A John Haught Reader: Essential Writings on Science and Faith

by John F. Haught

Classical Christian theologies came to expression at a time when the universe seemed relatively fixed and unchanging. The otherworldly spiritual instincts of many religions reflected a static, vertical, and hierarchical understanding of the natural world. Today, however, especially because of developments in the sciences, it appears that the universe is still coming into being. The writings offered in this book reflect their author's belief that if the universe is unfinished, new thoughts about God and all the traditional theological topics are essential to make sense of it all. John Haught argues that the universe is best understood according to the metaphor of drama rather than design. This means that the most important question in science and theology today is not whether the intricate complexity of life points to a deity, or even how God acts in nature, but whether the cosmic drama as a whole carries a meaning. Unfortunately, the devotional life of most religious people on our planet still presupposes an essentially immobile universe. Christian instruction, for example, continues to nurture an otherworldly piety that estranges nature unnecessarily from God. The readings in this book, however, suggest that the ancient Abrahamic hope for the coming of God from out of the future may now become the foundation of a scientifically up-to-date theology of nature that affirms divine transcendence without robbing nature of its significance. John F. Haught is Distinguished Research Professor of theology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He has dedicated his academic life to teaching, lecturing, and writing on issues pertaining to science, cosmology, evolution, ecology, and religion. He is best known for his works on evolution and Christian faith. He is the author of twenty books, including God After Darwin and (most recently) The New Cosmic Inside Our Awakening Universe.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2018

About the author

John F. Haught is a Roman Catholic theologian, specializing with systematic theology. He has special interests in science, cosmology, ecology, and reconciling evolution and religion.

Haught graduated from St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore,, and he received a PhD in Theology from The Catholic University of America in 1970.

Haught received the 2002 Owen Garrigan Award in Science and Religion, the 2004 Sophia Award for Theological Excellence, and, in 2009, the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Leuven.

He is Senior Research Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. There, he established the Georgetown Center for the Study of Science and Religion and was the chair of Georgetown's theology department between 1990 and 1995.

Reviews

[Gord Clements · Rating 3 out of 5]

An honest and open exploration

A helpful discussion of the nature of religious faith and its benefits and natural fit in living as well as how the discoveries of science conducted can contribute to revelation, understanding and expression of that. He explores and is critical of naturalism and new atheism as being bias in the belief that they cling to.