God and the Book of Nature: Experiments in Theology of Science

by Mark Harris (Editor)

Overview

God and the Book of Nature develops theological views of the natural sciences in light of the recent theological turn in science-and-religion scholarship and the ‘science-engaged theology’ movement. Centered around the Book of Nature metaphor, it brings together contributions by theologians, natural scientists, and philosophers based in Europe and North America. They provide an exploration of complementary (and even contesting) readings of the Book of Nature, particularly in light of the vexing questions that arise around essentialism and unity in the field of science and religion. Taking an experimental and open-ended approach, the volume does not attempt to unify the readings into a single ‘plot’ that defines the Book of Nature, still less a single ‘theology of nature’, but instead it represents a variety of hermeneutical stances. Overall the book embraces a constructive theological attitude toward the modern sciences, and makes significant contributions to the research literature in science and religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032480978
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/06/2025
Series:	Routledge Science and Religion Series
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark Harris is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction Mark Harris

Part I Method and Metaphor

1 A Scientist-Theologian’s Perspective on Science-Engaged Theology: The Case for “Theology of Science” as a Sub-discipline within Science and Religion

Mark Harris

2 The Solidarity-Dehumanization Nexus: Addressing Three Barriers for a Science-Engaged Theological Ethic

Matthew Elia

3 The Book of Nature as an Augustinian Hermeneutical Project

Paul Allen

4 Augustinianism and the Book of Nature: Protestant Perils and Promise

Frederick Simmons

Part II Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature

5 Seeing God in Nature: Rethinking Bonaventure after Evolutionary Biology

Jamie Boulding

6 Creaturely Agency in Evolution and Theology

Megan Loumagne Ulishney

7 Saving the Macroscopic: Quantum Physics and the Theology of Nature

William Simpson and Simon Horsley

Part III Ecotheology and Nature

8 What Can Ecotheological and Agroecological Accounts Contribute to Biopolitical Perspectives on Farming?

Andrew Jones and Kin Wing (Ray) Chan

9 When Ecotheology Meets Paleoclimatology: Engaging Theology with the Deep History of Life on Earth

Bethany Sollereder

Part IV Naturalisms and Nature

10 Science, Determinism, and Free Will

Simon Kittle

11 Religiously Motivated Science Skepticism: When It Could Be Rational and How to Engage with it

Rope Kojonen

12 Both God and Nature: Providential Naturalism as a Middle Way in Contemporary Divine Action Debates

Josh A. Reeves and Peter N. Jordan

13 Prospects for a Naturalist, Critically Humanist, and Mystical Transreligious Understanding of Ultimate Reality

Wesley J. Wildman