help the homeless and neglected children of Calcutta." Subsequent winners have included Billy Graham (1982), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1983), Charles Colson (1993), Paul Davies (1995), Bill Bright (1996), Freeman Dyson (2000), and Arthur Peacocke (2001).

This year its name became the Templeton Prize for Progress in Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities.

Related Elsewhere

The official Website for the Templeton Prize includes an extensive press release and bio on 2002 winner, John Polkinghorne.

Polkinghorne's own Website has a wealth of information and resources. See Christianbook.com for books by Polkinghorne.

News coverage includes:

Cambridge priest wins Templeton Prize — The Washington Times (March 15, 2002)

Priest, Once Physicist, Wins $1 Million Religion Prize — The New York Times (March 15, 2002)

Scientist wins religion prize — The Guardian (March 15, 2002)

British physicist wins religious prize — BBC (March 14, 2002)

In May 1998, John Polkinghorne visited Eastern Nazarene College, where he was interviewed by professors Karl Giberson and Donald Yerxa and ENC's president, Kent Hill for Christianity Today sister publication Books & Culture.

Other interviews with Polkinghorne include:

Divine Action: An Interview with John Polkinghorne — Cross Currents (Spring 1998)

A collection of video files — Meta Library.net

For more coverage of science and religion, see Books & Culture'sThe Science Pages and Christianity Today's Science archive.

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May 21 2002, Vol. 46, No. 6

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