Class Notes
Creation and Eschatology
By Prof. Dr. Fr. Joseph M. Miras, SVD, SThD
DIVINE WORD SEMINARY, Tagaytay City

Compiled by ARNOLD C. BIAGO, SVD

Bibliography

Books

Daly, Gabriel, Creation and Redemption (Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1989).

Davies, Paul, God and the New Physics (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1990).

Drees, W. B. Beyond the Big Bang: Quantum Cosmologies and God (La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1990)

Edwards, Denis, Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1995).

Funkenstein, Amos, Theology and the Scientific Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986).

Gunton Colin, ed., The Doctrine of Creation. Essays in Dogmatics, History and Philiosophy ( Edinburh: T & T Clark, 1997).

Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to the Black Holes (Great Britain: Bantam Books, 1988).

Hendry, George, Theology of Nature (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1980)

Huff, Toby, E., The Rise of Early Modern Science. Islam, China and the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

Kaiser, Christopher, Creation and the History of Science (London: Marshal Pickering, 1991).

Lischer, Richard, Marx and Teilhard: Two Ways to a New Humanity (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1979).

McFague, Sallie. The Body of God: An Ecological Theology (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1993).

McMullin, Ernan, ed., Evolution and Creation (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1985).

Moltmann, Jürgen, God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God, trans. Margaret Kohl, (Minneapolis: Fortress, Press, 1993).

O’Donovan, Oliver, Resurrection and the Moral Order. An Outline for Evagelical Ethics (Leicester: IVP, 1986).

O’Murchu, Diarmuid, Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997.

Pannenberg, Wolfhart, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William Eerdmans, 1991).

____________, Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993).

Peacocke, Arthur, Creation in a World of Science (Oxford, 1979)

Ward, Keith, Religion and Creation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)

Weinberg, Steven, The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe (New York: Basic Books, 1977).

Welker, Michael, Creation and Reality, trans. John F. Hoffmeyer, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999).

Articles

Johnson, E., “Does God Play Dice?” Theological Studies

Tentative Outline for the Course on Creation and Eschatology

Introduction

1. Present Ecological Crisis

Environmental problems: pollution, waste disposal, forest denudation, global warming, scarcity of food supplies, greenhouse effect, thinning of ozone layer

effects of deforestation (1) land degradation, (2) increase in carbon dioxide, (3) breakdown of protective ozone shield, (4) change in rainfall patterns; greenhouse attacks on ozone layer, (5) extinction – loss of number of species, loss of forms of food, fiber, oil, fiber, human resources for healing

Connection between politics/social values/science/(city planning, use of diesel, non creation of parks, zoos)

Connection of ecology, feminism and justice - cosmology

The theology creation (Be fruitful and multiply, Subdue the earth); separation of non-human from human; subjugation; exploitative, subjective, anthropocentric

2. Historical Causes

- fusion of ancient world views with religious cosmology

- emancipation of sciences from outdated cosmology (Ptolomaic); theology of creation becoming a personal belief in a personal God (I believe in God the Father, Creator almighty)

- science and theology as companions in tribulations

3. Effect: Alienation (Should this be our home?)-Secularization, Dis-enchantment of nature

4. Attempted Solution: Re-orientation

Theology of creation

Context of salvation of history: Israel’s experience of God’s saving deeds; beginning (protology) and end (eschatology); Exodus – (liberation) redemption (fulfillment); the whole of biblical scripture – Genesis to Revelation; focus is Jesus Christ, only through Christ can creation be understood as marching towards completion (theology of creation)

Different ideas associated with creation: beginning of time – completion of time (historical time) , paradise, primordial condition, innocence,, the Garden of Eden, innocent world (without concupiscence); began to reflect on it later ac field of divine creativity; to be distinguished are theology of nature, natural theology

Theologia naturalis – from Stoic philosophy, forces of nature, knowledge about the essence of things, but after Christian takeover it meant the finite contingency of things

Theology of inter-relationality, theology of nature

1. Creation of the World (the Second meaning of creation)

1.1.The World of Creatures (Cosmology)

Astronomy and creatio ex nihilo (Big Bang, New Cosmology, The First Three Minutes,

1. Cosmic Big Bang

Willem de Sitter, 1917, predicted an expanding universe

Edwin Hubble, 1929, examined the “red shift” of light from distant nebulae, Hubble’s Law: the velocity of recession of a nebula is proportional to its distance from us

In high energy physics the discovery of 4 basic physical forces

(1) the electromagnetic force responsible for light and the behavior of charged particles

(2) the weak nuclear force responsible for radioactive decay

(3) strong nuclear force that binds protons and neutrons into nuclei

(4) gravitational force evident in the long distance attraction between masses

1967 Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam

Grand Unified Theory – attempts at uniting the electro-weak and strong forces

Supersymmetry Theory – attempts at uniting gravitation with three other forces (but failed)

Superstring Theory

Time Temperature Transition

15 billion yrs.		Today
12		Microscopic life
10		Planets formed
1		Galaxies formed (heavy elements)
500, 000 yrs	2000	Atoms formed (light elements)
3 mins	10⁹	Nuclei formed (hydrogen, helium)
10^-4 secs	10¹²	Quarks to protons and neutrons
10^-10	10¹⁵	Weak and electromagnetic forces separate
10^-35	10²⁸	Strong nuclear force separates
10^-43	10³²	Gravitational force separates
(0		Infinite singularity

Going back farther than three mins the more tentative are the theories because states of matter and energy are more difficult to ascertain than in the laboratory

Formation of elementary particles>building of hydrogen, deuterium and helium>formation of matter>building up of heavier elements such as magnesium, silicon, iron> formation of galaxies>beginning of solar system>formation of proto-earth (about billion of years ago)>formation of formidable crest of earth (about 4.2 billion of years ago)

2. Theological response: mixed (1) Positive: Pius XII support for the idea of creation in time, Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers, (2) Arthur Peacocke: the big bang is irrelevant theologically

Oscillating universe: can combine Big Bang and infinite time (Big Crunch and Big Bang)

2. Physics (Quantum Theory, Relativity and Thermodynamics)

3. Evolution and creatio continua (DNA and the Origin of Life)

Chemical evolution

Molecular (pre-biotic phase)>organic chemical micro-chemical (combining into macro-molecular)> biocell

Biotic/biological evolution

– continuous change>existence of component for directional development>accumulation of information

4. Psychological

5. Neo-Darwinism – mutation>new coordination of genes by outgoing generation>selection through environment>isolation due to geography

6. Phases of evolution (Natural-supernatural)

*1-chemical development in which pre-biotic conditions establish nucleic acids and proteins

*2-self-organization of matter converging upon more complex coupling patterns

*3-biological evolution with its development of primitive, unicellular elements toward multi-cellular organisms

*4- genetic information is optimized and diversified

(The transition from non-living to living happens in the second phase)

*emergent evolutionism (dialectical materialism - Engels

*organism is the central metaphor to which we apply, based on our intuition, the properties of feelings, apprehension, and purposive action (Peirce, Whitehead)

*similar to organism but extends the attributes of the organism to a wider horizon, that includes the universe at all levels, but at the same time stresses the active role of God (French vitalist tradition – Henri Bergson [élan vital], Teilhard de Chardin – radial, psychic energy)

A Historical Clarification (McMullin) How a worldview (philosophy) influences creation of meaning and vice-versa

Background of the Biblical Account (Theological)

Enuma Elish (emergence of a victor among warring gods)

Christian version: There was order and glory – God who is supreme

Conclusion:

(1) First error: identification of creation with the initiation in time of the existence of the universe

(2) the achievements of modern philosophy of science are applied to particular case of cosmological theories

1.2. The Human World (Emergence of homo sapiens)

2. God’s Act (First meaning of creation-Theology)

2.1.The Origin of Creation in the Trinitarian God (In the Beginning - God)

God’s Outward action

The movement of thought is that this world has its origin in God. Chronologically, it is about the reality of God and how this reality gives birth to the existence of the world. The world is the result of the free act of God. It is not necessary for the world to exist but by God’s graciousness, the world is made. The world does not exist co-eternal with the God for the world is the result of God’s activity. The world is dependent on God.

How are these divine actions described?

For the Greek Fathers, this was called energeia (activity), the common action of the three persons.

and this world moves

3. Perfection of Creation

Beginning and End of the Universe

Creation and Eschaton (Redemption and Salvation)

The Natural Hierarchy

Different levels of existence

(1) the inanimate level proper to nonliving entities

(2) the basic level of life, which is characterized by activities such as metabolism, growth, and reproduction

(3) the sentient level characterized by perception and concrete operational intelligence

(4) the intellectual level characterized by the formal understanding of being, truth, goodness and beauty, by abstract reasoning, by intellectual creativity, and by moral and religious values

other hierarchical systems which interact with one another

Downward sequence

Organisms>organ systems>cells>molecules>atoms>nucleons>quarks>leptons

Upward sequence

Organisms>ecosystems>solar systems>, galaxies>clusters of galaxies>universe

Theories of Unity

Democritan atomism (No place for conscious beings) hylemorphism – prime matter (matter is principle of potentiality) and substantial form (principle of actuality and of unity)

The Natural World

Spirit and Angels

Space and Time

Creation and Evolution (creatio continua)

human Being Anthropology

Original Sin/ Existence of Evil

(*ViVa Film (Vilma Santos, Charito Solis) (13 Aug. 2001) 11:30

Lumpo and anak ni Vilma; her sister called the son as “isang pagkakamali” (error in nature?)

Human Responsibility and Destiny

Assignment

1. Book Reports: November, January, February (2 pages)

2. By House: Post on the Bulletin Board the News items regarding environmental problems: every meeting

Confessional Teachings on Creation

Catholics (They were formulated in the context of polemics and have to be interpreted in the context of their controversies)

Lateran Council IV, 1215 (Denziger 1957)

“Firmly we …confess … the true God … who by His own omnipotent power at once from the beginning of time created each creature from nothing, spiritual and corporal, namely, angelic and mundane, and finally the human, constituted as it were, alike of the spirit and the body.”

Council of Florence, 1441, Bull “Cantata Domino” (Denziger 706)

Most strongly believes, professes, and declares that the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the creator of all things visible and invisible, who, when He wished, out of His goodness created all creatures, spiritual as well as corporal; good, indeed, since they were made by the highest good, but changeable, since they were from nothing, and it asserts that nature is not evil, since all nature, in so far as it is nature, is good.

Vatican Council, 1870, “Dogmatic Constitution concerning the Creator and Lord of heaven and Earth” (Denziger 1782-1783)

“there is one, true, living God, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth spiritual substance, must be proclaimed distinct in reality and essence from the world…. who, although He is one, singular, altogether simple and unchangeable spiritual substance, must be proclaimed distinct in reality and essence from the world. This sole true God by his goodness and ‘omnipotent power’, no to increase His own beatitude, and not to add to, but to manifest His perfection by the blessings which He bestows on creatures, with most free volition ‘immediately from the beginning of time fashioned each creature out of nothing, spiritual and corporal, namely angelic and mundane.”

Piux X, on “The Historical Character of the Earlier Chapters of Genesis” , 1909 (Denziger, 2123)

Question III: Whether in particular the literal and historical sense can be called into question. Where it is matter of facts related in the same chapters, which pertain to the foundation of the Christian religion; for example, among others, the creation of all things wrought by God in the beginning of time; …

Reply: In the negative

Lutherans

Martin Luther’s ‘Small Catechism’, 1529, First article of the Creed (John H. Leith, ed., Creeds of the Churches (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), p.115

What does this mean? Answer: I believe that God created me and all that exists; that he has given me and still sustains my body and soul, and limbs and senses, my reason and all the faculties of my mind, together with food and clothing, house and home, family and property; …All this he does out of his pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness on my part. For all of this I am bound to thank, praise, and obey him”.

Augsburg Confession, 1530 Article I, Leith, p. 67-68

We unanimously hold and teach, in accordance with the decree of the Council of Nicaea, that there is one divine essence … and that there are three persons in this one divine essence … God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. All three are one divine essence, eternal, without division, without end, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, one creator and preserver of all things visible and invisible.”

Calvinism

Heidelberg Catechism, 1563, (Philip Schaff, ed., The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3 (New York: Harper, 1919), 315

That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that in them is, who likewise upholds and governs the same by his eternal counsel and providence, is for the sake of Christ his Son my God and my Father, in whom so I trust as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul.

Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 4, “Of Creation, 1647, p. 611.

