The Individuation of God: Integrating Science and Religion

Peter B. Todd argues for the integration of science and religion to form a new paradigm for the third millennium. He counters both the arguments made by fundamentalist Christians against science and the rejection of religion by the New Atheists, in particular Richard Dawkins and his followers. Drawing on the work of scientists, psychologists, philosophers, and theologians, Todd challenges the materialistic reductionism of our age and offers an alternative grounded in the visionary work taking place in a wide array of disciplines.

"Kudos to Peter B. Todd for this masterful contribution which will undoubtedly advance the dialogue between the scientific disciplines and theology. Drawing upon the work of scientific thinkers such as Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Huxley, Pauli, Einstein, Pribram, and Bohm on the one hand and theologians such as Teilhard de Chardin and Hans Küng on the other, Todd asserts that Dawkins' "God delusion" refers to a passé, naïve conception of an anthropomorphic God who created a pre-Copernican clockwork universe. By contrast, Todd points the way to a scientifically illuminated theology. He pulls from such diverse fields as neuropsychoanalysis, quantum physics, Jungian thought, and transpersonal psychology to develop a higher-order understanding of evolution that embraces the complementarity of mind and matter and is bound by neither time nor space. It is a vision of evolution that honors consciousness, the archetypal, and the numinous as fundamental. It is difficult to do full justice to the philosophical sophistication and precision Todd brings to this subject. Readers should brace themselves for an intellectually challenging and exciting journey foreshadowing a paradigm shift in which the conceptual boundaries between science, theology, and psyche are smashed."
> "This book is the work of a religious thinker and an experienced psychologist who has immersed himself in the writings of Carl Jung and sciences of our age. This is not a theological book; rather, it is an expression of depth psychology, of divine experience, what Todd calls an "epiphany to the human consciousness . . . a God from within evolving matter itself," where matter matters and God is an expression of the human mind. Todd helps us engage with our experience of God as the unconscious archetype. A first-class example of what Jung spent most of his life doing, namely, restoring meaning to symbols as expressions of the human condition, it is as erudite as it is joyous, in short, a work of love and purpose."
> "Science and religion are still viewed as enemies by the popular mind, but as Peter Todd eloquently shows, the gap between them is rapidly closing. Todd writes clearly and persuasively with considerable knowledge of both camps. Jung was intent on reconciling science and religion through psychology, a project which met with widespread misunderstanding. Todd throws light on this endeavor and shows us the one world that can be glimpsed beyond the separate modalities of faith and reason. The Individuation of God represents a significant cultural fusion of scientific research and religious vision."
> Peter B. Todd has been a research psychologist at the Neuropsychiatric Institute Sydney, a member of the Biopsychosocial AIDS Project at the University of California, a consultant in the department of immunology at St. Vincent's Hospital, and a research coordinator at the Albion Street AIDS Clinic Sydney. His papers have appeared in the British Journal of Medical Psychology, the Griffith Review, and the interdisciplinary journal Mind and Matter. He is currently a psychoanalytic psychologist in private practice in Sydney, Australia.