ABSTRACT

God and the Book of Nature develops theological views of the natural sciences in light of the recent theological turn in science-and-religion scholarship and the ‘science-engaged theology’ movement. Centered around the Book of Nature metaphor, it brings together contributions by theologians, natural scientists, and philosophers based in Europe and North America. They provide an exploration of complementary (and even contesting) readings of the Book of Nature, particularly in light of the vexing questions that arise around essentialism and unity in the field of science and religion. Taking an experimental and open-ended approach, the volume does not attempt to unify the readings into a single ‘plot’ that defines the Book of Nature, still less a single ‘theology of nature’, but instead it represents a variety of hermeneutical stances. Overall the book embraces a constructive theological attitude toward the modern sciences, and makes significant contributions to the research literature in science and religion.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

part I|86 pages

Method and metaphor

chapter 1|27 pages

A scientist-theologian's perspective on science-engaged theology

The case for “theology of science” as a sub-discipline within science and religion

chapter 2|21 pages

The solidarity-dehumanization nexus

Addressing three barriers for a science-engaged theological ethic

chapter 4|19 pages

Augustinianism and the Book of Nature

Protestant Perils and Promise

part II|58 pages

Metaphysics and the theology of nature

chapter 5|13 pages

Seeing God in Nature

Rethinking Bonaventure after Evolutionary Biology

chapter 7|24 pages

Saving the macroscopic

Quantum physics and the theology of nature

part III|36 pages

Ecotheology and nature

part IV|78 pages

Naturalisms and nature

chapter 10|21 pages

Science, determinism, and free will

chapter 12|15 pages

Both God and Nature

Providential Naturalism as a Middle Way in Contemporary Divine Action Debates