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Cosmology: From Alpha to Omega
In ten provocative chapters Russell explores such topics Contingency of Creation and Big Bang Cosmology; Does'The God Who Acts' Really Act?; New Approaches to DivineAction In Light of Contemporary Science; Entropy and Role of Thermodynamics in the Ambiguity of Good andEvil in Nature; The Transfiguration of the A FreshExploration of the Symbol of a Cosmic Christ; and more.
356 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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November 3, 2012
In addition to being a Professor of Theology and Science, and the founding director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), Robert John Russell was an active participant in the Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action Program sponsored by the CTNS and the Vatican Observatory. Many of the footnotes in this book are references to books and papers from that program.
This book was written for an academic audience and therefore was not an easy read for a layman like me, but parts of it definitely were interesting and thought-provoking. One of his major themes is that not only does science impact on theology (theologians integrating an old earth and some form of evolution into our Christian faith) but that theology has had and could continue to have an impact on science, e.g., scientific programs to attempt to investigate what the transfiguration of Jesus Christ at the resurrection might enable us to say about the transfiguration of the universe into the New Creation (vs. the long-term future of the universe predicted by the various Big Bang theories: freeze or fry). Russell calls this approach his Creative Mutual Interaction (CMI) model for theology and science. He defines five ways in which science can interact with theology and three ways in which theology can interact with science.
Russell discusses general providence and special providence, and views special providence as "consisting in the objective acts of God in nature and history to which we respond through faith and we can interpret these acts in a non-interventionist manner consistent with the natural sciences." (p. 112) He makes a case for a quantum mechanics-based approach to non-interventionist objective divine action (QM-NOIDA) and applies it to biological evolution. He also discusses a number of related topics, including infinity, time, entropy, chaos, chance, the soul, general and special relativity, the problem of evil, etc. On each topic, Russell reviews and critiques the positions of other scientists, philosophers and theologians, then states and defends his own view.
Getting through this book was challenging for this layman, but worth the effort because Russell presented a number of new ways of looking at the science-theology debate.
This book was written for an academic audience and therefore was not an easy read for a layman like me, but parts of it definitely were interesting and thought-provoking. One of his major themes is that not only does science impact on theology (theologians integrating an old earth and some form of evolution into our Christian faith) but that theology has had and could continue to have an impact on science, e.g., scientific programs to attempt to investigate what the transfiguration of Jesus Christ at the resurrection might enable us to say about the transfiguration of the universe into the New Creation (vs. the long-term future of the universe predicted by the various Big Bang theories: freeze or fry). Russell calls this approach his Creative Mutual Interaction (CMI) model for theology and science. He defines five ways in which science can interact with theology and three ways in which theology can interact with science.
Russell discusses general providence and special providence, and views special providence as "consisting in the objective acts of God in nature and history to which we respond through faith and we can interpret these acts in a non-interventionist manner consistent with the natural sciences." (p. 112) He makes a case for a quantum mechanics-based approach to non-interventionist objective divine action (QM-NOIDA) and applies it to biological evolution. He also discusses a number of related topics, including infinity, time, entropy, chaos, chance, the soul, general and special relativity, the problem of evil, etc. On each topic, Russell reviews and critiques the positions of other scientists, philosophers and theologians, then states and defends his own view.
Getting through this book was challenging for this layman, but worth the effort because Russell presented a number of new ways of looking at the science-theology debate.
Displaying 1 of 1 review