Knowing the Unknowable.. Science and the Religions on God and the Universe

This monograph examines how scientific knowledge and religious traditions intersect in their approaches to understanding God and the cosmos. Bowker explores the epistemological boundaries between scientific inquiry and religious knowledge, particularly focusing on how different religious traditions conceptualize the relationship between empirical investigation and divine reality. The work addresses a fundamental tension in contemporary thought: whether scientific advancement necessarily conflicts with religious belief, or whether these domains of knowledge can be understood as complementary approaches to ultimate questions.

Employing a comparative-religious methodology, Bowker analyzes how major world religions have historically engaged with cosmological questions and how they respond to modern scientific discoveries. Rather than privileging one tradition, the analysis examines Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish perspectives on the compatibility between scientific knowledge and religious understanding. The work particularly investigates how each tradition handles apparent contradictions between scriptural accounts of creation and scientific cosmology, revealing diverse theological strategies for maintaining coherence between revealed knowledge and empirical discovery.

Central to Bowker's analysis is the cumulative-case argument that religious traditions possess sophisticated intellectual resources for engaging scientific knowledge without abandoning core theological commitments. He demonstrates how prophecy arguments within various traditions have been reinterpreted in light of scientific advancement, showing that religious thought exhibits greater flexibility than critics often acknowledge. The work challenges both scientific materialism that dismisses religious knowledge as primitive and religious fundamentalism that rejects scientific findings as threatening to faith.

The monograph's significance lies in its nuanced treatment of the science-religion dialogue, moving beyond simplistic conflict narratives. Bowker argues that the apparent unknowability referenced in the title need not lead to intellectual resignation but can instead motivate both scientific inquiry and religious reflection. His comparative approach reveals that different religious traditions offer distinct epistemological frameworks for understanding the limits of human knowledge about ultimate reality. The work contributes to contemporary debates by demonstrating that neither pure scientific reductionism nor anti-scientific religiosity adequately addresses humanity's quest to understand existence. Instead, Bowker suggests that acknowledging the boundaries of different knowledge systems while appreciating their respective insights offers a more intellectually honest approach to questions about God and the universe.