God's Action in Nature's World

God's Action in Nature's World
Author: Nathan Hallanger
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317126246

In 1981 Robert John Russell founded what would become the leading center of research at the interface of science and religion, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. Throughout its twenty-five year history, CTNS under Russell's leadership has continued to guide and further the dialogue between science and theology. Russell has been an articulate spokesperson in calling for "creative mutual interaction" between the two fields. God's Action in Nature's World brings together sixteen internationally-recognized scholars to assess Robert Russell's impact on the discipline of science and religion. Focusing on three areas of Russell's work - methodology, cosmology, and divine action in quantum physics - this book celebrates Robert John Russell's contribution to the interdisciplinary engagement between the natural sciences and theology.

God's Action in the World

God's Action in the World
Author: Marek Slomka
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2021-04-22
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350180408

The problem of God's action in the world is at the heart of debates today on the relationship between science and religion. By analysing the issue through the lens of analytic philosophy, Marek Slomka reveals how philosophy can successfully bridge science and theology to bring greater clarity to divine action. This book identifies essential aspects from various branches of theism, starting with traditional Thomistic approaches, through to their modified forms such as Molinism and contemporary varieties such as free-will theism and probabilistic theism. Analysing crucial elements of God's nature including omnipotence, omniscience, his relation to time and the tension between immanence and transcendence, Slomka reveals the difficulties in proposing a single conception of God through one theistic tradition. Instead of simplistically juxtaposing particular theistic trends, he highlights the value of pluralistic insights that also draw on important scientific theories, including Darwin's evolution, quantum mechanics and cosmology. By taking a renewed stance on theism that takes into account modern scientific knowledge, Slomka argues for a new presentation of the problem of God's action in the world.

Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature

Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature
Author: Jeffrey Koperski
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2019-11-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 042964275X

A longstanding question at the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology is how God might act, or not, when governing the universe. Many believe that determinism would prevent God from acting at all, since to do so would require violating the laws of nature. However, when a robust view of these laws is coupled with the kind of determinism now used in dynamics, a new model of divine action emerges. This book presents a new approach to divine action beyond the current focus on quantum mechanics and esoteric gaps in the causal order. It bases this approach on two general points. First, that there are laws of nature is not merely a metaphor. Second, laws and physical determinism are now understood in mathematically precise ways that have important implications for metaphysics. The explication of these two claims shows not only that nonviolationist divine action is possible, but there is considerably more freedom available for God to act than current models allow. By bringing a philosophical perspective to an issue often dominated by theologians and scientists, this text redresses an imbalance in the discussion around divine action. It will, therefore, be of keen interest to scholars of Philosophy and Religion, the Philosophy of Science, and Theology.

Philosophy, Science and Divine Action

Philosophy, Science and Divine Action
Author: Fount LeRon Shults
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2009
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9004177876

One of the most important and controversial themes in the contemporary dialogue among scientists and Christian theologians is the issue of "divine action" in the world. This volume brings together contributions from leading scholars on this topic, which emerged out of the Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action project, co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Center for Theology and Natural Science. This multi-year collaboration involved over 50 authors meeting at five international conferences. The essays collected here demonstrate the pervasive role of philosophy in this dialogue.

Divine Disorder and the Rescue of God

Divine Disorder and the Rescue of God
Author: Mark Corner
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2024-02-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666750514

Divine Disorder and the Rescue of God is based on the idea that a kenotic approach is essential to a viable theology. It is deeply influenced by the way such an approach influenced the writings of Donald MacKinnon. Part I argues that God forces us to live in a state of uncertainty, even about God’s existence. However compelling the sense of God’s presence may be, religious experience cannot take that uncertainty away. We have to understand what sort of God would want to impose upon us the disorder of uncertainty. Part II explores this further in terms of God’s willingness to give a degree of independence to the created order, while Part III compares the instability of the created order with that of the moral order. By giving human beings freedom, God opens up the possibility of failure, including that of God. The doctrine of the fall expresses the impossibility of giving human beings autonomy without risking disaster. In Parts IV and V the book looks more closely at the nature of this God who embraces risk, suffering, and even failure. Who is the deity behind this divine disorder? The focus from a Christian perspective is upon the risk, suffering, and failure displayed in the life of Christ. Jesus is drawn into something that it is beyond him to fathom—hence the troubled, uncertain character of his own life. But from a kenotic perspective, even a life marked by failure can be the focal point of God’s self-revelation.

Transcendence and Spatiality of the Triune Creator

Transcendence and Spatiality of the Triune Creator
Author: Chan Ho Park
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2005
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9783039108442

Since Augustine many philosophers and theologians have discussed the relation of God to time, whereas the relation between God and space has been rarely discussed. This book deals with the relationship of God to space. Divine transcendence is one important aspect of the Christian God. However, God is also immanent in the world of space and time. The author investigates the concept of divine spatiality and presents case studies of three modern theologians: Torrance, Pannenberg and Moltmann. He also analyses divine spatiality by using Dyrness's three categories: relationship, agency and embodiment.

Rewired

Rewired
Author: Paul N. Markham
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2007-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630879290

Rewired begins with the claim that contemporary views of Christian spirituality, particularly in the American evangelical tradition, concentrate too exclusively on the interior and individual nature of spiritual experience. Paul Markham argues that a reexamination of the doctrine of religious conversion is needed within American evangelicalism and finds resources for such a model in the Wesleyan theological tradition and from philosophical and scientific insights into a "nonreductive physicalist" view of human nature. In considering "data" from theology and science, this book represents an integrated work in science and religion.

All Things Wise and Wonderful

All Things Wise and Wonderful
Author: E. Janet Warren
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2021-01-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 172529205X

The Covid-19 pandemic provoked many questions. It is human nature to want to know how and why things happen. The sovereign God has created a beautiful, intricate world in which multiple factors interact to cause an event. We are called to properly understand creation, but often fail because we tend to be lazy, fearful, and self-serving. We make judgments based on (often incorrect) assumptions about cause-and-effect relations, and we seek reassuring explanations for both trivial and serious events. Christians have the added complication of figuring out God's role in making things happen. All Things Wise and Wonderful examines what the Bible and Christian theology say about cause and effect, how science views causation in the world, and how human mind-brains judge causation. Using illustrations from everyday life, it offers guidance for Christians to think and act wisely with respect to how and why things happen in creation.