TWO BOOKS, THE. The relationship between religion and science in the Christian West has often found expression in metaphors and models. Since the nineteenth century the strident "warfare model" has dominated interpretations of these different realms of human knowledge. However, a renaissance is occurring of a far more ancient metaphor, that of God's self-revelation through a pair of complementary books, the book of nature and the book of Scripture. Pope John Paul II proclaimed, "From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator (Wisdom 13:5). This is to recognize as a first stage of divine Revelation the marvelous book of nature, which, when read with the proper tools of human reason, can lead to knowledge of the Creator" (John Paul II, 1998, p. 19).

Origins of the Metaphor

The origins of the "two books" metaphor are embedded in the conviction of...