Download Free A Theology Of Nature Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online A Theology Of Nature and write the review.

Pannenberg poses theological questions to natural scientists that illuminate his personal position on issues dealing with theology and the natural sciences, especially physics, reviewing the relationship between natural law and contingency, the importance of the spirit in the phenomenon of life, field theory, language, and the theological account for the nature of God and God's creative activity.
In the present ecological crisis, it is imperative that human beings reconsider their place within nature and find new, more responsible and sustainable ways of living. Assumptions about the nature of God, the world, and the human being, shape our thinking and, consequently, our acting. Some have charged that the Christian tradition has been more a hindrance than a help because its theology of nature has unwittingly legitimated the exploitation of nature. This book takes the current criticism of Christian tradition to heart and invites a reconsideration of the problematic elements: its desacralization of nature; its preoccupation with the human being to the neglect of the rest of nature; its dualisms and elevation of the spiritual over material reality, and its habit of ignoring or resisting scientific understandings of the natural world. Anna Case-Winters argues that Christian tradition has a more viable theology of nature to offer. She takes a look at some particulars in Christian tradition as a way to illustrate the undeniable problems and to uncover the untapped possibilities. In the process, she engages conversation partners that have been sharply critical and particularly insightful (feminist theology, process thought, and the religion and science dialogue). The criticisms and insights of these partners help to shape a proposal for a reconstructed theology of nature that can more effectively fund our struggle for the fate of the earth.
Does "nature" still exist? Common wisdom now acknowledges the malleability of nature, the complex reality that circumscribes and constitutes the human. Weather patterns, topographical contours, animal populations, and even our own genetic composition--all of which previously marked the boundary of human agency--now appear subject to our intervention. Some thinkers have suggested that nature has disappeared entirely and that we have entered a postnatural era; others note that nature is an ineradicable context for life. Christian theology, in particular, finds itself in an awkward position. Its Western traditions have long relied upon a static "nature" to express the dynamism of "grace," making nature a foundational category within theology itself. This means that any theological inquiry into the changing face of nature must be reflexive and radically interdisciplinary. This book brings leading natural and social scientists into conversation with prominent Christian theologians and ethicists to wrestle collectively with difficult questions. Is nature undergoing fundamental change? What role does nature play in theological ethics? How might ethical deliberation proceed "without nature" in the future? What does the religious drive to transform human nature have to do with the technological quest to transcend human limits? Would the end of nature make grace less comprehensible?
James F. Sennett and Douglas Groothuis have assembled a distinguished array of scholars to examine the Humean legacy with care and make the case for a more robust, if chastened, natural theology after Hume.
Nowadays we in the church hear much of the task given to us to be good stewards over God’s creation. We are to treat the creation as a fragile, vulnerable artifact given us by God, to be cherished and taken special care of. The animal and plant kingdoms are precious treasures to be maintained in unspoiled beauty, preserved from the corrupting hand of civilization. But how much of this is derived from Scripture, and how much from romantic secular philosophy? To what extent does the Bible speak of man as steward of the planet? And to what extent does it validate the view of nature as unspoiled perfection marred by humankind’s intervention? This view of nature is based on a philosophical presupposition: the balance of nature. Nature is considered to be poised in a delicate and fragile equilibrium, the slightest disturbance of which will have the direst consequences. But how valid is this presupposition? It is of the utmost consequence that we recognize this presumption. It is what motivates the approach to the environmental crises that we confront. Climate change is one of the major themes viewed – indeed, prejudged – through the spectacles of nature in balance. The Amazon rain forest is another. Global megafire, another allegedly unprecedented phenomenon, is a third. All of these are here weighed in the balance. This book adopts a critical stance to received notions. Its method for doing so, sad to say, is fairly unique in our day and age. For it uses both Scripture and modern science to derive a view of nature. And these two are brought into fruitful cooperation, engendering a synergy that once was the hallmark of the Christian scientific endeavor. What does the science of ecology have to tell us about nature in balance? What does climate history tell us about climate change? What is the age of the earth, and how is it important to these questions? What is the role of carbon dioxide? How important is biodiversity? How serious is the threat of mass extinction? What does the apostle Paul say about the original condition of the creation? What was the Garden of Eden really, and what role did Adam play in it? What kind of steward was he, and how did this change after the fall? What does the tower of Babel tell us about stewardship? What is the place of globalization versus nationhood in carrying out the divine command to exercise dominion? What is the role of the church? What is natural law? And the greatest question of all: why did God create things the way He did? These and other questions are answered here, but as important, there is serious discussion of them in terms of both science and Scripture. Those who cherish a “deep dive” into the subject matter will derive the most benefit from it. Those who do not are advised to seek out a more simplistic treatment, although in doing so, they may be depriving themselves of the benefit of serious analysis. In writing this book, the author has brought to bear not only his years of study in history, philosophy, economics, law, and theology, but also his degree work and professional experience in the field of forestry.
