Sir Isaac Newton is considered by many to be the greatest scientist who ever lived. So esteemed is he, in fact, that the 18th century poet Alexander Pope wrote a famous couplet in his honor: "Nature and Nature's Laws lay hid in Night/ God said Let Newton Be! And all was Light."

Pope's breezy assertion that God needed scientists to explain the mysteries of His creation is, to say the least, not a viewpoint cherished by most theologians. Indeed, history abounds with clashes between clergy and laboratory ranging from the theories of Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin, down to today's imbroglios over genetic engineering or stem cell research. Though a full "truce" may never be officially declared, an encouraging step was taken this past August, when a group of 80 scientists and religious scholars from around the world gathered in Granada, Spain to found the International Society of Science and Religion (ISSR).

Reached by telephone recently at his office in Cambridge University, Dr. John Polkinghorne, the ISSR's newly elected President and the 2002 Templeton Prize Laureate, offered his thoughts both on the launch of this important new society and what he hopes it will accomplish in the near future

"First of all, the location for our inaugural meeting was carefully chosen. For centuries, Granada and its magnificent palace, The Alhambra, were known around the world as places where many religions and different branches of knowledge could safely gather for study," he said. "It is also midway between Europe and Africa, so it is geographically central as well."

Inspired by Granada's tradition of cooperation, Dr. Polkinghorne says that members of the ISSR are already hard at work, shedding light — and, doubtless, some heat — on nature and nature's laws as they are understood at the dawn of the third millennium. The main topics currently under debate are Cosmology (including the "Big Bang" theory), Evolutionary biology (and how this relates to human progress); Genetics (with related issues of cloning and the Human Genome Project) and Neuroscience (which calls into question whether the brain "determines" what makes us uniquely human.)

"All faith traditions believe in a sacred reality, but how does it relate to day-to-day, unfolding reality? Science can be an important meeting ground for this question, because Science is global," said Dr. Polkinghorne. "Go to India, or Japan, and you'll see essentially the same science is everywhere agreed upon."

He is quick to add, however, that although science may have a unity of truth, there are many truths. "When I talk with biologists, I don't just learn about biology, but I always see that biologists see the world differently than someone like me, a physicist," he observed. "Physicists tend to be struck by the rational beauty of the world. Whereas, biologists see a much messier world of disease and death, with attendant questions of parasitism and extinction. This, in itself, is quite illuminating."

Dr. Polkinghorne also noted that conflicts between religion and science are sometimes regional in nature. Evolution versus Creationism, for example, is very much a concern in North America, but not an agonizing problem to the rest of the world.

"This is a puzzling matter, as is the fact that different faith traditions use different languages," he elaborated. "For instance, adherents to the Abrahamic faith traditions [Islam, Judaism and Christianity] like to talk about Providence. This is not a concept, or word, that has any meaning to Eastern Faiths. So, understanding how different people talk about their religious beliefs is very high on our agenda."

Many who attended the Granada conference see the ISSR's founding as emblematic of a détente between scientists and theologians that has been steadily developing for the past three decades, since the publication of Ian Barbour's book, Issues in Science and Religion (Harper & Row) in 1965. This is hailed as the first systematic text written by somebody equally familiar with both scientific and theological discourse.

"Science and theology serve different roles in human life," said Mr. Barbour, now a retired professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. "Encouraging dialogue doesn't presuppose they are the same, but that they can fruitfully engage."

"True, too, I believe scientists are now realizing that Science raises ethical questions it can't necessarily answer, whether it's in the areas of genetic engineering or artificial intelligence," Mr. Barbour continued. "Scientists are a bit humbled when they consider that some of the world's gravest problems were created by science, such as environmental issues or weapons of mass destruction."

Not surprisingly, then, many "hot button" subjects currently under debate within the Society are those which raise such ethical concerns.

"One of the biggest relates to physics, and whether the path of the electron is determinate or indeterminate," said Ted Peters, Professor of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. "Physicists believe that what happens at the electron level is the most basic structure of physical reality. If there is indeterminacy at that level, does this leave room for a transcendent god to be active or explain why we, as humans, have personal freedom?"

Agreeing with Mr. Peters is Niels Gregersen, a Research Professor in Theology and Science at Aarhus University in Denmark who is currently a visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary.

"We are now witnessing a dematerialization of the concept of matter. Matter is no longer this solid stuff, that we've tended to think of as bricks," he said. "The demolition of this began with relativity theory, then quantum physics. What we are beginning to see now is how information, meaning the patterning of matter, is central to the evolution of the universe."

"What's most encouraging about the ISSR, is that its members are all premier scientists and theologians who know you have to go beyond your own field to reach a deeper insight," Mr. Gregersen went on to say. "If I, as a theologian, thought all I needed to do is read The Bible all day, this would be too narrow a point of view. The same would be true of a physicist who said all learning about reality could be found in the physical sciences. I think, then, what will emerge is a trans-disciplinary discussion."

In the months ahead, much of this dialogue will take place over the Internet. A soon-to-be-operational website for the International Society of Science and Religion will have two main components. First, will be a public part where lectures, papers, or ideas of society members can be made available to the general reader. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there will be a "chat room," accessible only to ISSR members via a private password.

"This is key," Polkinghorne said, since given the historical tradition of rancor between scientists and theologians, discourse in this chat room may be fractious and, so, not something that merits immediate publicity. "We want a place where members of the society can exchange thoughts frankly without being quoted. If faiths are to talk to each other, it must be serious, but not threatening."

To hope a unanimous agreement can be reached on anything is to miss the point altogether of why the ISSR was founded in the first place. Global understanding is the goal, members agree, not a single, one-size-fits-all opinion.

"I believe that the religious perspectives represented by the ISSR should cooperate in understanding the world, but they should compete in understanding reality," concluded Niels Gregersen. "A friendly competition will produce mutual learning, for disagreements usually give way to deeper understanding."

Stephen Henderson, a writer based in New York City, contributes frequently to the New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, Town & Country, and Religion News Service, as well as other publications.