It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create or make of nothing the world, and all things therein, whether visible, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 9, “”What is the work of creation”, 1647, (Shaff, 677)

The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Mennonites

Dordrecht Confession, 1632, (Leith, p. 293)

Him we confess as the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, who is six days created and prepared ‘heaven and earth, and sea, and all things that are therein’. And we further believe, that this God still governs and preserves the same, together with all His works, through His wisdom, His might, and the word of His power’.

Theses in the Christian doctrine and theology of creation

1. God is the source of existence. Everything comes from God. Everything owes its existence to God including all the unknown, the actual and those in principle (the universe where we live). The known includes those expressed in mythological language and those expressed by scientific language. Ex. Angelology and demonology

Themes: Divine Existence; Divine Attributes: Omnipotence, Creator (of heaven and earth) or Divine Power and Creativity; Divine Wisdom (and the Intelligibility of the World); Divine Passibility

2. Created beings are different, distinct from God, and may be given destiny, like the human being, which makes them more God-like. In the tradition of Christian mysticism, one can speak of ‘sharing God’s being’ and ‘deification’ Later theologians speak of the indwelling of God in human beings and they in God This is called ‘panentheism’. This manner of speaking safeguards the transcendence of God, that is God’s ontological distinctness from created beings. Themes: Salvation; Redemption;

2.1. Creation is good. This is stated in opposition to (1) Gnostic dualism which claims that the spirit (soul) is good and matter (including the body) is evil; (2) existence of evil (moral, physical) in the created world. Themes: Divine Love and the Goodness of Created Being, Existence of Evil

2.2. The doctrine of creation implies no specific cosmological theory such as the Big Bang. Our universe is created but not necessarily uniquely so. Christian revelation is concerned with the world we actually live in and know. Themes: Classical accounts of creation; divine necessity and freedom, divine foreknowledge and temporality

2.3. Historically, the doctrine of creation is a (a) negation of Gnosticism (b) pantheism. The doctrine of creation is the sense of ‘awe’ appropriate to grace, which is given to the recipient for the recipient’s well-being, not earned by the recipient nor necessitated by the circumstances of the giver.

2.4. Creation refers to the continuing relationship between God and creation and not merely to the initial moment. The relationship may be conceptually distinguished from (a) preservative (ontological) action and (b) providential governance (grace and supernatural). The main focus is the overall unity of divine presence and action in world. Themes: God and Temporality, Anthropology - Cognitive Science, Anthropic Principle, Laws of Nature, Design and the Universe

3. Creatureliness is a theological designation which primarily states the relationship of nature to God. On the human level, it refers to humanity’s privilege and duty to worship, adore, and be grateful to God. Human beings has to accept willingly and lovingly the duty to love the neighbor reflective of true morality.

Themes: Creation spirituality, Justice and Peace (Integrity of Creation)

3.1. Nature is distinct from grace ontologically. The distinction however should avoid a supernaturalism which displaces grace from its place in history and nature. Grace may be a conceptual abstraction but is present in graced persons, events and things. Sacramental theology recognizes a graced creation. The biblical view of the fruitful relationship between nature and grace is the model of primordial and new creation. Themes: Grace, Sacraments, Science and Theology

3.2. The doctrines of creation and redemption are complementary. Salvation is not an afterthought but is implicit in the creation of a free being. When creation reached a stage of hominisation it becomes an arena of salvation. Themes: Eschatology, Soteriology, Salvation, Communion

Theses on Catholic Eschatology

1. The Church believes in the resurrection of the dead.

2. The resurrection of the whole person is nothing other than the extension of resurrection of Christ.

3. The Church affirms that a spiritual element survives and subsists after death, an element endowed with consciousness and will, so that the ‘human self’ subsists. To designate this element, the Church uses the word ‘soul’, the accepted term in the usage of Scripture and Tradition. Inspite of the many meanings of the term in the Bible, the Church thinks that there is no valid reason to reject it. Moreover, the Church considers the use of some word as indispensable in order to support the faith of Christians

4. The Church considers the funeral rites and religious acts offered to the dead as loci theologici. Our prayers for the dead are not meaningless and unintelligible.

5. The Church believes in the glories manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ which is distinct and deferred in respect to the situation of the human being immediately after death. (Interim State)

6. In teaching the destiny of the human being after death, the Church excludes any explanation that would deprive the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary its unique meaning – the bodily glorification of the Virgin as an anticipation of the glorification that is the destiny of all the other elect.

7. The Church believes in the happiness of the just who will one day be with Christ. She believes that there will be eternal punishment for the sinner, who will be deprived of the sight of God, and that this punishment will have a repercussion on the whole being of the sinner. She believes in the possibility of a purification for the elect before they see God, a purification altogether different from the punishment of the damned. This is what the Church means when speaking of Hell and Purgatory.

1. Biblical Matrix of Creation

1.1. Old Testament

1.1.1.Deutero-Isaiah 40-55 convergence of creation and redemption

The relevant terms: Bārā, āsāh, the term bārā is attributed to God. “The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth.” (Is 40-26,28),“See, I make all things new, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it” (Is 43:19), “I form the light and form the darkness, I form well-being and woe.” (Is 45:7)

1.1.2. Trito-Isaiah 56-66 - creation under the eschatological perspective

1.1.3. Gen 1-11 – primeval history, aetiology (story which presents the origin of something thru a story form)

1.1.3.1. Priestly

(a) The first story is from the priestly writers Gen 1: 1-2:4a. In this account the human beings are created last.

(b) The structure of the story:

The “light” created on the first day (Gen1:3-5) prepared for creation of the “greater light” (sun), the “lesser light” (moon), and the stars on the fourth day (Gen 1:14-19)

The sea and the skies created on the second day (vv.6-8) provide living space for the fish and the birds created on the fifth day (Gen 1:20-23).

The dry land and its vegetation created on the third day provide the living space and food for the animals and humans created on the sixth day.

The seventh day is the Sabbath where even God rests from work (Gen 2:1-3).

© The Jerusalem temple priests were interested in the laws and regulations of temple worship and religious practices. They emphasize the observance of the Sabbath and even God is observing the Sabbath. For every act (bārā) of God there is a corresponding blessing (bārāk). The “7 days” closely symbolize the mysterious grace turning of God’s face” towards creation. (G. von Rad).

(d) This creation account is a beautiful hymn which celebrates harmony and the goodness of the universe. They did not intend to teach science or history.

(e) They wrote during the Babylonian exile (587-539). The Jews were captives in a foreign land and culture. Jerusalem was in ruins; the temple and the royal palace were burned to the ground.

(f) In a time of disorder, confusion, hopelessness and despair, the writers wrote of God as asserting power and control over creation and history. Despite order and defeat, God knows what God is doing. This is a powerful story expressing faith and hope.

(g) The creation story is also a corrective to the Babylonian version of story of creation. One of the intended purposes of the priestly was to present a version of a story that opposes the Babylonian account (Enuma Elish = when in heaven).

(h) The Babylonian account has the following features: (1) Apsu and Tiamat were the personification of the chaotic waters as male and female gods, (2) They mate and produced lesser gods, (3) Tiamat kills Apsu and gives birth to fearful monsters, (4) the other gods elect Marduk as their leader (Marduk is the chief god of the Babylonians), (6) Marduk cuts Tiamat into two halves. With one half, he fashions the sky and with the other he fashions the earth, (7) From her blood, Marduk fashions the human beings to be the servants and slaves by the gods, (8) The lesser gods become the sun, moon and stars

(i) Similarities between the Enuma Elish and the Priestly version: (1) begins with watery chaos, (2) the “deep”, (3) in both accounts, creation begins with separation and order

1.1.3.2. Jahwist

(a) The second account of the story is from the Jahwist, Gen 2:4b-3:24. The human being is created first. This story was written during the time of Solomon, 960-922 BCE. Most probably the writer was a scribe or a bureaucrat (civil servant, a government official) in Solomon’s palace in Jerusalem.

(b) The writer calls God Yahweh, God’s personal name (LORD in block letter in modern translations), from the very start (In P, God’s personal name is revealed later in Moses Ex 3:13:15)

© The description of God is very human: (i) like a farmer who plants a garden (2:8), (ii) like a potter who forms the first human from the dust or clay of the earth (2:7), (iii) like a tailor who stitches clothes for the first man and woman (3:21), (iv) like a tired workman who takes a walk through his garden to enjoy the cool evening breeze (3:8)

(d) This not an eye-witness account or instruction on science, geography or history. These are the insights of wise people on questions about the origin of human beings, the reasons for creation, the goal of creation, the phenomena of evil, suffering and death. The J drew upon the wisdom of the ancestors and other cultures. The intention was to put into words the beginnings of some answers to their questions.

(e) The names Adam and Eve, for the first human beings or first couple are symbolical. “Mr. Man” (adam) means earth creature, from the word adamah; “Mrs. Life” (hawwah) means life, Mother of all the living). Humanity is represented.

(f) God places the “earth creature” in a garden of delights; “Mr. Man” has access to the many trees “pleasant to the sight and good for food”; included is the tree of life”.

(g) The “earth creature” is destined not for death but for never-ending life.

(h) God forms the animals from the earth (the way “Mr. Man” had been formed) and are named by the humans.

(i) The woman is formed out of the rib from the side” and was to be “side by side” (partner) with him 2:20). There is equality and woman is to be man’s partner. “Earth creature” has two genders. But after expulsion from paradise, the man assumes a dominant position (Gen 3:14-19). A patriarchy emerges. But this patriarchy is not a prescriptive account but a descriptive one. This is not the way things should be (prescriptive) but an invitation is offered to correct the distortion of patriarchy and restore God’s original plan.

(j) J ends the peaceful story and deals with a human phenomenon – sin (evil) – in the account of the Fall. The couple are naked but unashamed. Gen 3:1-24 has another version found in Ezekiel 28. The story in Ez has similar pattern with the story in the Genesis account: (1) Eden, the garden (mountain of God), (2) the theme wisdom is present, (3) human pride and rebellion against God (the refusal to accept our place as creatures – the King of Tyre says, ‘I am a God’), (4) the guardian Cherubim, (5) expulsion form Eden.

(k) The phenomenon of evil (sin) is further elaborated in Gen 4:1-6 (killing of the brother), and in Gen 6: 1-4 (Tower of Babel).

(l) The root of sin is given an explanation. It is an arrogant assertion that refuses our place as creatures and aspires to be independent. There were many trees in the Garden “pleasant to the sight and good for food” (3:9), including the “tree of life” from which human beings can eat from. But the couple decided that it is from the “tree of life” that they must eat of.

(m) The serpent is arum (naked or crafty) – play of words. Humans thought that by following the serpent they can steal wisdom. They are not “wise or crafty” (arum) but naked – just like the serpent which is without any bodily covering and sheds its skin every year.

(n) The paradise pictured by the J is an image of a human life, which is peaceful, free of violence, with adequate food and clothing and a decent shelter.

(o) The term “original sin” describes the state or condition into which all human beings are born. The first couple was the ones responsible and the guilt is passed on from generation to generation (biological transmission). But this is no longer the acceptable view. The “depth” dimension of human experience, also called, as the “pre-personal disposition toward sin” will have to be explained in another way.

(p) The teaching on “original sin” is not found in Gen 3, as claimed by biblical scholars. It is a later development. Jewish teachers developed it. St. Paul, in his statements about salvation coming from God in Christ, uses it (Rom 5). St. Augustine developed the idea and his thoughts are the accepted view by the Western (Latin) Church. The Oriental Churches (Catholic and Orthodox) do not have any teaching on “original sin”.

1.1.4. Wisdom Literature

(a) (hokmā) creation appears as a mystery in its beauty and ugliness; indicates a synthetic spiritual view of nature as creation; there is no fundamental separation between sacred and profane

(b) the praise of creation emerges out of the awe and admiration of what God has created and continues to create (Job 9:10; Ps 139:14; Ps104, 145:10).

© that God is also responsible for the evil in the world is meaningful in this context; everything dies (2 Sam 14:14); (1) the classical answer- death is the punishment for sin; (2) reason – suffering and pain are trials, corrections, purifications (Sir 2:1-5), (3) the book of Job is an example of how faith becomes a critical act; not all sufferings and pain come the Creator-God.

(d) wisdom of God as co-creator

1.2. New Testament

1.2.1.The Good News and the Practice of Jesus

1. Creation at the end time

(a) Apocalypticism was the prevailing worldview during the time of Jesus. Apocaypticism meant the sudden appearance of God. The appearance of the God is preceded by the destruction of the world (creation).

(b) Jesus was not an apocalyptic; but there were apocalyptic themes and images in his proclamation of the Good News.

