ABSTRACT
Integrating scientific knowledge with theology was quite natural for the Cappadocia's and others in late antiquity. The various physical and biological sciences physics, geology, biology were, in the ancient world, grouped together and labeled 'natural philosophy'. In the mid-fourth century, this remote and geographically stunning region was home to a remarkable family that produced a half-dozen clergy and monastics, including two brilliant theologians. Nyssen, in formulating his theological anthropology, was careful not to fall into the trap of creating anthropological theology instead. Evolution is a physical description of how creation unfolded and continues to unfold, and is compatible both with Basil's understanding of how the Earth brings forth life and with Gregory's theory of the animalistic origins of humanity's physical nature. But scientific materialism's claim that there is nothing beyond the physical elements of the universe is based on hubris and a lack of imagination as well as a lack of faith.
