Darwinism And Natural Theology

Darwinism and the Divine examines the implications of evolutionary thought for natural theology, from the time of publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species to current debates on creationism and intelligent design. Questions whether Darwin's theory of natural selection really shook our fundamental beliefs, or whether they served to transform and illuminate our views on the origins and meaning of life Identifies the forms of natural theology that emerged in 19th-century England and how they were affected by Darwinism The most detailed study yet of the intellectual background to William Paley's famous and influential approach to natural theology, set out in 1802 Brings together material from a variety of disciplines, including the history of ideas, historical and systematic theology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, sociology, and the cognitive science of religion Considers how Christian belief has adapted to Darwinism, and asks whether there is a place for design both in the world of science and the world of theology A thought-provoking exploration of 21st-century views on evolutionary thought and natural theology, written by the world-renowned theologian and bestselling author

Darwinism and the Divine examines the implications ofevolutionary thought for natural theology, from the time ofpublication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species tocurrent debates on creationism and intelligent design. Questions whether Darwin's theory of natural selection reallyshook our fundamental beliefs, or whether they served to transformand illuminate our views on the origins and meaning of life Identifies the forms of natural theology that emerged in19th-century England and how they were affected by Darwinism The most detailed study yet of the intellectual background toWilliam Paley's famous and influential approach to naturaltheology, set out in 1802 Brings together material from a variety of disciplines,including the history of ideas, historical and systematic theology,evolutionary biology, anthropology, sociology, and the cognitivescience of religion Considers how Christian belief has adapted to Darwinism, andasks whether there is a place for design both in the world ofscience and the world of theology A thought-provoking exploration of 21st-century views onevolutionary thought and natural theology, written by theworld-renowned theologian and bestselling author

Can Christianity be reconciled with Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection? What relevance do the biological sciences have to religious thought? Does Christian theology have anything to offer when it comes to formulating scientific hypotheses? These questions are among those explored in this collection of essays arising from a meeting of the UK Science and Religion Forum held in Cambridge to mark the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. The volume brings together contributions from a distinguished group of scholars at the forefront of the field of science-and-religion, including Denis Alexander, R. J. Berry, John Hedley Brooke, Sarah Coakley, Celia Deane-Drummond, David Fergusson, David Knight, Christopher Southgate, Neil Spurway and Kenneth Wilson. The essays are organized around the theme of ‘natural theology’ -– the attempt to draw theological conclusions from reflection on the natural world. The essays cover historical, philosophical and theological perspectives, and explore some contemporary approaches to natural theology in the context of Darwinism.

In this highly acclaimed book, Ospovat shows that Darwin's views changed radically from his first formulation of evolution to the publication of the full theory in 1859.

By asking how well theological views of human nature stand up to the discoveries of modern science, Alan Olding re-opens the question of whether the "design" argument for the existence of God is fatally undermined. A distinctive feature of the work is its emphasis on the metaphysical implications of biology and how these at times conflict with other, more plausible metaphysical positions. Another is its close critical examination of the "design" argument and of the relation God has to the world he creates. "Modern Biology and Natural Theology" takes up issues currently of concern to many thinkers and will provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in philosophical problems, particularly the impact of Darwinism on natural theology.

In the nineteenth century, philology—especially comparative philology—made impressive gains as a discipline, thus laying the foundation for the modern field of linguistics. In Darwinism and the Linguistic Image, Stephen G. Alter examines how comparative philology provided a genealogical model of language that Darwin, as well as other scientists and language scholars, used to construct rhetorical parallels with the common-descent theory of evolution.

'Darwinism as Religion' argues that the theory of evolution given by Charles Darwin in the 19th-century has always functioned as much as a secular form of religion as anything purely scientific. Through the words of novelists and poets, Michael Ruse argues that Darwin took us from the secure world of Christian faith into a darker, less friendly world of chance and lack of meaning.