(c) For him the “end” is near, “the Kingdom of God is at hand”. He did not do away with the coming of the catastrophe, destruction, disharmony as signs of the coming end of the world. (Lk 17:27-29; Mt 24:37-41)

(d) He took seriously the possibility that the world would undergo future judgment. He even threatened his hearers with the possibility of hell.

(e) On that “day” there will be a disruption of human relationships, son will be against father, daughter will be against father, a household will be divided. (Mt 10: 34-36, Lk 14: 25ff).

2. The affirmation of what is passing

(a) “The Son of Man has come not to destroy but to save” (Lk 9:55); the world, even if it is so evil, has never lost its beautiful qualities. Creation as such and as it is, is full of worth.

(b) Jesus enjoyed the company of his disciples. He shared meals with them. He never called for the destruction of a Samaritan village just because he and his disciples were not received well. (Lk 9:54)

(d) The God of creation is not the God of destruction. God the Creator is the God of life.

3. Jesus and the Natural world

(a) When Jesus says, “the Kingdom of God is among you”, what did he mean? The Kingdom of God is not simply what is human. It includes whatever is in this world, universe, and cosmos.

(b) “Creation” has a wide application.

4. Agape with the “least”

(a) what do we make of the fact that there exist the economically poor, the ignorant, strangers, migrants, marginalized women, children born out of wedlock?

(b) ethics of creation calls for action on behalf of our marginalized neighbors (“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Lk 19:10).

(d) creation implies double action – God’s and the human beings’

(e) we will be judged according to what we have done to the least of our fellow human beings (Mt 25:31-46)

(f) Jesus took the lot of the marginalized on the cross; his passion was an expression of his solidarity with the underprivileged.

1.2.2. Paul: Christological dimension of creation

(a) the resurrection of the crucified; the pain and suffering of creatures and creation are the pains and sufferings of the crucified God; kenosis expressed in Phil 2:5-11

(b) The Lord is over all creation

whoever has conquered death has conquered sin (Rom 5: 12-21); “first-born of all creation” (Col 1:15), and “first born from the dead”; “God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, the Son through all things are, and through we exist” (1 Cor 8:6)

Christ event effected a new creation

the first Adam sinned and incurred death as the punishment for sin; the new Adam (1 Cor 15:45) brought salvation and will bring to fulfillment what God has promised

(d) the power of sin and grace

all of creation has been subjected to sin; through Adam sin has entered into the world

“…where sin increased, grace flowed all the more” (Rom5:20)

(e) the believer as a new creation

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17)

(f) “creation is groaning” (Rom 8:19)

all of creation is longing for the revelation of God’s glory

1.2.3. John: Dual meaning of creation

(a) Against the devaluation of body and matter; Gnosticism; Incarnation (Jn 1:14)

(b) Dual meaning of the world and its redemption

Summary:

(1) creation and salvation form one theme; creating-savior, saving-creator; creatio continua

(2) the hermeneutical task on primeval history; creation and value of human and non-human beings

(3) Wisdom is a key element for a theology of creation; it keeps the dialectical tension between what is natural and religious, knowledge and faith, matter and spirit, body and soul, time and eternity, here and beyond

(3) basis of the unity in creation (creation of two genders?); the relatedness of creation; non-separation of human and non-human; culture includes the material and the “spiritual”, (art, applied chemical, technical sciences)

(4) the significance of the creation of the human being

(5) proclamation of Jesus has an eschatological dimension (fulfillment in God)

(6) christological dimension of creation emphasized in Paul and John

(7) the cosmic-universal aspects of creation in Paul

2. Development of Dogmatic Teaching

2.1. Recapitulation (Irenaeus)

(a) Background: Gnosticism

(i) profound dualism between material world (darkness) and the spiritual world (light)

(ii) sharp distinction between the real, true and transcendental God and the inferior deity who was responsible for the creation of the material universe identified with the OT God

(iii) belief that there is a spiritual core within the human being which drives him/her to escape from a radically evil material creation

(iv) gnosis is the persuasion that the human being can ascend to the real and true origin, makes the awareness in human beings of their fallen state

(v) general awareness of a savior or saviors descending from the realm of light to the realm of the material world where the human being is trapped

(b) the God of Jesus Christ created all things; creation was the act of the Trinitarian God; God has become flesh; what God has assumed, God redeemed; the Spirit sanctifies all

(c) Jesus Christ fulfills the goal of history; he will come and will lead all to God; he is the head of all creation (Eph 1:10)

2.2. Divine Providence

(a) terms: Stoics: pantokrator, almighty, pronoia – providentia, (foreknowledge) predestination, fate (fatum)

(b) personalities and teachings: Clement of Rome – God as creator of time, author of beauty and harmony; example of growth of organisms (natural law); Basil of Caesarea– notion of providentia illumines natural phenomenon, natural processes explains theology; John Chrysostom – divine act can be traced in the history of the cosmos; the sense of order can be discerned; Athenagoras – God cares for the bigger things while the angels care for the little ones, Justin the Philosopher (Martyr) – God gives the overall providence, and accompanies the personal life history as well

2.3. Creation out of nothing

(a) terminological clarification - mé óntos (relative negation of being), ouk óntos (absolute negation of being)

(b) God creates neither out of pre-existent matter nor out of the divine Being itself; God creates out of freedom, out of love; theocentric framework-the focus is more on God rather on creation; opposing currents-pantheism, emanation

2.4. Creation between salvation and damnation (Augustine)

(a) Augustinian view of reality; background-Manichean, Stoicism, Neo-Platonic (Plotinus): mode, species, order; One, Intelligence, Soul; turn toward subject-psychological, mystical; binary notions: civitas dei- civitas terrana, malum-bonum

(b) Trinitarian dimension: energeia, opera, works; God as the highest good – summum bonum, summum esse (summum diffusivum sui); opus commune, nature of the good to be shared (caritas), operatio Dei ad extra, opus trinitatis ad extra, action Dei externa; creation happens “from the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.”

(c) Creation b/w being and non-being (nothingness?): hierarchy of beings – angels (pure spirits), human beings, animals, plants, inanimate matter (nihil); creatio ex nihilo--> conservatio a nihilo

(d) Time as an aspect of creation: world created not in time but with time, God made time together with creation (cum tempore creatus mundus), time exists as created time; questions: (i) where is the location of the beginning of time – in time or in eternity? (ii) is the flow of time its characteristic feature?

(e) Original sin and Adam’s world

the mystery of evil and the need for grace is overemphasized, evil is privation of good; evil is always attached to the good (malum non est nisi in bono)

theory of evil- physical and moral evil; metaphysical evil is concretized in different forms of physical evil (suffering, sickness, accidents, catastrophes, hunger, etc.); evolutionary theory? God has the power to use evil in the service of the good

source of teaching is from Vulgate translation of Rom 5:12: Gk- “sin came into the world through an individual human being… because (eph hô) all have sinned”; Lat- “ in whom (in quo) all have sinned”

peccatum (originale, generale); phenomenon of sin, mysterium iniquitatis, (structural-social, personal-individual); analogical concept

2.5. Devils, Demons and Angels

(a) in conflict with dualism, gnosticism: diabolus is not a creation of God but an independent principle of evil and the creator of matter; Council of Braga 561; against the Albigensians (12^th c.); Lateran IV (1215) “Trinitarian act of creation” (tota Trinitate communiter incarnatus); N.B. (i) symmetry, (ii) existence (phenomenon), (iii) person-analogy (personification)

(b) Evil spirit and angel in the Bible: anthropological experience expressed in language: (i) ha sátán – the adversary (ho diábolos), foe, opponent, antagonist, (Job 16:9; 30:31); in apocalyptic lit. the devil, at the end of times, will be overcome; embodiment of the opposition to God (and power of God); NT- a power opposed to creation (Mt 13:360, Jesus fought the devil (Mt 1:12f; 3:27), eschatological meaning; Dämonen (Legion) no mention in Jewish scripture; disorder immanent in nature (physical and psychical (psychosomatic) ailment), possession, (ii) OT – málák (Gk. ángelos)-messenger, envoy; not the essence but the function, (communication and information); theology only say how they work; (angelus…officii nomen est, non naturae, Augustine); N.B.: 1^st –“angel of God” - the genitive form “of” is to distinguish angels from God, 2^nd – sign of the transcendent (ex 33:2f; 2 Sam 14:17-20; Ex 14:19, 23:20), 3^rd – names are expressions about God – Michael (who is like God?) (Dan 10:13,21), Gabriel (strength of God) (Dan 8:15f), Rafael (God heals) (Tob 11:17-13); (ii) NT - John the Baptist compared to one (Mt 11:10), Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus (Lk 1:26), accompanied Jesus’ childhood (Lk 1f; Mt 1f), ministered to Jesus after the temptation (Mt 4:11; Lk 22:43), proclaimed the resurrection (Jn 3:30); ministering spirits (leitourgikà pneúmata) (Heb 1:14)

(c) Dogmatic teaching: (i) angelology- the magisterium has little to say, only in Lateran IV did the Church say about the creation of creatura angelica, Aquinas (De angelis) pure spirit, Humani generis- person analogy; (ii) demonology- there is more to say about devils and demons; embodiment of evil and opponent of creation, personalized form of sin Vat II- oppression, violence, injustice are concrete expressions of evil, (iii) possession, pathological and parapsychological phenomena. Council of Florence – “Evil has no nature because all nature is good”; evil is non-person, evil is not an excuse for the human being’s responsibility

Overview of the Patristic teaching

Anakephalaiosis	Creation is fundamentally from the creative act of the Trinity; she is hidden in Christ as the Head (Irenaeus; anti-Gnostic)
Providence	God has ordained the world to the Godself in order that God will become the Lord of all creation (Clement of Rome, influence of Stoics)
Creatio ex nihilo	The creation of the world is out of nothing; it is a confirmation of Christian monotheism (Hermas, Origen)
Salvation and Damnation	Theology of Time: what about evil? Devaluation of the material origin of (original) sin (Augustine)
Dualisms	Emergence/formation of the teaching on demonology and angelology; that they originated/shared in the reality of the good and evil principle

Short Historical Survey of the Interaction between Theology and Science (Biblical and Patristic Periods)

1. Creation in the Early Church and Greco-Roman Science

*biblical and patristic period – nature is governed by God’s laws; these laws were authored and administered by God hence they were subject to God’s ratification and amendment

Background: Meeting of Judaism and Greek thought

Justin Martyr

all truth inspired by God hence a suitable material for Christian scholarship; borrowed the idea of Stoic’s seminal Word (logos spermatikos) – God implanted this seed into all humans and that this seed inspired the best philosophy of the Greeks and the prophecies of the OT “Whatever right things said by any human being are properties of Christians”
various schools of Greek philosophy contradict each other hence they knew only a part of the Logos and not the fullness of the Word embodied in Christ
from his teacher he recalled that Greek philosophers were motivated by personal fame while Hebrew prophets were inspired by the Spirit and announced the truth to all

Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Pseudo-Clement (Clement of Rome)

had positive attitude towards the arts and sciences; concerned with communicating the gospel to pagans
advocated the study of quadrivium (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music)

Irenaeus, Tertullian (late 2^nd to 3^rd cent) - critical of Greek philosophy because it was responsible for the rise of a number of heresies within the Church

Irenaeus (because of bad experience of the Gnostics, his attitude towards Greek thought was biased)

condemned natural philosophers Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Empedocles and many others, called their teaching a ‘heap of miserable rags’ and from which Valentinian Gnostics derived their doctrines

claimed that mysteries like rising of the Nile and dwelling place of birds were far beyond human knowledge and better left if searched into the God who made them hence God alone can tell the truth about them

advised Christians to limit their studies to Scriptures and apostolic rule of faith

warned faithful that they too would end up confused like the Greeks if they inquire into the wonders of nature

Tertullian

Called Greek teaching as ‘uncertain speculations’, ‘worthless foibles’, ‘promiscuous conceits’

Complained that the philosopher’s stupid curiosity should be directed to the Creator and Governor
Greek cosmological speculations (Platonist, Stoic, Epicurean) influenced heresies of Valentinus and Marcion and causing a split within the Church

Concerned with unity of the Church and purity of doctrine

The pursuit of truth regardless of faith confession did not yet arrive; it would be provided in the Middle Ages; this was however advocated by Irenaeus and Tertullian

Basil of Caesarea (4^th cent)

Composed the Hexaemeron (Work of Six Days) – sermons or lectures on the work of God during the first six days; it is a criticism of Aristotle to last for 12 hundred years; gave birth to modern Western science in 17^th cent and degenerated into pure naturalism in 18^th and 19^th cent.

