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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
The phrase ‘a theology of nature’ is an abbreviation for ‘a theological account of natural happenings’—happenings which are properly investigated in the first instance by appropriate ‘natural sciences’. A Christian theology of nature seeks to provide a systematic appreciation of the physical universe, its items and occurrences, from a Christian theological point of view. If it is to rank as a serious contribution to human wisdom, it must be a disciplined effort to understand in appropriate terms the object of interest. One version of the discipline would be to produce an extension of the natural sciences, to cover topics—God, freedom, immortality—which fall outside their scope by a ‘metaphysical’ science which links these topics to the subject-matter of natural sciences in a theoretical account of ‘being as such’. This would have the effect of reintroducing ‘Natural Theology’, reshaped and revitalised, into the fabric of Christian systematic theology. This project is not being advocated in this article. It is mentioned solely in order to distinguish the present topic, a ‘theology of nature’, from what is traditionally known as ‘natural theology’. The purpose of this article is to explore afresh the structure of Christian intellectual response to the wonder of the world, as it is now being analysed by science, with particular attention to the ‘evolutionary’ aspect of things, appreciation of which has radically affected modern sensibility.
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page 134 note 1 Dillenberger, op. cit., p. 288.
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page 139 note 3 I have not, so far, absorbed what can be learnt from Heidegger's effort to put new life into the concept.
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page 143 note 1 ‘Evolution’ provides an instance of the ‘thesis’ type. The notion of ‘complementarity’ is another instance which has attracted attention. Though this is not the place to discuss the matter in depth, it may be suggested that it illustrates the other possibility, i.e. of resonant uses within divergent disciplines of logical equipment.