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Cosmology in Theological Perspective: Understanding Our Place in the Universe
Olli-Pekka Vainio, a leading expert in science and theology, explores questions concerning the place and significance of humans in the cosmos. Vainio introduces cosmology from a "state of the question" perspective, examining the history of the idea in dialogue with C. S. Lewis. This work, which is related to a NASA-funded project on astrobiology, ties into the ongoing debate on the relationship between Christian theism and scientific worldview and shows what the stakes are for religion and theology in the rise of modern science.
224 pages, Paperback
Published July 17, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 6, 2022
My youth students would get a kick out of this.
3.5
Vainio is looking for plausible answers to speculative cosmological questions. But they’re questions many of us are asking, especially the ones concerning multiverse and aliens. This is an interesting book, and one that does a mostly good job in playful theological speculation, asking “what if?” questions and showing a way to wrestle with them.
The book felt a little sloppy, especially with the amount of block quotes Vainio uses. They wore me down by the second chapter. Overall though, it’s a decent book and will serve for a lot of conversation fodder, especially among my Marvel and Star Wars-obsessed youth students at church (though Vainio’s discussion is probably not quite accessible to them). If this gets them engaged in theology, then I say go for it.
3.5
Vainio is looking for plausible answers to speculative cosmological questions. But they’re questions many of us are asking, especially the ones concerning multiverse and aliens. This is an interesting book, and one that does a mostly good job in playful theological speculation, asking “what if?” questions and showing a way to wrestle with them.
The book felt a little sloppy, especially with the amount of block quotes Vainio uses. They wore me down by the second chapter. Overall though, it’s a decent book and will serve for a lot of conversation fodder, especially among my Marvel and Star Wars-obsessed youth students at church (though Vainio’s discussion is probably not quite accessible to them). If this gets them engaged in theology, then I say go for it.
November 8, 2018
Summary: Explores the place and significance of human beings in the cosmos, how this has been thought of through history, and how Christian theology might address contemporary questions raised about our place, the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, the size of the cosmos, drawing upon the approach of C.S. Lewis.
Anyone who has gazed up at the night sky, ancient or modern, has likely been filled with a sense of wonder, a sense of the vastness of the cosmos, and wondered about our place, and how we could possibly think ourselves of any significance before such vastness. Modern scientific discoveries of millions of galaxies, and the proposal of our universe being but one of many multiverses only multiplies the vastness. That leaves all human beings with many philosophical questions, and Christians with particular questions of how they make sense of the cosmos, the magnitude of it, and the possibilities of other life forms, and where God is in all this.
Olli-Pekka Vainio, who is working with NASA on a project on astrobiology, has thought deeply about cosmology and matters of faith and this book, drawing on the approach of C. S. Lewis. He writes of Lewis:
"In his essays, Lewis offered reasoned commentaries on our place in the cosmos that drew from the ancient Christian tradition, encountering head-on the contemporary challenges, which he often showed to be based on misunderstandings or superficial knowledge of history. He resisted the scientistic worldview as “all fact and no meaning,” that is to say, a worldview that tries to be too secure and is thereby paradoxically vacated of those things that really matter to us. By mixing elements from the contemporary and ancient cosmologies, he wished to underline the meaning that was lost, as “pure facts” had taken over the collective imagination. In a way, his science fiction was a project that tried to re-enchant the world after the disenchantment brought by scientism and crude materialism."
He describes this approach as bringing together three elements: an understanding of history, a coherence of knowledge, and intellectual virtue. Attempts at cosmology must be understood in historical context. Coherence of knowledge for the Christian consists in the canonical witness, the ecumenical tradition, and the ecumenical consensus. Intellectual virtue "includes values like honesty, open-mindedness, critical thinking, courage, and wisdom" without which we end up "in either relativism or dogmatism."
With this methodology in mind he begins by surveying ancient cosmologies including the Old Testament and those of Plato and Aristotle which influence the early church. He then turns to early Christian thinking, particularly that of Basil the Great and Saint Augustine, considering the philosophical and hermeneutical tools they used. He moves forward to debates surrounding the work of Galileo, Newton, and Darwin and develops observations on how to think, and not to think, in relating theology and scientific facts.