This book offers a rationale for a new ‘ramified natural theology’ that is in dialogue with both science and historical-critical study of the Bible. Traditionally, knowledge of God has been seen to come from two sources, nature and revelation. However, a rigid separation between these sources cannot be maintained, since what purports to be revelation cannot be accepted without qualification: rational argument is needed to infer both the existence of God from nature and the particular truth claims of the Christian faith from the Bible. Hence the distinction between ‘bare natural theology’ and ‘ramified natural theology.’ The book begins with bare natural theology as background to its main focus on ramified natural theology. Bayesian confirmation theory is utilised to evaluate competing hypotheses in both cases, in a similar manner to that by which competing hypotheses in science can be evaluated on the basis of empirical data. In this way a case is built up for the rationality of a Christian theist worldview. Addressing issues of science, theology and revelation in a new framework, this book will be of keen interest to scholars working in Religion and Science, Natural Theology, Philosophy of Religion, Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology, and Science and Culture.
The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology" explores the diversity and vitality o natural theology, both historically and as an issue of contemporary concern.
Aristotle's cosmological argument is the foundation of Aquinas's doctrine of God. For Thomas, the cosmological argument not only speaks of God's existence but also of God's nature. By learning that the unmoved mover is behind all moving objects, we learn something true about the essence of God-principally, that God is immobile. But therein lies the problem for Thomas. The Catholic Church had already condemned Aristotle's unmoved mover because, according to Aristotle, the unmoved mover is unable to be the moving cause (i.e., Creator) and governor of the universe-or else he would cease to be immobile. By seeking to baptize Aristotle into the Catholic Church, however, Thomas gave his life to seeking to explain how God can be both immobile and the moving cause of the universe. Thomas even looked to the pantheistic philosophy of Pseudo-Dionysius for help. But even with Dionysius's aid, Thomas failed to reconcile the god of Aristotle with the Trinitarian God of the Bible. If Thomas would have rejected the natural theology of Aristotle by placing the doctrine of the Trinity, which is known only by divine revelation, at the foundation of his knowledge of God, he would have rid himself of the irresolvable tension that permeates his philosophical theology. Thomas could have realized that the Trinity alone allows for God to be the only self-moving being-because the Trinity is the only being not moved by anything outside himself but freely capable of creating and controlling contingent things in motion.
God is love. Consequently, shouldn't love exist at the center of Christian theology? When love is at the center, theology is understood differently than it has typically been understood. Some theologians have placed faith at the center, others God's sovereignty, still others-the Church, but Dr. Oord places the emphasis on love. God's love for us, revealed in Christ, in the Church, and in creation, and our love for God and others as ourselves-must be afforded its rightful place. Beginning with the foundation of "love" is what differentiates the Christian faith from others.a loving God. Dr. Oord defines love as: "To love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic/empathetic response to God and others, to promote overall well-being." Is this not what has defined Christians throughout history?