Made use of Aristotelian theory of 4 elements (air, water, fire, earth) to explain the appearance of heaven and earth

rejected Aristotelian idea that each element has a place in the cosmos

attributed the support of the earth in space and the gathering of the waters in their proper place (Gen 1:19)

Key points of the critiques of Aristotle

(1) behavior of the elements must be understood in terms of law ordained by God rather in terms of their essence

(2) the heavens and earth are both corruptible so the same laws of physics apply to them

(3) nature evolves according to the laws assigned to it without interruption or diminishment

2. The Early Church’s Account of Creation

Ø comprehensibility of the world

Human reason as the image of the Logos - a theme maintained by Clement of Rome, Origen, Pseudo-Silvanus and the Latins Tertullian and Lactantius, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzen, Basil of Caesarea

Openness of the world to human understanding = there are some other things which are beyond the human mind; maintained by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Lactantius, Basil. Examples are: reasons for the ebb and flow of the tides, causes of rain, thunder and lightning, differences in properties among various metals and stones (Irenaeaus), phases of the moon (Irenaeus, Lactantius), mode of the Earth’s support in space. The reasons are not clear, doubtful but they are factual phenomena.

the world was accessible to human understanding therefore it was encompassed by the God, hence finite in size and duration;

the infinity and finiteness of the world was and issue; Christian writers argued for the world’s non-eternity.

Classic case of Origen: there must have been a world where God must have exercised God’s power (the world was always there); but denied the co-eternity of the world, hence the world must have a beginning and an end.

Basil gave an interpretation to Origen’s thesis: Before the creation of finite world there must have been a spiritual world for the angels to live in. That world is eternal and infinite since they are purely intellectual creatures. But that world is beyond our comprehension hence we cannot say anything about it.

Boethius (d. 525) his treatise on arithmetic stressed that nothing infinite can be found and comprehended in science.

John Philoponus (d. 565) wrote two treatises refuting the eternity of the world, one against Proclus and the other against Aristotle

But the issue of the world’s eternity was never settled. Arab philosophers like al-Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) were ambiguous on the matter. Neoplatonist Christian writers adhered to the eternity of the world.

Main point: the natural world is comprehensible because it is circumscribed by the Logos who ordered it and this order is reflected in the human reason (mind)

Ø unity of heaven and earth

Philosophical question: Are the heavens animate or inanimate?

Animate:

Aristotle - heavens were composed of a fifth element, they were divine, stars and planets moved along with the heavens because they were alive and they had eternal souls

Pythagoreans/Platonists stars are divine intelligences due to the regularity of their motions

Inanimate:

Epicureans/Anaxagoras denied the regularity of their motion

Stoics - heaven and earth are permeated by the divine world soul; God and cosmos are identical

Christian writers

- Tatian criticized Aristotle for limiting providence to the heavens

- Athenagoras rejected Aristotle on the notion that the heavenly substance was divine

- Origen was condemned because he allowed the sun, moon, stars were endowed with life and intelligence in 2^nd council of Constantinople

- Tetullian pointed out that sun and moon could not be gods because they undergo change (eclipses)

- Athanasius - the Word of God holds all things together (Col 1:17; Heb 1:13)

- Lactantius - heaven could not be animate because their motions showed no variation

- Basil in Hexaemeron denied special status to the heavens

- In 4^th cent Theodore of Mopsuestia allowed the angels to have a role in moving the stars

- Jerome denied that the stars were alive

- In the 6^th cent., John Philoponus argued that what must be visible must be tangible hence the stars could not be angels; following Basil he claimed that heavenly bodies are fire because the differences in color and magnitudes are similar to terrestial fires; went to the extent of comparing the radiation of stars with that of animals like glowworms and luminescent fish; celestial bodies have form and substance hence a composite and therefore perishable and corruptible

Ø relative autonomy of nature

meaning: the self-sufficiency nature possesses by virtue of the fact that God gave it laws of operation; in the positive sense the laws were liberating (from chaos) and life-giving; negatively the laws were enslaving and inflexible; independence of nature is ‘relative’ in the sense of being relational to God and not self-originated and entirely self-determined; caused far more misunderstanding (this is an intro to the dispute between science and religion in 12^th cent.

Genesis account: Day and night; new generation of plants and animals; normal processes of reproduction; Lawfulness in the courses of the sun, moon and stars (Job 38:33; Ps. 19:14; 148:3; Jer 31:35) ebb and flow of the tides (Job 38:8-11; Ps 104:9)

Whenever the beneficial effects of God’s mighty deeds continue, the foundational work of God is said to continue, hence creatio continua or continuata

In the intratestamental period, the Jews developed a more independent nature due to the influence of Greek natural philosophy. Example is Jesus Ben Sirach ‘God arranged his works in an eternal order’

In mid-2^nd cent, Aristobolus (the first Jewish philosopher) argued that the God arranged the order of creation in such a ways to last for all time; God is never absent or inactive; regularity was sign of God’s presence and activity

Prior to Basil several witnesses already asserted the relative autonomy of nature: Arnobius of Sicca argued that the laws of nature and the finitude of cosmos were established at the beginning of time; this is opposition to the Epicurean who maintained that there is randomness and unboundedness in nature

Eusebius of Caesarea taught the sufficiency of the natural law (influence of Aristobolus); one of the first Christian writers to use the Greek term physis for nature; God established from the very beginning the stability of the firmament; the suspension of the earth; the orbits of the sun, moon and stars, the changing seasons; Basil –explained that there was order in creation (first vegetation then trees); introduced the notion of impetus or momentum; (1) used analogy of spinning tops to explain the celestial sphere (law of conservation of energy or momentum), (2) running ball (spontaneous generation of life; un-assisted activity in creation)

Pseudo-Clement (middle of 4^th cent) to whom the Recognitions is attributed, contributed a Christian direction to scientific investigation; written in Greek and translated into Syriac and Latin; phrases like ‘machine of the world’ ‘fabric of the world’ were prevalent; the paths of the stars are governed by ‘fixed laws and periods’; even the reproduction of animals is governed by God’s decree; the power of effective causation was present in nature by virtue of God’s creative decree

6^th cent John Philoponus – the idea that motion is conserved and that quantity depends only on the magnitude of the initial impulse; passed on to Arab philosophers such as: Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Bajja (Avempace), al-Baghdadi, al-Bitruji (Alpetragius); with few changes this was carried by such thinkers as Thomas Aquinas, Peter John Olivi and Francis of Marchia

Augustine of Hippo-transcendence of nature; seminal causes which God implanted are responsible for the unfolding of nature (world soul in Stoicism and Neoplatonism, Wisdom in Christianity); with him God’s rest and nature’s relative autonomy was pushed back to the first instant of time

Boethius – through his translations – he made available to the West the ideas of Euclid, Nichomacheus and Ptolemy; to be noted was his creationist faih and Christian altruism that sustained him

Cassiodorus – his organizing skills allowed to put up a library for his monks; introduced love of (critical) learning for the monks; provided monastery with sundial and water clock; composition of the revised computus (computational tables keyed to the year 562 for determining the dates of successive Easters)

Monasticism’ impact on the notion of time and liturgy: human life was patterned after the image of the lawful mechanism of the cosmos

Gregory of Tours (d. 594) wrote a treatise on stars to enable monks to program their schedule

Isidore of Seville (d. 636) distinguished astronomy as the study of the stars (lawful courses of the heavenly bodies and astrology as dealing with personal horoscopes

Venerable Bede (c. 672 – 735) grew up and studied in Jarrow; devoted to study, learning and teaching; organized the monitoring of tides in the English coast; wrote works on time measurement and chronology

Virgil (born in Ireland or Scotland) of Salzaburg opposite side of the world might be inhabited by antipodes; Boniface (apostle of Germany) opposed him; Celtic tradition vs. Anglo-Saxon Benedictine tradition; Boniface was concerned about the re-emergence of paganism: their conflict was a mirror of two emerging traditions out of the creationist tradition – progressive and conservative

Gerbert of Aurillac – European mathematician who became the first French Pope, Sylvester II; traveled to Spain and studied Arabic science; taught astronomy at the cathedral school in Rheims; illustrated his lectures with astronomical instruments; used Hindu-Arabic numerals

Fulbert built the cathedral school of Chartres was interested in Neoplatonism considered to be the idea which sowed the beginnings of modern science

“Conservatives”

Peter Damian (d. 1072) use of reason to draw inferences in theological matters was too much; the autonomy of natural order be seen in the context of the natural law in the divine decree; went to the extent of stressing the potentia absoluta of God

William of St. Thierry (d. 1148) complained of Peter Abelard and William of Conches to Bernard of Clairvaux on theological matters; his case against William of Conches’ dualistic tendencies regarding the human person (On the Nature of the Body and Soul)

“Progressives”

Adalard - there are alternatives in explanation (1) natural order and work of God (2) rational investigation and Christian faith; ‘…when human reason fails, then the matter should be referred to God’

William of Conches – began to distinguish the work of God and work of nature; ordering in Genesis should be subject to scrutiny and not authoritative; rejected Gen 1:7 about the existence of waters above the visible heaven as unnatural and contrary to reason

Result: ontological dichotomy between God and nature reflected in spheres in human existence: (1) moral and spiritual- Church sphere, (2) technological and natural (human art and science)

Ø healing (and restoration)

Jews were concerned about restoration to health rather than to technology because of their faith and social condition saw the need for physical redemption but failed in recognizing the potential of technology

Greeks were more concerned about (following the Babylonians and the Egyptians) the rudiments of technology (iron) but never saw the full value of them

The Creator poured out God’s healing power and blessings to God’s people through the ministry of Jesus (Mt 8:1-10; Mk 1:9-45; Lk 4:14-19; Acts 3:1-16)

History of two traditions:

(1) apocryphal sources: example of Frontina from the apocryphal document of the Third Epistle to the Corinthians: “One is God, who made heaven and earth, who has given life to the daughter.”

(2) apologists (Justin of Martyr, Athenagoras, Theophilus) – polemical approach hence the social dimension of Western thought was developed

Irenaeus of Lyons (2^nd cent.) brought back the two traditions

-in his fight with the Gnostics: God is responsible for creation God will also be responsible for the resurrection; performance of miracles/healings was not for reward but for the benefit of the needy

Pseudo-Clement (Homilies)

on the healing of a crippled old woman: ‘If I be the herald of truth, in order to (confirm) the faith of the bystanders, that they may know that there is one God, who made the world, let her straightaway rise whole.’

On the ‘magic’ done by Simon Magus (statues walking and flying): ‘… miracles of compassionate truth are philanthropic, such as you have heard the Lord (Jesus) did, and that I after him accomplish by my prayers…’

4^th cent. rise of cenobitic movements (monastic or communal life) and public hospitals

Pachomius of Upper Egypt – first cenobite communities where a minimal degree of health care started; they did not claim any special powers but extended the early Christian belief that God is the creator of all things

Basil of Caesarea

Reasons why Basil was significant in the synthesis of Christian faith and Greek medicine

Studied under Libanius who taught the philosophy of philanthropy from the Stoics (an ordinance of God’s will for the welfare of society)

Studied classical sciences (astronomy, geometry and arithmetic) in Athens and was interested in the art of medicine (because of delicate health)

Contacts with monastic life in Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt; first hand experience of their ministry of healing and service

Two noteworthy incidents

Famine of 369 CE – Basil swayed the rich to donate stores of grain to feed the poor; Theological reasons: (1) belief in radical change – God is the creator of all; (2) ideal of self-less service
Establishment of first public hospital; theological foundation: (1) medical care is the same as ministry of healing, (2) the hospital was for the poor and not for personal fame

Cultivation and theological interpretation of manual arts: (1) development in Syria and Mesopotamia after Basil – school of Edessa; this trend was the root of Islamic medical tradition, (2) Christian physicians in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, (3) Transmission of medical knowledge in the Latin West – founding of public hospitals (4^th cent.)