After these first three introductory chapters, he turns to contemporary questions. Chapter 4 considers the possibilities of multiple habitable planets and multiverses and how this might connect to Christian theism and proposes the interesting idea that a good Creator might create good things in abundance, or plenitude. Chapter 5 considers different understandings of the imago dei, and how that might be applied to alien life forms, artificial intelligences, and whether animals might in any sense share in the imago dei. Chapter 6 explores two possibilities: one that we are alone in the universe and two that there are other "alien" life forms. Vainio shows how Christian theism might accommodate either of these possibilities. Having considered the vast cosmos, chapter 7 asks why God did not create a human-sized cosmos and why there is so much empty space. Chapters 8 and 9 explore a number of questions about God--God's relation to such a vast creation and where God may be found, and the question of whether the Incarnation of Christ was a unique event that might apply for other worlds, or if Christ entered other worlds in other ways.
His concluding chapter returns to C. S. Lewis, and explores how Lewis related reason and imagination in formulating his ideas about cosmology, and how this approach might be helpful in our own day. Lewis did not see these in conflict, leading to extremes either of reducing things to "all facts and no meaning" or that faith is believing what we know is not true. Rather, the cosmic significance of our faith nurtures our desire to understand the cosmos more fully, and good scientific work only deepens our wonder and awe.
The value of this work is not to enunciate inflexible dogma concerning matters of cosmology but rather to explore the questions at the boundaries of our knowledge both of science and theology and to suggest that Christian theism has the resources to address various possibilities and coherent and imaginative responses to the questions we might ask. Vainio offers us careful theological and philosophical reasoning throughout (and an extensive bibliography), that identifies the different possibilities and their strengths and weaknesses of various proposals. I appreciate the combination of careful scholarship and epistemic humility in this work that creates a space for fertile discussions between scientists and theologians working together to make sense of the cosmos.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Anyone who has gazed up at the night sky, ancient or modern, has likely been filled with a sense of wonder, a sense of the vastness of the cosmos, and wondered about our place, and how we could possibly think ourselves of any significance before such vastness. Modern scientific discoveries of millions of galaxies, and the proposal of our universe being but one of many multiverses only multiplies the vastness. That leaves all human beings with many philosophical questions, and Christians with particular questions of how they make sense of the cosmos, the magnitude of it, and the possibilities of other life forms, and where God is in all this.
Olli-Pekka Vainio, who is working with NASA on a project on astrobiology, has thought deeply about cosmology and matters of faith and this book, drawing on the approach of C. S. Lewis. He writes of Lewis:
"In his essays, Lewis offered reasoned commentaries on our place in the cosmos that drew from the ancient Christian tradition, encountering head-on the contemporary challenges, which he often showed to be based on misunderstandings or superficial knowledge of history. He resisted the scientistic worldview as “all fact and no meaning,” that is to say, a worldview that tries to be too secure and is thereby paradoxically vacated of those things that really matter to us. By mixing elements from the contemporary and ancient cosmologies, he wished to underline the meaning that was lost, as “pure facts” had taken over the collective imagination. In a way, his science fiction was a project that tried to re-enchant the world after the disenchantment brought by scientism and crude materialism."
He describes this approach as bringing together three elements: an understanding of history, a coherence of knowledge, and intellectual virtue. Attempts at cosmology must be understood in historical context. Coherence of knowledge for the Christian consists in the canonical witness, the ecumenical tradition, and the ecumenical consensus. Intellectual virtue "includes values like honesty, open-mindedness, critical thinking, courage, and wisdom" without which we end up "in either relativism or dogmatism."
With this methodology in mind he begins by surveying ancient cosmologies including the Old Testament and those of Plato and Aristotle which influence the early church. He then turns to early Christian thinking, particularly that of Basil the Great and Saint Augustine, considering the philosophical and hermeneutical tools they used. He moves forward to debates surrounding the work of Galileo, Newton, and Darwin and develops observations on how to think, and not to think, in relating theology and scientific facts.
After these first three introductory chapters, he turns to contemporary questions. Chapter 4 considers the possibilities of multiple habitable planets and multiverses and how this might connect to Christian theism and proposes the interesting idea that a good Creator might create good things in abundance, or plenitude. Chapter 5 considers different understandings of the imago dei, and how that might be applied to alien life forms, artificial intelligences, and whether animals might in any sense share in the imago dei. Chapter 6 explores two possibilities: one that we are alone in the universe and two that there are other "alien" life forms. Vainio shows how Christian theism might accommodate either of these possibilities. Having considered the vast cosmos, chapter 7 asks why God did not create a human-sized cosmos and why there is so much empty space. Chapters 8 and 9 explore a number of questions about God--God's relation to such a vast creation and where God may be found, and the question of whether the Incarnation of Christ was a unique event that might apply for other worlds, or if Christ entered other worlds in other ways.
