Toward a Theology of Scientific Endeavour
Toward a Theology of Scientific Endeavour

Author: Christopher B. Kaiser

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-02-27

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1351878565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Foundations of science are specific conditions of the cosmos, of human intelligence, of cultural beliefs, and of technological structures that make the pursuit of modern science possible. Each of the four foundations of scientific endeavour can be studied as a topic on its own. The concurrent study of all four together reveals several tensions and interconnections among them that point the way to a greater unification of faith and science. This book explores four foundations of scientific endeavour and investigates some of the paradoxes each of them raises. Kaiser shows that the resolution of these paradoxes inevitably leads us into theological discourse and raises new challenges for theological endeavour. In order to address these challenges, Kaiser draws on the wider resources of the Judeo-Christian tradition and argues for a refocusing of contemporary theology from the perspective of natural science.

Toward a Theology of Scientific Endeavour
Toward a Theology of Scientific Endeavour

Author: Professor Christopher B Kaiser

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2013-05-28

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1409477665

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Foundations of science are specific conditions of the cosmos, of human intelligence, of cultural beliefs, and of technological structures that make the pursuit of modern science possible. Each of the four foundations of scientific endeavour can be studied as a topic on its own. The concurrent study of all four together reveals several tensions and interconnections among them that point the way to a greater unification of faith and science. This book explores four foundations of scientific endeavour and investigates some of the paradoxes each of them raises. Kaiser shows that the resolution of these paradoxes inevitably leads us into theological discourse and raises new challenges for theological endeavour. In order to address these challenges, Kaiser draws on the wider resources of the Judeo-Christian tradition and argues for a refocusing of contemporary theology from the perspective of natural science.

Echoes of Coinherence
Echoes of Coinherence

Author: W. Ross Hastings

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2017-07-28

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1498240798

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book re-imagines the universe (and the scientific study of it) through the lens of a triune Creator, three persons of irreducible identity in a perichoretic or coinherent communion. It modestly proposes that Trinitarian theology, and especially the coinherent natures of the Son in the incarnation, provides the metaphysic or "theory of everything" that manifests itself in the subject matter of science. The presence of the image of the triune God in humanity and of traces of this God in the non-human creation are discussed, highlighting ontological resonances between God and creation (resonances between the being of God and his creation), such as goodness, immensity-yet-particularity, intelligibility, agency, relationality, and beauty. This Trinitarian reality suggests there should be a similarity also with respect to how we know in theology and science (critical realism), something reflected in the history of ideas in each. These resonances lead to the conclusion that the disciplines of theology and science are, in fact, coinherent, not conflicted. This involves recognition of both the mutuality of these vocations and also, importantly, their particularity. Science, its own distinct guild, yet finds its place ensconced within an encyclopedic theology, and subject to first-order, credal theology.

Reconstructing a Christian Theology of Nature
Reconstructing a Christian Theology of Nature

Author: Revd Dr Anna Case-Winters

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2013-05-28

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1409477800

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the present ecological crisis, it is imperative that human beings reconsider their place within nature and find new, more responsible and sustainable ways of living. Assumptions about the nature of God, the world, and the human being, shape our thinking and, consequently, our acting. Some have charged that the Christian tradition has been more a hindrance than a help because its theology of nature has unwittingly legitimated the exploitation of nature. This book takes the current criticism of Christian tradition to heart and invites a reconsideration of the problematic elements: its desacralization of nature; its preoccupation with the human being to the neglect of the rest of nature; its dualisms and elevation of the spiritual over material reality, and its habit of ignoring or resisting scientific understandings of the natural world. Anna Case-Winters argues that Christian tradition has a more viable theology of nature to offer. She takes a look at some particulars in Christian tradition as a way to illustrate the undeniable problems and to uncover the untapped possibilities. In the process, she engages conversation partners that have been sharply critical and particularly insightful (feminist theology, process thought, and the religion and science dialogue). The criticisms and insights of these partners help to shape a proposal for a reconstructed theology of nature that can more effectively fund our struggle for the fate of the earth.

Providence and Science in a World of Contingency
Providence and Science in a World of Contingency

Author: Ignacio Silva

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1000437418

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Providence and Science in a World of Contingency offers a novel assessment of the contemporary debate over divine providential action and the natural sciences, suggesting a re-consideration of Thomas Aquinas’ metaphysical doctrine of providence coupled with his account of natural contingency. By looking at the history of debates over providence and nature, the volume provides a set of criteria to evaluate providential divine action models, challenging the underlying, theologically contentious assumptions of current discussions on divine providential action. Such assumptions include that God needs causally open spaces in the created world in order to act in it providentially, and the unfitting conclusion that, if this is the case, then God is assumed to act as another cause among causes. In response to these shortcomings, the book presents a comprehensive account of Aquinas’ metaphysics of natural causation, contingency, and their relation to divine providence. It offers a fresh and bold metaphysical narrative, based on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, which appreciates the relation between divine providence and natural contingency.

Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul
Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul

Author: Mark Graves

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1317095863

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Does science argue against the existence of the human soul? Many scientists and scholars believe the whole is more than the sum of the parts. This book uses information and systems theory to describe the "more" that does not reduce to the parts. One sees this in the synapses”or apparently empty gaps between the neurons in one's brain”where informative relationships give rise to human mind, culture, and spirituality. Drawing upon the disciplines of cognitive science, computer science, neuroscience, general systems theory, pragmatic philosophy, and Christian theology, Mark Graves reinterprets the traditional doctrine of the soul as form of the body to frame contemporary scientific study of the human soul.

Creation
Creation

Author: Fraser Watts

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-12-17

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0429872895

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Published in 1999. How can we reconcile assumptions about the lawfulness of the universe with provision for chance events? Do the ‘laws of nature’ indicate what absolutely must happen, or just what is most likely to happen? These are important questions for both science and theology, and are explored here in the first in-depth coverage of an important but neglected topic. Including perspectives from prestigious contributions, and published with the backing of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), Creation: Law and Probability employs the disciplines of history and philosophy, as well as cosmology, evolutionary biology, and neuroscience in a fascinating dialogue of faith traditions.

Creation
Creation

Author: Fraser N. Watts

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9780754658900

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This text arises from a conference of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) held in Boston in August 2004. Chapters include: 'Concepts of Law and Probability in Theology and Science', 'The Development of the Concept of Laws of Nature', 'Chance and Evolution' and 'God and Probability'.

The World in His Hands
The World in His Hands

Author: Christopher Lee Bolt

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-04-17

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 153263661X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the moment we wake until the time we go to sleep, we are bombarded by the benefits of science in the practical elements of everyday life. Electricity, lights, hot showers, breakfast cereals, clothing, cars, cell phones, roads, security systems, computers, communications, traffic lights, climate control, and entertainment are just a sampling of the many benefits of science. In addition to technological advances, medicine and agriculture progress with science as well. Even educational, political, and marketing strategists invoke science to substantiate their claims. Science dominates the collective Western mindset, and we regard it with the utmost respect. Yet society remains generally religious, even though science and religion are frequently thought of as being at odds with one another. How do we reconcile the two? Christians are taught to believe that God is in control of everything, including the natural elements. But how does God relate to physical laws? Is God in control of the world, or laws of nature? Could both views be correct? This book examines the Christian doctrine of divine providence and its implications for the laws of nature and the problem of induction before contrasting secular and Islamic approaches to these same topics.