God and Nature: A Theologian and a Scientist Conversing on the Divine Promise of Possibility

Description

The current religion and science dialogue begs for greater clarity on the relation of God to nature. In God and Nature two scholars who embrace contemporary insights from science and religion explore the complexities of this debate. As the narrative unfolds, classical and contemporary thinkers are engaged as discussion partners in articulating a philosophical theology of nature. Conceptual pairs, in which two concepts play off of each other, provide the structure for each of the seven chapters, with usually the first concept being more scientific in character and the second more religious in tone. These pairs of concepts-from chronology and creation to creativity and creator-help to thematize and structure the progressing narrative. Within each chapter the two concepts are first investigated independently, then interdependently, and finally in relation to the divine. At the story's completion nature has emerged as alive with possibility that is as alluring as the actuality it evokes. Envisioned is a divine Creator who works in and through the possibility of creation to lure it into fuller manifestations via creative transformation.

Curtis L. Thompson is Professor of Religion at Thiel College, PA, USA. He is co-author of Science and Our Global Heritage: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Sustainable Development (New Horizons, 1996), Between Hegel and Kierkegaard (Oxford University Press, 1997), author of Expecting and Exposing God: Biblical Theology for a Late Modern Age (New Horizons, 1998), and co-editor of God, Suffering, and Evil (Fortress Press, 2000). He is past President of the Eastern-International Region of the American Academy of Religion (1996-2000). Joyce M. Cuff is Professor of Biology and Paul M. Rike Professor of Life Sciences at Thiel College, PA, USA. She is the author of numerous articles in molecular biology and in science and religion. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and is past Fulbright Professor, Department of Botany, Applied Microbiology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

"Cuff and Thompson, drawing on more than twenty-five years of close collaborative work, have produced a beautifully integrated book characterized by cosmic sweep and featuring exceptionally rich detail in theme and source. This philosophical theology of nature, pondering deeply emergence as viewed in relation to chaos and complexity theory, proposes a God who promises possibility to the .evolving creation. The constructive argument, while appreciating the contributions of pantheism and panentheism, programmatically articulates a pantransentheism of the Spirit in which the transformational praxis of love marks the faithful co-creator." - Paul Sponheim, Professor Emeritus, Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary, USA. "This is a courageous and stimulating book, and it is, at least in part, stimulating, because it is courageous! Its major argument is rooted in an ongoing and literarily reproduced conversation between two authors from both a scientific and a theological background - authors who do not only understand their respective craft very well, but are also capable of taking their readers on a stylistically accessible, methodically reflected and thematically exciting journey into hitherto unknown territory of research. Led by and persuasively arguing for the belief that creativity and transformation within an ever emerging reality cannot be fully grasped without taking into account "the divine promise of possibility", the authors refuse to give in to the currently dominant trends of naturalistic reductionism. Instead they dare to freely and competently speak out in favor of a nonreductive science of nature and its promises for a "theological naturalism". Highly recommended, both for scientists, philosophers and theologians!" Dr. Heiko Schulz, Department of Protestant Theology, Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt, Germany. "This book is encyclopedic in its range of topics. In the early chapters the results of recent research in a wide range of natural sciences from particle physics to ecosystems are explained in relatively plain language. The later chapters offer a theoretical frame of reference for interpreting the scientific data through insights about the God-world relationship from a long list of Western philosophers and theologians. One could question, of course, whether the philosophical notion of religious naturalism is fully compatible with the Biblical understanding of the God-world relationship. But Cuff and Thompson are in any case to be praised for their claim that cooperation and "consilience" (creativity) are just as important as competition and natural selection for understanding the evolutionary process and the way in which a Creative/Creator God over time brings it to fruition." -Joseph A. Bracken, S.J., Emeritus Professor of Theology, Xavier University, USA "Who hasn't experienced awe and wonder in the face of the stars and planets, plants and animals? Could it be that we and all that exists are wrapped within God, a part of the divine experience? Cuff and Thompson serve as philosophical guides through the best of contemporary science and religious reflection, inviting their readers to participate in the open-ended adventure of becoming." - Philip Clayton, Dean, Claremont School of Theology and author of Adventures in the Spirit