Making Sense of the World's Biggest Idea
There is a growing awareness that neither the scientific worldview nor traditional religions are sufficient as guides to creating a better future for humanity and the Earth. This is reflected in the number of books that are seeking a creative synthesis of the scientific and spiritual approaches to knowledge, and The Thoughtful Guide to God is another contribution to this field.

In his Preface, the author, Howard Jones, describes his aim as 'to try to reconcile world-views derived rationally from science and philosophy with those originating from the mystical insight to develop a coherent approach to the concept of the divine... This treatment presents empirical evidence and rational argument in an attempt to validate the concept of a divine spiritual field.... My hope is that the contents of this book may encourage and enable others to embrace a more spiritual outlook on life as well as... (providing) a unifying link between science and religion, between rationalism and revelation, and even, with a will, between the disparate notions of the divine that have arisen in the various religions of the world.' (p.vii)

Elsewhere, he states that the philosophy that inspired the book is 'that mystical experiences should not at least conflict with rationality.' (p.224) And amongst his concluding remarks, Jones writes: 'My purpose (is) to do something tiny but positive for the global environment while we still have one, and people able to appreciate it.' (p.336)

Dr Jones is a physical scientist, and yet chose to approach his subject largely from a religious and spiritual perspective, with detailed discussion of science left to the last major chapter. The first, and longest, chapter surveys the beliefs and evolution of the biblical religions as revealed by their various scriptures from ancient Egypt, Greece and paganism, through Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to the Mormons, Adventists and Christian Scientists. This is followed by a review of the contribution of ancient Greek and medieval Jewish, Christian and Islamic philosophers, and the influence of early scientific thought. The central core of the book is devoted to an exploration of the nature of soul, its individual manifestation, and the concept of Universal Spirit or Communal Soul. In these chapters, frequent reference is made to the ideas of eastern religions, and yet the focus of the book remains primarily western and biblical. Finally comes an exploration of the nature of mind and soul through the lens of science - primarily quantum physics.

Jones makes a clear distinction between mind and soul. Mind 'refers to mental capability - faculties that, to some extent at least, can be objectively and quantitatively measured.' Soul, on the other hand, 'is quite simply the spiritual component of humanity, singly or collectively. It is that which gives us an awareness of the numinous - It gives us the sense of wonder at being alive - and the feeling of rapture at the many beautiful creations wrought by our fellow humans - It inspires the sense of mystery and awe as to the source and purpose of it all - soul is what many call our sixth sense.'

The individual soul is seen as manifesting in the aesthetic sense, inspired creativity, spiritual enlightenment, the ability to love, and psychic phenomena. The last of these is treated at some length because they provide examples of soul that are amenable to scientific investigation. Included here are telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychokinesis, spiritual healing, near-death experiences and reincarnation.

Chapter 7 summarises the thoughts of many theologians, philosophers, poets and scientists through the ages about the existence and nature of a spiritual realm beyond the reach of the five senses. This realm may be seen as constituting a Universal Soul that is embodied in all creation, or a spiritual field in which humanity and the divine interact. 'There is surely no more unifying and holistic concept to make us aware that our every action is of significance to all our fellow creatures, today and forever.' (p.276)

Finally, Chapter 8 takes brief looks at the scientific method, and arguments about divine Design or Purpose underlying the creation and evolution of the cosmos. From these, Jones concludes that 'Reason suggests that too many factors have cohered É for the evolution of humankind to be the result of chance.' The discussion then dives into the challenging waters of the relationship between mind, soul and quantum physics. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the aims of the book, Jones draws the conclusion that the qualities of soul 'are produced by mind interacting with what is known spiritually as the universal spiritual field, the akashic field or the divine, or what is described scientifically as the zero point field.' (p.328)

How well does Howard Jones succeed in his aims? He makes it abundantly clear that fundamentalism of any brand is rationally untenable; that religious beliefs, scriptures and practices, indeed the very concept of God, are not absolute truths but human constructs which change and evolve over time in response to their cultural and historical context. And he has amassed an impressively broad and extensive body of evidence from both science and religion to support his thesis that reason, science and religion are not mutually incompatible. In these respects it is a thorough academic survey.

However, this strength is also the weakness of the book and of the academic approach to the field in general. For readers not well versed in the particular subjects, it often gives too brief a summary to enable true understanding, and at times I experienced confusion due to the sheer number of ideas and sources mentioned. Also, whilst the subject is often about spiritual experience and inspiration, the presentation is relentlessly rational and intellectual Ð deliberately so as the aims of the book show. These are challenges faced by all who venture into this field. In my own excursion (The Science of Oneness: A worldview for the twenty-first century) I consciously decided to focus on explanation and interpretation rather than academically rigorous sourcing; and on balancing intellectual and experiential approaches to knowledge. As a result, at least one reader has taken me to task for relying too much on secondary sources, and another found the meditations and reflections a pointless waste of space.

The Thoughtful Guide to God clearly delineates the scope of the field as an introductory guide to further reading.

Dr Malcolm Hollick is author of The Science of Oneness: A worldview for the twenty-first century, joint winner of the SMN book prize for 2006.