His concluding chapter returns to C. S. Lewis, and explores how Lewis related reason and imagination in formulating his ideas about cosmology, and how this approach might be helpful in our own day. Lewis did not see these in conflict, leading to extremes either of reducing things to "all facts and no meaning" or that faith is believing what we know is not true. Rather, the cosmic significance of our faith nurtures our desire to understand the cosmos more fully, and good scientific work only deepens our wonder and awe.
The value of this work is not to enunciate inflexible dogma concerning matters of cosmology but rather to explore the questions at the boundaries of our knowledge both of science and theology and to suggest that Christian theism has the resources to address various possibilities and coherent and imaginative responses to the questions we might ask. Vainio offers us careful theological and philosophical reasoning throughout (and an extensive bibliography), that identifies the different possibilities and their strengths and weaknesses of various proposals. I appreciate the combination of careful scholarship and epistemic humility in this work that creates a space for fertile discussions between scientists and theologians working together to make sense of the cosmos.
____________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
January 9, 2019
My star rating reflects only my moderate level of enjoyment, not the quality of the content. Much of the discussion was so abstract that I could hardly wrap my mind around it. But the mind stretch was good, and I did catch enough of the content to confidently refer you to Bob Trube's review for a good overview.
August 12, 2023
I give it four stars. I found the discussion of biblical cosmology to be okay. I think it is really difficult to assume that biblical writers can be taken “literally” in their cosmology. What I mean by this can best be seen in ancient temples, which where usually built over sources of water or seen as sources of water. This often represented things about the unseen realm. Everything for ancient people had a dual aspect to it. A river wasn’t just a river, and a passageway to the center of the earth might lead you to the realm of the dead. Think in terms of multiple dimensions and I think we are approaching the biblical concept of “cosmic geography”. The author doesn’t really consider this type of view, but it is through out scripture (for instance, what does it mean for Eden to be God’s palace garden?). This is a minor quibble. I found much of his discussions to be helpful. On the ET bit, I think he takes a “nuts and bolts” approach to ET that I don’t think is the most likely scenario. Paranormal and multiple dimensional entities seems closer to the truth.
April 4, 2020
Vainio substantively engages some of the most critical questions that current cosmological understandings raise for theological reflection. Why is the universe so large? How do human beings understand their significance in the vast and seeming cosmic insignificance? What would the discovery of extra-terrestrial life mean for our most fundamental Christian affirmations? Is God's Incarnation in Jesus Christ unique, or could God Incarnate himself on another planet in a far-away civilization? These are just a few of the questions Vainio seeks to answer.
Vainio demonstrates his breadth of knowledge of the issues involved. He critically engages a wide variety of written sources from different perspectives.
This book is a stimulating read.
Vainio demonstrates his breadth of knowledge of the issues involved. He critically engages a wide variety of written sources from different perspectives.
This book is a stimulating read.
February 17, 2024
I though the first half of this book was really good. The history survey of the interactions of cosmology and theology was well presented. Also, the author did a good job of taking complex topics and clearly articulating them.
My issue with the book was that it seemed that the theme of looking at how views on cosmology have traditionally helped form theologies was lost as the book went on. Specifically, it noted how classical monotheism is based on ancient cosmological views, but then never took a critical eye to current orthodox doctrines (like sin/the fall, incarnation, salvation) that were formed from classical monotheism. Instead, it tried to see how those orthodox doctrines can fit into modern cosmology.
Also - aliens definitely exist :)
My issue with the book was that it seemed that the theme of looking at how views on cosmology have traditionally helped form theologies was lost as the book went on. Specifically, it noted how classical monotheism is based on ancient cosmological views, but then never took a critical eye to current orthodox doctrines (like sin/the fall, incarnation, salvation) that were formed from classical monotheism. Instead, it tried to see how those orthodox doctrines can fit into modern cosmology.
Also - aliens definitely exist :)
May 4, 2022
This could be a wonderful book, and it is helpful. However, the book is very unrefined, filled with block quotes. A more accessible book would be helpful for the church as the questions Vainio asks are pertinent and fascinating. Still this is a good resource for those asking deep questions about science and faith.
March 2, 2019
Written from Christian Theology perspective, the author focuses on various early cosmological ideas. The author also claims that cosmology is one topic where science has to link with philosophy and hence will always be influenced by religion.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews