Creator God, Evolving World
Cynthia Crysdale and Neil Ormerod here present a robust theology of God in light of supposed tensions between Christian belief and evolutionary science. A truly intelligent and accessible defense of the compatibility of classical theism with the evolutionary worldview, this volume is an important and provocative contribution to the debate. Creator God, Evolving World clarifies a number of confused assumptions in an effort to redeem chance as an intelligible force interacting with stable patterns in nature.
By clarifying terms often used imprecisely in both scientific and theological discourse, the authors make the case that the role of chance in evolution neither mitigates God's radical otherness from creation nor challenges the efficacy of God's providence in the world. Finally, this view of God and the evolving world yields implications for our understanding of human action. Moral agency, even God's work of redemption, unfolds according to an ethic of risk rather than by the quick fix of determinative control.
By clarifying terms often used imprecisely in both scientific and theological discourse, the authors make the case that the role of chance in evolution neither mitigates God's radical otherness from creation nor challenges the efficacy of God's providence in the world. Finally, this view of God and the evolving world yields implications for our understanding of human action. Moral agency, even God's work of redemption, unfolds according to an ethic of risk rather than by the quick fix of determinative control.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9780800698775
- eBook ISBN 9781451426434
- Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5
- Pages 184
- Publication Date January 1, 2013
Endorsements
"This scientifically informed work makes a major contribution to contemporary theological understanding of evolution. Relying especially on important ideas of Bernard Lonergan, it skillfully debunks both atheistic and religious distortions of Darwin's science."
—John F. Haught
Georgetown University
"In this lively and clearly written book, the authors present a clear case for the compatibility of cosmological and evolutionary science and classic belief in God as Creator. Crysdale and Ormerod achieve the complex task of building up insights from physics, biology, metaphysics, theology and ethics in a way that makes it much more manageable for the general reader. Above all this is a book that helps challenge stereotypes set up in the clash between science and Christian religion and allows for a more nuanced classically informed theology to emerge."
—Celia Deane-Drummond
University of Notre Dame
—John F. Haught
Georgetown University
"In this lively and clearly written book, the authors present a clear case for the compatibility of cosmological and evolutionary science and classic belief in God as Creator. Crysdale and Ormerod achieve the complex task of building up insights from physics, biology, metaphysics, theology and ethics in a way that makes it much more manageable for the general reader. Above all this is a book that helps challenge stereotypes set up in the clash between science and Christian religion and allows for a more nuanced classically informed theology to emerge."
—Celia Deane-Drummond
University of Notre Dame