Factors to be accounted for: (1) local conditions, (2) motives and efforts of numerous individuals, (3) theological convictions

Medical care was intimately linked to belief in creation and ethic of selfless service

In the fifth century and in the later period this insight was lost sight of

East – Ephraim of Syria (d. 373) same as with Basil; his influence to Syriac Christianity was great but the understanding of healing ministry after his time can no longer be attested

West – Jerome asked the wealthy Romans to provide care for the poor; founders of Western monasticism – Cassian –taught the spiritual gift of healing; Cassiodorus – and Benedict of Nursia – included the care of the sick in their instructions to the monks

Gregory the Great (pope 590-604) justice for the poor; Isidore of Seville – study of medicine mentioned in monastic school curriculum

Then came Fulbert (d 1028) who introduced two type of medicine: (1) earthly, natural based on use of herbs and prayers and, (2) supernatural based on miraculous powers like raising the dead to life by a mere word; similar to scholastic distinction of potentia ordinata and potentia absoluta

A parallel distinctive development in institutions happened – professional secular medicine became separated from spiritual care

In the 12^th cent. clergy defined themselves in opposition to professional physicians; Ex of Arnold Bonneval who in describing the rebuilding of Clairvaux (1136) was so enthusiastic about the new water technology that he forgot to mention the church being re-built

Hugh St. Victor – various technologies or mechanical arts were means to alleviate suffering; restore nature’s integrity and relieve weakness present in life

Dogmatical Teaching

Text	Date	Main points
Creed		God is the only creator of the world
Toledo I	400	Establishment of the teaching (dogma) on creation
Synod of Constantine	543	Creation is a free act of God
Synod of Braga	561	God is the creator of all things
Creed against the Waldensians	1208	God is the creator of all things
Lateran IV	1215	All things come from God (vs. Dualism)
John XXII	1329	Condemnation of Meister Eckhart
Council of Florence	1442	God has created *all* things (vs. Dualism)
Syllabus of Pius IX	1864	Condemnation of Pantheism and Deism
Vatican I	1870	God the universal creator; God and world are different; condemnation of pantheism; creation as an act of God returns to God
Vatican II	1962-65	Optimistic attitude towards the world

On Vatican I

Hegel and Marx: Philosophy of the Spirit- exclusion of the God from the process of history (dialectic of idea and matter); Deism (God who created the world has no longer any influence on the world)

Darwin: Theory of Evolution (Emergence of Species through Natural Selection, 1859)- fundamental difference between the divine act and inner self-development (complexification of matter); Panentheism (God works necessarily as the principle in all/Pantheism (nature and God are identical)

The goodness of God as the beginning (origin) and end (goal) of Creation; God creates out of God’s goodness (bonitate sua) not to increase God’s holiness or glory but to share; Augustine- creation is the history of the three persons (ad extra); link b/t revelation and creation; Alpha & Omega; not a question of two goals of creation; Irenaeus: the glory of God is man fully alive (Gloria Dei vivens homo); absence of sin and sinfulness; all that God has created protected and guided by God’s providence

On Vatican II

Trinitarian context of the creation of the human being (GS 19/1); created out love (ex amore); being is communion (communio et colloquium) with Creator; “new Adam and mystery of the human being” (GS22/1); eschatological reality is offered to all (of good will) through the work of the Holy Spirit (GS 22/4); out of the agape of the Trinity, all are asked to participate in the eternal community and till its consummation

Mission of creation: love (ethical vocation) (GS 37/4); meaning of the Eucharist (GS 38/2); through the love/life b/w male and female the love of God is shown (GS 50/2); achievement of humanity is a sign of God’s greatness

Unfortunately, responsibility towards the natural world has not been touched much more its ecological dimension

Recognition of the value of technology; poses the question of the purpose of human ingenuity; relationship b/w research and moral law (GS 36/1); stain of sin; battle of good and evil; meaning of “autonomy of earthly affairs”; use of creation in the spirit of poverty and freedom (GS 37/2)

Consummation is not pure wonder and ecstasy but righteousness (GS 39/1); no idea of the moment of consummation and the manner of transformation; Reign (Kingdom) of holiness and grace, justice, love and peace (GS 39/3)

Theological Reflections

1. Problem of divine and human agencies is expressed in the meaning of divine providence, preservation, concurrence and government

2. Reasons why theology should dialogue with natural sciences (physics, biology, genetic, psychology, information technology, engineering sciences)

M. Planck: religion and natural sciences are bound to each other; W. Heisenberg: complementarity of objective knowledge and moral-ethical values; M. Eigen: the integration of the natural sciences into the worldview of Christian faith; P. Jordan: moral and cultic dimensions are interrelated

3. Vatican II: evolution (Humani Generis) emergence of the human being – result of the development of the cosmic and molecular, political and cultural aspects of life

4. Problems: Can one unified action issue simultaneously from two free agents? How does God preserve the freedom of a finite agent when acting together? Is God ultimately responsible for evil – problem of theodicy?

5. Method: language; common base (platform) (from below-Christology; relativity and quantum theory); complementarity (“duality” [two sides of reality], phenomenon of light - wave and particle, energy and mass are identical, smallest component of matter), analogy, experience (b/w natural science and faith), model (classical-clock; 19^th – motor (machine); now-artwork?), and religious symbols; meaning of nature (Gr. phýsein, (Lat. nasci- to grow, to be born) and creation

(abrupt organization of matter from a chaotic, structureless primeval form, emergence of actual matter from a featureless void, the entire physical world from nothing)

Illustration table

culture	center	beg	end	ter	ete	Sta	ev
Ear	Eath	*	*	*		*
Egy	Eath			*
Bab	earth	*
Ant	earth	*
Mid	earth	*	*	*		*
Gal	Sun	*	*	*		*
Cla					*	*
Mod		*	*				*

Religion and Science

1. Physics (Cosmology) and Belief in Creation

Classical physics (Galileo, Laplace, Newton, Einstein), absolute space, space-time continuum; God’s attribute of endlessness and eternity; Giordano Bruno: God has an eternal duration like the sun and the planets

Newton: in absolute space is the sensorium of God; eternal essence of God became measurable. God is embodied; God’s will is reflected in the laws of nature (pantheistic); interplay between nature and God; no longer determinism

Einstein: (general theory of relativity) space-time continuum; height, depth, width – three dimensions; introduced the fourth dimension: time-continuum – fractal (broken dimension) - chaos theory; Gravitation is responsible for space and time warps; notion of elasticity; we are a cosmic event; a product of many light years; notion of simultaneity (subject-object); notion of act of faith or sacramentality; history will terminate

(special theory of relativity); ultra high speed approximating the speed of light (300,000 km/sec); mass and energy are equivalent whose mathematical expression is E=mc²; mass has energy and energy has mass; matter could be created by electron and anti-electron pair (positrons)

First law of thermodynamics-low entropy (order); Second law of thermodynamics-high entropy (disorder)

“mind”- high level-concept in nature’s hierarchy of structure (reference is consciousness)

Quantum – behavior of atomic and sub-atomic matter (practical –laser, electron microscope, transistor, superconductor, nuclear power); phenomena- chemical bonding, structure of atom and nucleus, conduction of electricity, mechanical and thermal properties of solids, stiffness of collapsed stars

Unpredictability – moment of decay of individual atomic nucleus

Quantum allows effects to be without a cause (used for God’s existence G….<….E…<…E…<….E); N. Bohr – uncertainty is intrinsic to nature; Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle – the concept of an atom’s definite location and motion is meaningless (location and movement of an atom of electron can’t be known: “Where is it and how fast is it going?”); answers can be had for one but never for both

Bohr says that when an observation is made then atom takes shape, when no observation is made, atom is a ghost

Is an atom a thing or an abstract construct of imagination to explain a wide range of observations? Quantum is both a thing and an abstract construct!

Wave-particle: wave is a small lump of concentrated stuff; particle is an amorphous disturbance that can spread out and dissipate; (hardware-software; mind-body); a wave of probability;

T. Young’s two-slit system; M. Planck - wave can sometimes behave like particles (photons); light comes in invisible lumps or packets (quantum); Einstein – these corpuscular photons can knock electrons out of atoms (Ex. of two stones dropped on a still pond, waves cancel each other out)

Bohr-hybrid reality; Einstein – we cannot create a hybrid world

J. Wheeler-possible to delay the choice of measurement of strategy until after the photon has passed through the screen; decision to make a hybrid world can be delayed until after the world has come into existence; quantum blurs the distinction between subject and object, cause and effect and introduces a holistic element onto our world

Consciousness plays an essential role in the nature of physical reality

God and existence

Relationship between matter and spirit (Mind and Soul, Self)

Mental and physical worlds (spiritual-physical); res extensa, res cogitans; how do they dynamically interact? Can free will have room in predictive laws?

Can machines think? (artificial intelligence); consciousness; materialism (behaviourism)-idealism; vitalism, soul-life force (vital, animating influence), breath of life (NT- self, mind); location of the soul? (Descartes-pineal gland in the brain)

Philosophy of the mind, two-level or multi-level, functionalism

Self- memory, personal identity, continuity, human I, ego, subject, re-incarnation; natural progress from inanimate to animate to the conscious

Objectivity and Subjectivity

Is absolute objectivity possible? hard (exact) sciences? Humanities?

In human medicine, the doctor must by all means diagnose and heal the patient with utmost objectivity. But in many cases it is impossible to attain; inter-subjective approach; patient – doctor - medicine relationship

After quantum theory absolute objectivity has become a myth; object, medium and observer are the three dimensions that constitute reality; meaning of revelation; unfolding of creation –God and creation are participants; the experimenter decides over the object of observation, chooses the measuring tool, sets up own method, raises which questions to answer; intuition and creativity, “luck” are some features of a new “discovery”

Necessity & Contingence

Complexity and organization (purposive action) (teleology); Aristotelian philosophy;

Meaning of (natural) law; does a creature follow a predetermined goal or not? How to explain weak(est) links? (“black sheep”, “ugly duckling”); Genetic defects (original sin); social (cultural) construction of reality; accidents/contingency; notion of indeterminacy (Heisenberg); undetermined relation

Pannenberg’s “contingent event”; vs (necessary) event; “perichoresis” of accident and necessity; category of freedom in the relationship b/w God and human being; emergence of the homo sapiens due to the interplay of freedom; “blind combination” (law of natural selection); can human beings play God when they “tamper” with nature?

T. Torrance - “contingent order” God’s freedom in creating is voluntary choice; God alone is infinitely free; both the existence and the structure of the world might have been differently ordered; the world is ultimately dependent on God; “methodical secularism” the world can be studied on its own because as created it has its own independent reality distinct from God

A. Einstein – contingency is threat to belief in the rationality of the world, “cosmic religious sense”, “deep faith in the rationality of the world”; rejects idea of a personal God who acts arbitrarily; uncertainties of quantum reflect our human ignorance; rationality is order

J. Polkinghorne – God is the common ground of rationality in our minds and in the world; rationality is God; God’s faithfulness (chance); invokes logos and Word of God

R. Russell – (1) contingent existence – why is there anything at all? Existence of cosmos (finite or infinite in time) is not explanatory; existence is the datum important to theology; does creatio ex nihilo express wonder and mystery? (2) contingent boundary conditions – If there was a beginning, it was a singularity to which the laws of physics do not apply: it cannot be scientifically explained; time is infinite? – there is no beginning; imaginary time of Hawking? Beginning was assumed by Church thinkers; Aquinas - beginning was example of dependence on God; states or situation treated as givens by scientists, (3) contingent laws – many laws in cosmology are arbitrary; laws for higher emergent levels of life and mind are not derivable from physics; history of the cosmos involves history and chance; “Theory of Everything” does not apply to amoeba, Shakespeare, Beethoven, (4) contingent events – random mutations in evolution, freedom in human life; novel aspects of continuing creation; coming-to-be is continuing process throughout time; cosmology adds its own reasons for wonder at order, intelligibility, and aesthetic simplicity of the universe; each successive level of reality needs the structures of lower levels; God participates in temporal events; important questions are not about beginning but about subsequent events

Significance of Humanity

Function of creation stories: to locate present human experience in the context of larger significance

Galileo and Copernicus – moved the center; Darwin demoted humans from the cosmic scheme; Can the biblical story be reconciled with the modern cosmology?

(1) Immensity of Space and Time – 15 b years for heavy elements to be cooked in the interior of stars and then be scattered to form second generation of stars with planets, followed by the evolution of life and consciousness; how should significance be measured? By size and duration or complexity and consciousness?

(2) Interdependence – we are part of an ongoing community of being (HIV/AIDS, names of sickness b/w rich and poor); because of vast distances we are cut off from communication with most of the universe

(3) Life on other Planets – possibility of life in nearby galaxies (not for biologists); possibility of superior beings is a warning against anthropocentricism; calls into question the claims of God’s revelation in Christ; was the work of the logos, eternal word, confined to its self-expression in Christ? issue/question in religious pluralism

(4) Chance and Purpose – traditional view: God’s purpose in creation is identified with order; God’s sovereignty led to a sense of determinism; anything that happens is in accordance to God’s plan; any element of chance is a threat to God; scientists and philosophers who are impressed by chance are led to reject theism (B. Russell, J. Monod, S. J. Gould, S. Weinberg, chance and theism are incompatible?); can there be purpose without any predetermined plan?

