Creation and the God of Abraham

Description

Creatio ex nihilo is a foundational doctrine in the Abrahamic faiths. It states that God created the world freely out of nothing - from no pre-existent matter, space or time. This teaching is central to classical accounts of divine action, free will, grace, theodicy, religious language, intercessory prayer and questions of divine temporality and, as such, the foundation of a scriptural God but also the transcendent Creator of all that is. This edited collection explores how we might now recover a place for this doctrine, and, with it, a consistent defence of the God of Abraham in philosophical, scientific and theological terms. The contributions span the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and cover a wide range of sources, including historical, philosophical, scientific and theological. As such, the book develops these perspectives to reveal the relevance of this idea within the modern world.

David Burrell is Professor of Ethics and Development at Uganda Martyrs University. His previous publications include Faith and Freedom (2005), Friendship and Ways to Truth (2000) and Deconstructing Theodicy (2008). Carlo Cogliati is Spalding Fellow in Comparative Religion at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. His research interests include modal theistic arguments in the three Abrahamic traditions, the theological significance of the notion of infinity, and analogy in theology and science. Janet Soskice is Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of Metaphor and Religious Language (1984), The Kindness of God (2008) and Sisters of Sinai (2009). William R. Stoeger is Staff Astrophysicist in the Vatican Observatory Research Group at the University of Arizona. He specializes in theoretical cosmology, gravitational physics, and interdisciplinary studies bridging the natural sciences, philosophy and theology.

Review of the hardback: 'This book is an example of inter-faith dialogue at its most constructive ... This collection is a magnificent achievement. It left me hoping for a thoroughgoing formulation of 'theology and science' which started from what this book lays before us. I venture that almost all we need for the renewal of that field could be found in this exceptional volume.' Church Times