A. God and Nature
The diversity of views regarding the meaning of God and
the God & nature problemmatic that characterize contemporary Christian
theology is reflected in, and to some extent has been affected by, the past
four decades of discussions about theology and science. The following is
representative, but far from complete :
neo-Thomism (eg., Michael Buckley, Ann Clifford, George Coyne, Ernan McMullin,
Bill Stoeger, Steve Happel); dipolar theism (eg., John Polkinghorne, Tom
Tracy); non-process panentheism (eg., Sallie McFague, Arthur Peacocke, Phil
Clayton, Rosemary Radford Ruether); process panentheism (eg., Charles
Hartshorne, Ian Barbour, Charles Birch, David Griffin, John B. Cobb, Jr.,
Marjorie Suchocki); Trinitarian theism (eg., Phil Hefner, Denis Edwards,
Elizabeth Johnson, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jürgen Moltmann, Ted Peters, Tom
Tracy); feminist theology (eg., Clifford, Johnson, McFague, Ruether, Suchocki);
liberation theology (eg., Moltmann, Juan Luis Segundo); evangelical theology
(eg., Nancey Murphy, William Craig, Walter Hearne, Howard van Till, Richard
Bube); kenotic theology (eg., Murphy, Ellis, Peacocke, Polkinghorne, Barbour);
British natural theology (Peacocke, Polkinghorne); theism/naturalism (eg.,
Willem B. Drees, Ralph Burhoe, Paul Davies).
The theological genre varies widely as well. Some scholars
(e.g., George Ellis) directly challenge the assumptions of atheists who co-opt
science to attack religion (e.g., Richard Dawkins, Stephen Weinberg) and who
often seek to replace it with a new science-based religion (e.g., Carl
Sagan). Others revise the traditional arguments for God in light of
contemporary science, including the ontological argument (eg., Hartshorne), the
cosmological argument (e.g., Craig) and the moral argument (e.g., Murphy and
Ellis). Some introduce specific scientific issues into constructive theology.
This includes i) scientific metaphors (eg., Happel on time and religious
language, McFague on the world as Gods body), ii) scientific concepts (eg.,
Pannenberg on God as Spirit using the concept of field), iii) scientific
theories such as relativity (eg., Polkinghorne regarding eternity and
temporality), quantum mechanics (eg., Murphy and Tracy on divine action), chaos
theory (eg., Polkinghorne, Edwards, and Niels Gregersen on divine action), and
evolution / ecology (Hefner on theological anthropology, Ruether on Gaia/God);
iv) key phenomena in nature, such as suffering and death in evolution (eg.,
Peacocke on Christology or Tracy on theodicy). Some introduce science-based
worldviews into theology (eg., Barbour, McFague, Moltmann, and Ruether on
nature as organic/ecological). Some focus on particular philosophical themes
which arise in both theology and science: the world as temporal and relational
surfaces in theology (e.g., Trinitarian, panentheist, natural, feminist and
liberation theologies) and in science (e.g., evolutionary biology, ecology,
special relativity and quantum physics).
Two examples illustrate the subtle way in which 20th century
science both challenges and reshapes the God & nature problemmatic. The
first is the relation of the eternity of God to the temporality of creation and
the challenge from special relativity to the assumption that creaturely time is
marked by a universal, flowing present. The second is the relation of divine
and natural causality often referred to as the problem of divine action, and
the way a variety of scientific fields offers new possibilities for the world
to be intrinsically open to divine action. Each example is present in both
philosophical and systematic theology.
Contributed by: Dr. Robert Russell
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