John Polkinghorne

John Polkinghorne's Opinions

God Must God exist to explain how the universe began? Agree ...you have a choice. You can either say, "Well, that's just the way it is; we're here because we're here." That seems to me unduly intellectually supine. I would like to understand why the world is the way it is. Shortcutting some detailed argument, I would say that for me the most satisfying insight is that the world is indeed not 'any old world,' but a creation whose given law and circumstance has been willed by its creator to be capable of fruitful process. Edit Pitches 06 Apr 1990    Source Does belief in God have a significant genetic component? Disagree The idea of a God gene goes against all my personal theological convictions. You can't cut faith down to the lowest common denominator of genetic survival. It shows the poverty of reductionist thinking. Edit Pitches 15 Nov 2004    Source

Science Do miracles happen? Agree If there are such things as miracles, they are rare, one-off events, which is exactly the sort of thing that science isn’t set up to talk about. So the problem of miracles is a theological problem. It’s a question of divine Consistency. God is not condemned never to do anything different, but when God does [so] it must be in a consonant, fitting relationship to things God has done before. Therefore I think that the easiest Christian miracle to believe in now is the resurrection of Jesus. Edit Pitches 29 Jan 2008    Source

Comparisons with Other Experts and Influencers

The similarity between John Polkinghorne and each expert and influencer is calculated by looking at how the same questions were answered. These figures are used to calculate conforming, nonconforming, and projected opinions. The accuracy of the analysis depends on John Polkinghorne's coverage, which grows with the number of their opinions entered into TakeOnIt.

Conforming Opinions

John Polkinghorne's conforming opinions are opinions that align with the group of experts and influencers John Polkinghorne typically agrees with.

Projected Opinions

John Polkinghorne's projected opinions are opinions John Polkinghorne is expected to have if their opinions align with the experts and influencers that they typically agree with.