Eschatology – cosmos, individual and society; types of eschatological stories (1) myth of cyclical return, (2) end of time; diversity of future expectations – open, closed, oscillating (freezing & heat death)

2. The Theory of Evolution and Belief in Creation

2.1. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859)

*in every population there are small variations which can be inherited

*the struggle for survival conferred to the variations a competitive edge, and over a long period, natural selection became a characteristic for survival (survival of the fittest); The Descent of Man (1817) include the human being;

Challenges to Theology: (1) biblical literalism, the slow process of evolution is irreconcilable to the 7-day creation account, (2) human dignity, no sharp distinction b/w human and animal life, (3) design; adaptation could be explained by impersonal forces and natural selection

2.2. Evolutionary Theory

population genetics; Mendel’s law of heredity; mutations and recombination of units of heredity (genes) from parents are sources of variation; genetics and evolutionary theory= Julian Huxley 1942 called it the “Modern Synthesis” (E. Mayer, T. Dobzhanksy. G. Simpson)

Modern Synthesis – evolution works slowly and gradually by accumulation of small changes; changes are induced by environment; mutants not useful in one environment may be more adaptable in another; Darwin’s day – natural selection was survival of the fittest; nowadays – selection = differential reproduction and survival; importance of cooperation and competition; study of ecosystems yields patterns of interdependence

Lamarck - evolution was due to animal behavior which, in turn produced physiological modifications (giraffe’s neck); Darwin - change was due to external forces

Early century (Baldwin and Lloyd Morgan) defended “organic selection” – environment selects organisms and vice versa; internal drives modify decisively evolution (curiosity, initiative, self-adaptation, instinct, learning) A. Hardy – ‘psychic life’ of the animal is the most powerful creative element in evolution

2.2. Issues in the Current Debate

Punctuated Equilibrium = MT – gradual and slow vs. Goldschmidt, Gould, Eldredge – bursts of rapid speciation

Nonadaptive Changes = MT natural selection is primary directive force and that new trait is an adaptation that contributes to survival (“panselectionism”) vs Gould, Lewontin; selection is not an exclusive factor – detrimental changes, genetic drift

Multilevel Selection = MT individual organisms are selected and their genes are passed on vs. reductionistic approach (altruism and genetic determinism)

Active Role of Genes = Neo-Darwisnism - directionality of evolution is the result of natural selection but random mutations and recombination of genes provide raw materials of change; information is from genes to proteins

DNA and the Origin of Life

Watson and Crick (1953); DNA molecule is a double strand; each strand projects a nucleotide base (A –T; C-G) crucial property – replication; if two strands separate, every base in each strand will attract a new partner base and will build up new partner strand identical to the old one (A, T, G, C in exactly the same order); mutations occur because of a damage or by defective replication

Protein chains are built out of the 20 amino acids; DNA remains in the cell nucleus but its distinctive sequences are copied on single strands of RNA-messenger and carried to other parts of the cell where amino acids are assembled into protein chains; the distinctive group of three bases corresponds to each of the 20 amino acids; a genetic code is present here! The order of triplets in the DNA determines the order in which the amino acids are assembled; genetic alphabet – three letter words (specifying one of the amino acids) arranged in sentences (specifying one of the particular proteins); from the 20 basic words – thousands of possible proteins can come out; they are made of the same four bases in various sequences; how could DNA and the genetic code have arisen?

Information and systems theory; information in the genes and in the environment; DNA is part of a developmental and functioning program

How does evolution exhibit chance and directionality? In mutations; genetic recombination, genetic drift climatic variations, evolution is historical – evidenced in growth to higher levels of organization, trend toward greater complexity and sentience

2.2. Theological Implications

(1) Chance and Design

Does evolution follow a directional process? Patterns of different directions rather than uniform stream; pervasive role of chance; Monod – “blind chance” existence of organisms is accidental and not by design; we alone introduce meaning in human life; interplay of chance and law

(2) Creation and Evolution

(i) Approaches: conflict, independence, dialogue,

(ii) Integration

Natural theology: Can theistic conclusions be drawn directly from evolutionary evidence? There is a wide diversity and divergence in nature; limited role of the teleological argument in theology; what function does natural theology play in theological reflection?

Theology of Nature: what is God’s relation to nature (what is God’s involvement in the world); features of creatio continua- dynamic, interdependent, humanity is part of the evolutionary process; Peacocke, Teilhard de Chardin (distinction b/w chance and neo-Darwinism, directionality b/w “operation of the within”

Systematic Synthesis: Inclusive metaphysical system; important place of temporality and change; interdependence; what is the workable metaphysical system available and for us?

Review Questions

1. Explain the biblical basis of creation.

1.1. What are the pertinent OT passages that indicate a positive attitude towards creation?

1.2. Elaborate specific OT passages which refer to creation.

1.3. How is evil explained by the Jahwist writer?

1.4. Is original sin taught by Gen 3?

1.5. Explain the prevailing worldview during Jesus’ time through which creation and the end time can be seen.

1.6. Can we draw out, from the NT, guidelines for our ethical stance towards creation?

1.7. What is Paul’s view on creation?

1.8. Discuss John’s view on creation.

1.9. Do the OT and NT have a coherent teaching on creation and eschatology?

2. Explain the patristic understanding of creation.

2.1. Explain Irenaeus’ idea of recapitulation

2.2. How was providence understood during this period?

2.3. Explain Augustine’s view on creation, salvation and damnation

2.4. What was the patristic authors’ understanding of devils, demons and angels?

2.5 & 2.6. Explain the features of the early Church’s understanding of creation. Include important names of persons.

3. Explain the dogmatical teachings on creation. Know the dates, the content and the problems being addressed by the teachings.

4. What issues/questions does modern cosmology (physics) bring up which the belief in creation must face?

4.1. Say something about quantum theory, theory of relativity and their implications for the claim that God is involved in our world.

4.2. What clarification does modern science (physics) contribute to the relationship of matter and spirit? Is there a sharp line b/w human and non-human, mind and matter?

4.3. What roles do objectivity and subjectivity play in science and theology?

4.4. How can one integrate necessity and contingence in the theology of creation?

4.5. What themes about the human being can one draw from the insights of modern science (physics and biology)?

5. How does the theology of evolution impact on our belief in creation?

5.1 Explain the theory of evolution

5. 2. What does evolutionary theory do to our understanding of design and purpose?

5.3. Explain the relationship b/w natural theology and belief in God, theology of nature and environmental ethics.

Sources

1. Book Reviews

2. Lecture Notes

3. Required Readings

B. Prusak, “Bodily Resurrection in Catholic Perspectives,” Theological Studies 61 (2000): 64-105

E. Johnson, “Does God Play Dice? Divine Providence and Chance,” Theological Studies 57 (1996): 3-18

1. God is the source of existence

Creation theologically is the relationship between God and all that is not God. Scientifically, creation refers to the beginning of the physical universe in which we live.

Working Definitions

Entelechy

Chaos Theory

Entropy

Evolutionary Theory

Galaxy

Hominization

Complex system

Ontogenesis

Phylogenesis

Quantum Theory

Relativity Theory

Self-organization

cosmology – study of nature and development of the universe; study of origin, structure and space-time relationships in the universe

cosmogony – creation or origination of the world or universe

creation – totality of what is not God - natural world, cosmos, human, non-human; nature; anything produced something superior and dependent on that superior something

world – planet earth

universe – planets, stars, galaxy, solar system, milky way

theology of nature – belief in terms of contemporary views of the natural world; theology from the perspective of who we are; nature can be known through God; knowledge of the natural world in the light of God;

natural theology – God can be known through creation; tries to find contact between belief and knowledge of the world; knowledge of God in the light of the natural world;

doctrine of creation – God is the ultimate creator of the world; we have the 7-day scheme as one popular model; it has “to do primarily with the ultimate dependence of all things on one transcendent reality”

scientific materialism – metaphysical position which says that the true nature of an entity is manifest in its constituent parts (atoms, molecules)

Anthropic Principle – states that the universe has the properties we observe today, because had its earlier properties been significantly different, we should not be here (exist) to observe it

Big Bang - that initial moment considered by the cosmologists as the coming to be of the universe; a theory of the beginning of the universe which envisages that the event resulted to a powerful cosmic explosion of unimaginable proportions from a state of extreme density and compression; proposed in 1948 by George Gamow, Ralph Alpher, and Robert Herman

Steady State theory – theory of the universe which states that there is a continuous creation of matter which fills up the voids left by the expanding universe; proponents were Thomas Gold, Hermann Bondi, with theoretical support from Fred Hoyle;

Pantheism – God is identified with nature

Panentheism – God is in the world and the world is in God

Deism – God is creator of the universe but denies that God is present in it or intervenes on it as revealer or savior

Teleology – discourse about finality

Reductionism – belief that all phenomena can be exhaustively explained by reducing them to their simplest and lowest component parts

Contingency – dependence on some other events or conditioned by some other events or happenings, unpredictability; unforeseen event; possibility

Production model – God created something; emphasis on the beginnings of creation rather than its continuation

Procreation model – the world comes from, and is formed from God

Emanationist – the life-giving energy of creation emanates from its divine source

Creationist – God created all things in accordance with his laws; these laws were comprehensible to human beings; God gave the world a sense of relative autonomy and a high degree of unity; then God sent the son to redeem the creation

Creationist account – 12^th cent. (Kaiser)

Rationality of nature – with or without the stipulation that it be finite

Commensurable rationality of the human mind – (hence comprehensibility of nature to the human being

Unity of heaven and earth – with or without the association of the heavens with ruling angels

Relative autonomy of nature based on God’s creative word and power

Creationist or transcendent-creationist (Dales) 12^th cent.

Gulf between God and the world

The de-animation of nature

Creatio ex-nihilo

Consequent goodness, self-sufficiency and rationality of nature

Tendency to view nature in mechanistic terms

Modern day ‘ceation science’or ‘ceationism’

Factors that facilitated the change

1. nineteenth cent. Physics became highly mathematical

2. public developed a truncated image of science

3. creative theologian defended the place of religion in a world where truth claims are validated not by authority but by science

Astronomy and Physics

Gnosticism

1. profound dualism between material world (darkness) and the spiritual world (light)

2. sharp distinction between the real, true and transcendental God and the the inferior deity who was responsible for the creation of the material universe identified with the OT God

3. belief that there is a spiritual core within the human being which drives him/her to escape from a radically evil material creation

4. gnosis is the persuasion that the human being can ascend to the real and true origin, makes the awareness in human beings of their fallen state

5. general awareness of a savior or saviors descending from the realm of light to the realm of the material world where the human being is trapped

Plato in Timeaus – God created the world from some pre-existent matter; evil comes frm the intractability of pre-existent matter; Theophilus of Antioch began teaching creatio ex nihilo to counteract this Gnostic idea

Three Models of Creation within Christian tradition (McGrath)

1. Emanation – created order derives from God; light or heat radiating from the sun (light from light of Nicene Creed); strength (1) establishes close connection between creator and creation; weaknesses (1) the image of sun radiating light or fire radiating heat implies an involuntary action rather than a conscious decision to create; cannot express the prior decision of God to create, (2) impersonal nature of the model (God is a person [personality] in the act of creation and the subsequent creation itself

2. Construction – God is master builder deliberately constructing the world; imagery communicate the ideas of purpose, planning and deliberate intention to create; the attention is to both creator and creation; highlights skill of creator and beauty of creation; weakness (1) creation involves pre-existent matter – conflicts with idea of creatio ex-nihilo; notion of assembly is deficient; strengths (1) character of creator is expressed in creation (natural world) (2) imparting of order to created reality is affirmed

3. Artistic expression – creation is the “handiwork” of God; creation is a work of art beautiful in itself and expresses the personality of the creator; strengths (1) supplements the deficiency of the two models – impersonal to personal, (2) possible to think of creation from nothing (ex. composer, novel), (3) encourages to seek the self-expression of God in creation, (4) gives added credibility to natural theology; weakness (1) model could lead to idea of pre-existent matter, (4) existence of natural link between artistic expression and beauty

Modern speculation seemed to have no link to Christian tradition – Process theology (God is not creator)

Creation and Time

Musings of Augustine

You have made time itself. Time could not elapse before you made time. But if time did not exist before heaven and earth, why do people ask what you were then doing? There was no “then” when there was no time . . . It is not in time that you precede times. Otherwise, you would not precede all times. In the sublimity of an eternity which is always in the present, you are before all things past and transcend all things future, because they are still to come, and then they have come they are past . . . You created all times and you exist all times. Nor was there any time when time did not exist (229-230)

Musings of Paul Davies

People often ask: When did the big bang occur? The bang did not occur at a point in space at all. Space itself came into existence with the big bang. There is a similar difficulty over the question: What happened before the big bang: The answer is, there was no “before.” Time itself began at the big bang. As we have seen, Saint Augustine long ago proclaimed that the world was made with time and not in time, and that is precisely the modern scientific tradition

features of the world (nature) regularity and intelligibility (order) and beauty

Creation – act of God (participation of Christ and Holy Spirit; intra-Trinitarian life);

-- world of creature (human and non-human); production; conservation; governance = divine providence; contingency (concursus divinus; divine cooperation); divine creativity (as challenged by the notion of inertia in 17^th cent.; space and time

Medieval Theology and Science

Aristotelianism on Theology

(Re) Discovery of Aristotle ?; How the Church confront Aristotelianism

Revelation and Theology – Science and Reason

– two modes of knowing (1) sense perception by way of abstraction (2) revelation by way of illumination and faith

image of two books by Bonaventure – one where the attributes of God could be discerned but because of sin there is a second book (Holy Scriptures) which provides reliable knowledge of ethical and theological matters

Questions posed to theology by the naturalism of Aristotle

(1) Is the universe eternal or not?

