The Reverend Canon Dr. John Charlton Polkinghorne, renowned physicist and Anglican priest died on 9 March 2021 In Cambridge at the age of 90.

Polkinghorne was a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge until 1979, when he resigned the prestigious position to pursue theological studies, entering the priesthood in 1982. An elegant and prolific writer, he authored over 30 books, exploring in rigorous depth the relationship between the discoveries of modern physics and the doctrines of his Christian faith.

He received the Templeton Prize in 2002 in recognition of his modern and compelling treatment of theology as a complement to natural science, which when viewed together offer what he called a “binocular” vision of the truth.

John Polkinghorne was a good friend of St. Andrew’s. Two of his books, “The Faith of a Physicist” and “Science and Theology” were published in Russian by St. Andrew’s Publishing House.