Christology And Science

The dialogue between theology and science has blossomed in recent decades, but particular beliefs about Jesus Christ have not often been brought to the forefront of this interdisciplinary discussion even in explicitly Christian contexts. This book breaks new ground by explicitly bringing the specific themes of Christology into dialogue with contemporary science. It engages recent developments in late modern philosophy of science in order to articulate the Christian beliefs about Jesus Christ in a way that responds to challenges and opportunities that have arisen in light of various scientific discoveries. The main chapters deal with Incarnation, Atonement and Parousia. After a brief treatment of the history of the shaping of these ideas, the author traces developments in some of the sciences that have challenged these formulations: evolutionary biology, cultural anthropology and physical cosmology. Each chapter also summarises some of the popular constructive responses to these developments. After clarifying the way in which the Christian understanding of God and of humanity shape the task of reforming Christology, each chapter concludes with a programmatic outline of ways in which we might articulate the identity, agency and presence of Jesus Christ in dialogue with late modern science and culture.

It is a statement often made in the pulpit and elsewhere that the Bible is not, and was never intended to be, a manual of scientific instruction. In this volume of lectures delivered before Vanderbilt University in 1906, Professor Smith sets out to prove that the opposite is the case, or at least that in the Bible are to be found revelations of scientific truths, some of which are only just beginning to be recognized. His position is that the Universe and the Bible being equally of divine origin, there can be no contradiction between them, and that each may be reasonably expected to shed light upon the other. In support of this idea he finds in the Old Testament revelations of the three great scientific generalizations—the Conservation of Matter, the Conservation of Energy, and the Continuity of Life—and maintains that the Christian ideals of the New Testament, viz., humility, simplicity, love of truth, and faith, are identical with the ideals which science holds up to her votaries. The biblical account of Creation is, he believes, coming, and will yet come more and more to be recognized as in harmony with the teachings of science. "If this be so, this Scripture is living truth to us, filled with a wisdom which was four thousand years in advance of the time when it was written." Again, in Phil. ii. 12, 13, he finds contained "by direct expression and by implication the four fundamental laws of energy—the very vitals of modern physics." "How wonderful that the most precious truths of recent science should be found concealed in a sentence written more than eighteen hundred years ago." Even if it were all true, one fails to see what good would be done by revelations which can only be recognized as such when the truths they are supposed to reveal have been discovered by other means. There is an interesting lecture on "Christ's Love of Nature," and another on "Christ the Model for the Teacher of Science," in which the author pleads that we should "reverently study the Master's college methods." It may perhaps be worthwhile to point out to the author that it is not usual to speak of the Holy Spirit as the Second Person of the Trinity. The book does not follow conventional lines, and is well worth reading, even if we disagree with much that it contains. —Review of Theology & Philosophy, Volume 3 [1908]

This book reads texts of Augustine on the topic of the human body in the context of contemporary debates in philosophical theology and relevant authors from the cognitive science of religion. Martin Claes focuses particularly on Augustine's special position in the intellectual discourses of Western philosophy (free will, theodicy), theology (grace, incarnation) and humanities (anthropology, political sciences, law), arguing that his written work is an excellent point of departure for a multidimensional scholarly approach. The reading in this book shows that a different picture emerges if we make the effort to situate Augustine's mature anthropology within contemporary debates in philosophical theology and cognitive science of religion. Omnipotence, vulnerability, suffering but also purification and perfection are discussed in dialogue between patristic and philosophical theology; the human offers the clue to concepts of unity in diversity in Christ.

This book reads texts of Augustine on the topic of the human body in the context of contemporary debates in philosophical theology and relevant authors from the cognitive science of religion. Martin Claes focuses particularly on Augustine's special position in the intellectual discourses of Western philosophy (free will, theodicy), theology (grace, incarnation) and humanities (anthropology, political sciences, law), arguing that his written work is an excellent point of departure for a multidimensional scholarly approach. The reading in this book shows that a different picture emerges if we make the effort to situate Augustine's mature anthropology within contemporary debates in philosophical theology and cognitive science of religion. Omnipotence, vulnerability, suffering but also purification and perfection are discussed in dialogue between patristic and philosophical theology; the human offers the clue to concepts of unity in diversity in Christ.

This book brings together leading theologians and ethicists to explore the neglected relationship between Christology and ethics. The contributors to this volume work to overcome the tendency toward disciplinary xenophobia, considering such questions as What is the relation between faithful teaching about the reality of Christ and teaching faithfulness to the way of Christ? and How is christological doctrine related to theological judgments about normative human agency? With renewed attention and creative reformulation, they argue, we can discover fresh ways of tending to these perennial questions.

Emphasizing its historical, methodological and constructive dimensions, Religion and Science takes the pulse of pertinent current research as the interdisciplinary study of science and religion gains momentum.