-Pros: William of Auvergne, Bonaventure, Albert the Great (finitude is probable because philosophy alone cannot demonstrate that God was the cause of the existence of the world)

-Con: Thomas Aquinas (contra Albert he maintained that it could be shown by reason that God is the efficient cause of world’s existence); (contra Bonaventure, the infinity of the world is not implied in the world’s dependence on God)

-Argument: God was believed to have created the world a finite time ago (Gen 1) vs. because of the regularity and lawfulness of nature it is virtually impossible for reason to discover any actual ‘beginning’

-Problem bequeathed by creationist: potential eternity and the actual finitude of the world

(2) Is God the prime Mover or clockmaker?

Cause: Fusion of Aristotelian cosmology and the biblical ceationist account

Ancient Near East – Kingship

Neoplatonic (Augustinian) – transcendent Being

Aristotle – First Mover

Medieval – Clockmaker

Effect: Distancing of God’s normal activity

Introduction of clockwork mechanism and production of weight-driven clocks

(3) Is God’s power absolute?

Assimilation of Aristotelian cosmology to Christian cosmology led to greater distance (remoteness) of God; advantageous to Christians to revert back to God’s absolute power when God’s freedom and sovereignty are threatened by ideas of potential eternity of the universe and hierarchy of causes

Roger Bacon - even if we allow for God’s absolute power through second causes one must still allow God’s absolute power

Thomas Aquinas - God’s normal activity is present through agency of celestial spheres and angelic movers; although he also maintained that God’s ability to act apart from the order of nature does not compromise the regularity in nature; order of nature is doubly contingent: (1) God could act differently from the normal order because God is the creator, (2) God is not bound by order; in fact God can produce ordinary effects without precedence and God can produce unprecedented effects under the normal order of things

Siger of Brabant attacked positions of Thomas Aquinas; condemnation of 1277 by Stephen Tempier were articulations of the conservative side (1) protecting God’s sovereignty, (2) affirming a possibility of a vacuum, (3) affirming a possibility of worlds

Effect: (1) emphasis on God’s power was detrimental to predictablility of natural processes and reliability of reason, (2) the adoption of Thomistic thought precipitated a fragmentation of scholastic theology into Thomists, Scotists, Ockhamists)

Henry Langenstein (14^th cent.) – sorted out the best possible alternatives; reason could determine the causes of natural phenomena but if they prove recalcitrant to reason then one can appeal to God’s inscrutable ways (why stars twinkle and planets do not? Because God made them that way); it will take 4 centuries before mathematics and physics will establish that God has no room in nature; God of Scripture became the ‘God of the gaps’ in the middle ages.

Influence of theology on science

(1) concept and method of natural science

relative autonomy of natural sciences in relation to theology

Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas were for autonomy of sciences; ultimate goal was the improvement of life and strengthen the faith

Roger Bacon (suggested that the pope take an active hand in control of scientific research) and Bonaventure was for spiritual and social ends

Condemnation in 1277 was a reaction to an excessive autonomy of science

William of Ockham and John Buridan made distinction of methods between theology and science

value assigned to mathematical method and quantification

- background was the comprehensibility of the world; Wis 11:20 “ Thou has arranged all things by measure and number and weight”

- mathematics acquired great significance to understand the natural processes

Robert Grosseteste (d 1253), and “perspectivists” such as Roger Bacon John Pecham, Witelo of Silesia, Theodoric of Freiburg – investigated the laws of reflection and refraction of light and their applications to optics and rainbow; more concerned with structures and laws rather than efficient, formal and final causes

Albert the Great on treatment of rainbow must have been influenced by Grosseteste because he allowed ‘incipient actuality’ (incohatio formae) in prime matter (Aristotle – it is pure potentiality)

Thomas Aquinas insisted on pure potentiality of matter but ascribed matter’s ‘capacity for obedience’ (potentia obedientialis) instilled at creation by God; implied that matter was susceptible to quantitative determination - susceptibility is educed from the pure potentiality of prime matter by an efficient cause (opened the way to concept of mass – Jammer)

Thomas Bradwardine (d 1349), associates and successors (Oxford calculators) - with the latest algebraic methods used to define the concept of instantaneous velocity and worked out a new law for velocity’s dependence on motive power and resistance (Bradwardine Law – used until replaced by law of Galileo); influenced by Augustine who put God as a limiting concept that contains all things (Nicholas of Cusa popularized this in 15^th cent.)

importance of observation and experimentation

technological progress – mechanical clock, pendulum, scales, magnifying lens

but theories and practical innovations were not coordinated

Robert Grosseteste – expressed the need for calendar reform; worked for the restoration of arts (magic); once one becomes Christian the fraudulent nature of magic and arts could be put into good use

Albert the Great’s works on biology, botany, geology; studied the embryonic developments of insects, fish, chickens, mammals. Dissected crickets and crabs, observed the effects of local floods and decided (against Aristotle) that the Milky Way was a configuration of stars rather than a sublunar vapor. (‘I was there and I saw it for myself’)

Francis of Assissi – a contemplative (mystical) attitude towards nature; nature is a garment of God

John Buridan observed arrows, pendulums, water wheels, grindstones; thought experiments?

Nicholas of Cusa described experiments on spinning tops and globes, weights on balance scales

In alchemy and medicine – Arnold of Villanova taught that medicine was a gift from God; a true physician needs illumination from God (his writings were foundational to Paracelsus’ chemical philosophy in the 16^th cent.)

Guy de Chauliac was a physician to three popes; had a firsthand description of bubonic plague; advised that all surgeons study anatomy

John Rupescissa specialized in extracting essences from minerals and herbs to make them more effective pharmaceuticals (gave rise to early modern chemistry)

(2) concept of cosmos (as God’s creation) pointed something beyond the cosmology of Aristotle

possibility of a void

each of the four elements has a natural place; earth is at the center since it was the heaviest; celestial bodies were kept in orbit by attraction towards higher spheres; celestial bodies composed of fifth element and showed signs of intelligence and desire, proof of the role of spiritual beings in their motions (sublunar moved not at all)

natural motion is opposite of natural space; motion is natural (intrinsically caused) and forced (extrinsically forced); celestial bodies moved in circles but sublunar bodies (composed of simple element) remained in natural place and moved back naturally if displaced. Any motion away from sublunar must be naturally forced; (idea of impetus stated that unnatural motion can be sustained in the absence of external force; this undermined the notion of natural place

Aristotle denied the notion of a void because any body in a void would move to infinity (which is counter intuitive) and would have a an infinite velocity (because there is no resistance to it)

Thomas Aquinas though did not allow the existence of a void claimed that the quantitative magnitude (corpus quantum) educed from the pure potentiality of matter is enough to constitute a resistance (reason: quantification of matter was the absolute obedience of all things to the determination of God)

Condemnation in 1277 – one article stated that God could move the world in a straight line leaving a vacuum or a void; God could create a plurality of worlds suggesting a void space between separate worlds (reason: to acknowledge God’s absolute power and contingency of natural order)

Influence of condemnation: Henry of Ghent (d 1293) if God created a body outside our world – beyond the outermost celestial sphere – there would be an intervening three-dimensional vacuum; Thomas Bradwardine (d 1349) if God could move the world then the divine nature must exist beyond space and time in an uncreated, dimensionless infinity which is the ‘place’ of the world; John Ripa – if God can move the world that world must exist in a void space of infinite proportions but not exceeding the immensity of God! (their position is on a possible existence of an extra cosmic void)

Albert of Saxony (d 1390) speculated on a void space within the cosmic order based on God’s power to annihilate any or all the matter within it;

Duns Scotus (d 1308) contra Aquinas claimed that God can produce at a distance therefore God’s omnipresence was not necessary to exercise the absolute power; the existence of a infinite void cannot be assumed on the basis of God’s absolute power

Nicholas of Cusa (d 1464) suggested that the universe might be potentially infinite from the point of view of God’s unlimited power

idea of impetus

Terrestial motion was natural hence it needed no explanation from an Aristotelian point of view; it was circular motion or away from the body that required explanation

Behind this physics is metaphysics of form and mater

Thomas Aquinas introduced deviations: (1) the heavens were continuously moved by God (efficient cause); they did not simply move by desire from him (formal cause); this resulted in the comparative study of motions of the heavens and the forced motion on earth; (2) based on the sovereignty of God matter is susceptible to quantitative determination and magnitude; this led to the insight that a body might inherently move itself; inherent quantity of matter was fundamental to the inherent quantity of impetus

Robert Kilwardy (d 1279) God is the efficient cause of the movement of the heavens to the extent that God was not the immediate mover; by their inclinations and tendencies the heavens’ movement was as spontaneous as the sublunar bodies

Peter John Olivi (1298) the projectile motion was due to the ‘inclination’ or ‘species’ that was impressed on the moving object by the initial thrust of the mover; motion was a ‘mode of being situated’ (close to the idea of inertia by Galileo and Newton in the 17^th cent.)

William of Ockham denied a continuous force to keep a body moving

Impetus – product of the quantity of matter in motion multiplied by its velocity viewed to be lasting until overcome by a contrary tendency to return to a natural place

Ockham, Olivi, Buridan: the power of God maintains the unnatural motion even in the absence of mediating cause

Buridan’s contribution: (1) developed the analogy of the rotating heavens and the spinning millwheel – elevating the idea of impetus to a general principle, (2) realized the idea of a hypothetical vacuum; impetus once applied will go on forever if no counteractive tendency is present

moving heaven and earth

For Aristotle the earth was the center of the cosmos – geocentric, geostatic; this was challenged by ancient Greek speculation; Aristotle argued that there would be many centers of gravity

Condemnation opened the idea of God clould have possibly created many worlds based on God’s absolute power (Bradwardine, Buridan, Oresme); followed by Henry of Ghent, Richard Middleton, William of Ockham, Henry of Lagenstein; for Nicholas of Cusa the cosmos was unbounded and has no unique center or circumference

Nicole Oresme argued that God could create the entire cosmos in a straight line and associated the idea of extracosmic void; raised the question of the centrality of defining motion; it would be the void; Nicholas of Cusa eventually dispensed the idea of fixed reference point for motion

The unity of the heavens and the earth was secured by the role of angels but this idea did not find any consensus

Mathematical laws and physical models improved the physics of the time: Thomas Brawardine’s mathematical physics developed an abstract algebraic formula applicable to all types of motion; Buridan developed his concept of impetus based on the rotation of the earth and the spinning millwheel; Albert of Saxony dismissed the angels role in the movement of the celestial spheres; Nicole of Oresme held the angels role in keeping the planets from moving so fast

Three Laws (Kepler)

(1) the orbit of each planet is an ellipse with one focus located at the sun

(2) the angular velocity of any planet at any given time is inversely proportional to the square of its distance from the sun (equivalent to the law of equal areas in equal times)

(3) the period of revolution of each planet is alos related to the size of its orbit by a simple power law

Roots of creationist tradition

Mesopotamians (3^rd and 4^th millenniums) viewed the universe as a cosmic nation state in which the will of the various gods are bound by a common law. In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian Marduk ordained laws for the stars (lesser gods). In the OT, this was integrated into the tradition with an emphasis on the sovereignty of Yahweh, the God of Israel, making all nature, the heavens and the earth subservient to his command.

At the beginning of the 6^th century BC, the early Greek philosophers Anaximander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus developed the idea of divine laws (of the Ancient Near East) into a more secular concept of natural laws. Then the naturalistic notion was modified by Plato and the Stoics (4^th and 3^rd BC) into the notion of the universal logos related to the activity of a divine world soul.

Platonism and Stoicism continued to be influential in later intertestamental Judaism and the notion of Wisdom was developed as the intelligence responsible for the orderly behavior of the world and the reasoning of human beings. The consequence was that the processes of nature were understood to be governed by laws understandable by human beings. (See Job 28:26; 38:33; Jer 31:35f; 33:25; Wis 7:15-28; 9:16f;). The fully developed version of creation could be dated on about 2^nd or 1^st BC.

*Doctrine of creation

Did the universe happen or was it created?

Raises fundamental religious questions; does do away with God or does it account for God?

Creation found in classic secular philosophy – Aristotle; that the world was created is one of the most foundational or religious ideas; religions in Ancient Near East have stories of conflict between a deity and the forces of chaos; the stories vary in geographical locations – Africa, Indian subcontinent, North America, Australasia; the dominant form is found in religion of Judaism, Islam and Christianity

OT (Biblical)

Focus on the OT narrative in the first two chapters of the Bk of Genesis; the most comprehensive understanding of God as creator and sustainer of the world is found in Bk of Job 38: 1-42; two contexts are discernible in the statement “God as creator”: (1) reflections of the praise of God within Israel’s worship, individual and communal, (2) the God who created the world is also the God who liberated Israel from slavery and continues to sustain her

Particular interest is the theme “creation as ordering”; creation in OT portrayed as engagement with and victory over chaos; establishment of order is pictured/done in two ways: (1) creation is the imposition of order on a formless chaos; image is usually the potter working the clay into an ordered structure (See Gene. 2:7; Is 29: 16 & 44; Jer. 18: 1-6), (2) creation is about conflicts with a series of chaotic forces, depicted as dragon or monster (named Behemoth, Leviathan Nahar, Rahab, Tannim Yam who all must be subdued (See Job 3:8; 7:12; 9: 13; 40:15-32; Ps. 74:13-15; 139:10-11; Is. 27:1; 41:9-10; Zech. 10:11)

Parallels with Ugarithic and Canaanite mythology can be found but the difference of OT accounts from them are: (1) OT insists that chaotic forces are not divine, (2) for OT creation is not about warring gods for mastery but God is master of chaos and orders the world

“world –order” is linked to righteousness and truth; righteousness is ethical conformity to the world-order established by God; truth – metaphysical counterpart of the ethical aspect; clearest example was Anselm of Canterbury – rectitude corresponds to the fundamental ordering of the world intended by God

OT and NT

Moon and stars move at the command of God (Josh 10:12ff, Job 9:7; Ps 147:4 Is 40: 26; 45 12; Hab 3:11) or in accordance with God’s laws (Gen 1:14-19; Ps 148:3-6) Jer 31:35); personified in figurative language or associated with angels (Gen 37:9; Judg 5:20 Neh 9:6; Job 38: 7; Dan 8:10; 12: 3 Rev 1:20); the terrestial elements were also personified and associated with angels (Job 38:36; Ps 104:4; 114:7); the biblical account was not a de-animation of the heavens nor was it a non-duality of heaven and earth; there was waters above the heavens (Gen 1: 6f)

Principles of Quantum Theology (Diarmuid O’Murchu, Quantum Theology (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999)

Principle 1

Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature, with a tendency to manifest and express itself in movement, rhythm, and pattern. Creation is sustained by a superhuman, pulsating restlessness, a type of resonance vibrating throughout time and eternity.

New Elements:

God and the divine are described as a creative energy, which is perceived to include, but alos supersede, everything traditional theology attributes to God.
The divine energy is not stable or unchanging, but works through movement, rhythm, pattern, and restlessness – within the evolving nature of life itself.
The divine co-creativity operates within the evolutionary process rather than as an external agent based on a cause and effect relationship.
Notions such as “God” and “divinity” are used sparingly, because these are human constructs (descriptions) that may limit rather than enhance our understanding of life’s ultimate source of meaning.

Principle 2

Wholeness which is largely unmanifest and dynamic (not static), is the wellspring of all possibility. In seeking to understand life, we begin with the whole which is always greater than the sum of the parts; paradoxically, the whole is contained in each part, yet the whole is complete in itself.

New Elements:

No source of knowledge, theological or otherwise, can provide a complete description of reality; the mystery of life is fundamentally open-ended.
Theology is about opening up new horizons of possibility and ultimate meaning, and not about consigning truth to specific dogmas, creed, or religions.
Since the whole is understood to be contained in, but not by, each part, the dilemma of pantheism is resolved.

Principle 3

Evolution is underpinned by a deep unfolding structure, characterized by design and purpose, necessitating an unceasing interplay of order and disorder, randomness and creativity.

Evolution is considered to be the primary context of divine human creativity in the world.
Life, in its basic meaning, is blessed and not flawed (as in the original sin approach).
IN the divine-human unfolding, light and shadow always intermingle; quantum theology, while acknowledging the paradox of polarity, seeks to outgrow all dualisms, especially that of good vs. evil.

Principle 4

The expanding horizon of divine belonging is the context in which revelation takes place; all creatures are invited to respond, to engage in the co-creative task of being and becoming. All life forms have unique roles in this process, the primary focus of which is creation itself rather than formal religion.

New Elements:

The primary context of divine revelation is the unfolding process of creation and not formal religion. Each religion is a particular crystallization of divine revelation. No one religion, not even all the religions together, could contain or explain the fullness of revelation.
All life form, and not just humans, have co-creative role in the divine plan for the world and in the responses it elicits and evokes.
Revelation is ongoing; it cannot be subsumed in any religion, creed, or cultural system.

Principle 5

Because the capacity to relate is itself the primary divine energy, impregnating creation, we human need authentic ecclesial and sacramental experiences to explore and articulate our innate vocation to be people in relationship.

New Elements:

The doctrine of the Trinity is a human attempt to describe God’s fundamental relational nature.
The divine interaction within creation is that of subject to subject rather than subject to object.
The innate human desire and capacity for relationships is the experience in which we connect most authentically with the divine ambiance of our existence.
Church and sacraments are key moments for exploring and articulating our relatedness, as a divine invitation to life and meaning, and not organizations and rituals commanding legal observance.

Principle 6

Ultimate meaning is embedded in story, not facts. All particular stories belong to a larger story, which includes but also transcends the specific religious traditions of any one historical or cultural epoch. All sacred texts are attempts at articulating ultimate truth and archetypal values, approximations that require fresh interpretation in each new cultural epoch.

New Elements:

Sacred story is our primary channel for accessing the divine source and ultimate meaning if life.
Sacred texts (e.g., the Bible) which seek to safeguard the story need to be interpreted afresh in each new age if they are top preserve the ever new challenge and inspiration of the sacred story.
Creation itself, and not we humans, is the primary narrator of the sacred story; we human should be the supreme listeners.
Both the contemplation and narration of the sacred story require symbol and ritual if we are to engage meaningfully with its deep mythic and archetypal significance.

Principle 7

Redemption is planetary (and cosmic) as well as personal. Redemption is about reclaiming the darkness, the nothingness (void), and chaos of our world and celebrating the negative potential for new life and wholeness.

New Elements:

Redemption is a divine-human process of befriending those elements of our experience which threaten our security and integrity, rather than an act of rescue by an external, divine agent.
Redemption is a process of re-membering, highlighting the ultimate paradox of life that pain and extinction are prerequisites for fresh life and creativity.
Redemption is not just about personal salvation; it also concerns the healing and reinvigoration of planetary and universal life; there can be no personal salvation apart from the latter.

Principle 8

Structural and systemic sin abound in our world, often provoking people to behave immorally. To integrate the global shadow, we need fresh moral and ethical guidelines to address the structural and systemic sinfulness of out time. The formulation of these guidelines is as much a religious duty.

Sin is a form of destructive collusion between people and systems. Consequently, systems, rather than individual people, become the instigators or immoral and irresponsible behavior.
The major sin of our time is speceism, the human-structural assumption that humans are the ultimate life form under God and are entitled to lord it over the rest of creation.
Morality is a universal, cultural requirement in the light of which the dualism between church and state becomes an anachronism.

Principle 9

Because we are primarily beneficiaries of light (and not of darkness), and our final destiny – both here and eternally – is that of enlightenment, we all need those sacred moments of ritualistic/sacramental space, serving as heightened encounters with the sustaining mystery that enfold us.

New Elements:

Life is inherently destined toward the ultimate triumph of goodness, and not the ultimate catastrophe predicted by the the second law of thermodynamics.
Humans are innate spiritual – so are all life forms – and if appropriate human and spiritual maturation takes place, humans feel a need to celebrate, in ritual and sacrament, their relationship with ultimate mystery.

Principle 10

The concepts of beginning and end, with the theological notion of resurrection and reincarnation, are invoked as dominant myths to help us humans make sense of our infinite destiny in an infinite universe.

We live in a world without beginning or end.
The “end of the world” is a human/theological myth whereby we humans tried to set boundaries on our infinite universe.
There is one world enfolded in eternity; heaven, hell, and purgatory are states of being within the one world. Our dead ones are all around us, living within a different plane of existence.
Resurrection and reincarnation are not facts, but mental/spiritual constructs that articulate both our paradoxical fear of, and yearning for, infinity.

Principle 11

Extinction and transformation, the evolutionary equivalents of Calvary and resurrection, are central coordinates of cosmic and planetary evolution. Their interplay at this historical moment – our “kairos” – provides the primary locus for the praxis of the quantum theologian.

Theology no longer belongs to Christianity, not even to formal religion; it has become an agent for global transformation.
We are invited to do theology at the heart of the world and not within the confines of church or formal religion.
The theological encounter becomes most creative (and most perilous), when we engage with the pressing global issues of our time.
In global praxis, theology seeks to demolish all dualisms, outgrow all human constructs, and pursue ultimacy with the skills and discernments of a multidisciplinary imagination.
Contemplation becomes the landmark of theology; the pursuit of justices becomes its dominant praxis. All the rest is window dressing, useful, but not essential.

Principle 12

Love is an independent life force, a spectrum of possibility, ranging from its ultimate divine grandeur to its particularity in subatomic interaction. It is the original and goal of our search for understanding.

New Elements:

God is not a passive, detached, external ruler, but a passionate, relational presence, embodied in the creative, evolutionary process itself.
God’s passionate embodiment demands a whole new way of relating to bodies, through sexual tenderness, compassionate justice, and altruistic befriending.
Sexuality, and its erotic creativity, for long perceived to be major source of temptation, is emerging a s a key dimension of authentic spirituality.
Our world will become a new place when we choose to take love seriously.

Aspects of Creation

Order

Perfection

Symmetry

Beauty

Hume: “…beauty is no quality in things themselves; it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them”

Gaano kadalas ang minsan (time)

Hanggang sa dulo ng walang hanggan (space)

God and Time

Time is the moving image of eternity (Plato, Timaeus, 37)

Quantum Theory (Mechanics)

Einstein: “God does not play dice with the universe”

Bohr: “Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory, cannot possibly have understood it.”

Heisenberg: “I remember discussing with Bohr (1927) which went through many hours until very late at night, and ended almost in despair… I went for a walk in the neighboring park and repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be as absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?”

Feynman: “To do science you’ve got to have taste.”

Hawking: Everytime I hear about Schrödinger’s cat, I want to reach for my gun.”

Einstein: On a newspaper’s item: “One hundred scientists prove Einstein wrong,”; his reply was: “It would only have taken one.”

Black Holes

Type or symbol for the powers of darkness at work in the universe; coined by John Wheeler in 1969; black voids in space dominated by power of gravity

Results of stars collapsing in on themselves due to depletion of hydrogen and other gases, they are white hot and not black; Hawking radiation-name of energy they produce; large quantities of X-rays; cosmic vacuum cleaners; positively they may be reservoirs of creative energy

CygnusX-1 and Magellanic clouds are black holes

Chaos Theory

Randomness (dripping of water tap, turbulence of a river, design in snowflakes, unpredictability of the weather, the fibrillation of the human heart

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DOGMATIC THEOLOGY

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Creation and Eschatology

Introduction

Confessional Teachings on Creation

Theses in the Christian doctrine and theology of creation

Theses on Catholic Eschatology

1.1. Old Testament

1.2. New Testament

Justin Martyr

Basil of Caesarea

Medical care was intimately linked to belief in creation and ethic of selfless service

Relationship between matter and spirit (Mind and Soul, Self)

2. The Theory of Evolution and Belief in Creation

Punctuated Equilibrium = MT – gradual and slow vs. Goldschmidt, Gould, Eldredge – bursts of rapid speciation

Multilevel Selection = MT individual organisms are selected and their genes are passed on vs. reductionistic approach (altruism and genetic determinism)

Creatio ex-nihilo

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