Articles
Editorial - Electronic Publication
Keith Fox
Pages: 93-93
Rheticus, Realism and Scripture. An Analytical Assessment
Daniel Blanco
Pages: 94-112
Abstract
Rheticus was the only formal and personal disciple of Copernicus. In his recently rediscovered tract on science and religion, he claims that certain non-literal interpretations of some biblical texts that deal with the natural world are preferable, considering that their writers used popular knowledge when speaking about that realm. In this contribution, I specify the main tenets of Rheticus’ insights, together with a discussion on his position towards realism. Furthermore, I explicate how his accommodative approach, nursed by realism (might) affect the exegetical task. This helps to explain an important contradiction with his own rules on the part of Rheticus.
Richard Owen: Anti-Evolutionist or Champion of Theistic Evolution?
Philip J. Senter
Pages: 113-129
Abstract
According to several recent sources, the nineteenth-century paleontologist Sir Richard Owen was an anti-evolutionist. However a careful reading of Owen’s writings shows that he accepted the concept of biological evolution. More specifically, he advocated for theistic evolution: the view that biological evolution is part of God’s plan and is a means by which God creates. Owen not only accepted biological evolution but identified certain fossil groups as ancestral to certain others and identified certain fossil species as evolutionary intermediates between precursor and successor taxa. He insisted that God had directed the course of evolution to produce organisms that would benefit humankind. He asserted that the opening chapters of Genesis are not meant to be taken literally and supported that assertion with data derived from scientific studies. The idea that Owen was opposed to the concept of biological evolution appears to be based on misunderstandings of his writings, including his use of the word “archetype.”
Lessons from the Proton for Trinitarian Theology?
John Jefferson Davis
Pages: 130-141
Abstract
This article proposes a new analogy from modern physics for the Trinitarian relationships: one proton composed of three quarks. It is argued that a mereological hypothesis of the “Non-Attribution of Distinctive Properties” (NADP) can be derived from this comparison: Distinctive properties of the parts of a whole, that are essential to the identities of those parts, are not properties that are essential to the identity of the larger, inclusive whole. By way of introduction, biblical and theological justifications are offered for the use of such analogies from the natural world for the Trinity, and historical and scientific background relating to the modern physics of the proton are discussed. The principle proposed above (NADP) will then be explained and illustrated. It will be argued that the one proton/ three quarks comparison and the NADP principle sheds additional light on the “one and threeness” problem of the Trinity, and on the relationship of the identity of the One God of Jewish monotheism to the identities of the three persons of Christian trinitarianism, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Book reviews
Divine Action and Emergence – An Alternative to Panentheism
Mariusz Tabaczek, (Ignacio Silva)
Pages: 142-143
The Integration of Psychology and Christianity: A Domain-Based Approach
William L. Hathaway and Mark A. Yarhouse (Angharad Gray)
Pages: 143-145
A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues, 2nd Edition
Martin J. Hodson and Margot R. Hodson (Robert Sluka)
Pages: 145-146
Love, Technology and Theology
Scott A. Midson (Ed.), (Todd Kantchev)
Pages: 147-148
Transhumanism and the Image of God: Today’s Technology and the Future of Christian Discipleship
Jacob Shatzer, (Pu Ji)
Pages: 148-149
Identity in a Secular Age: Science, Religion and Public Perceptions
Fern Elsdon-Baker and Bernard Lightman (Eds.), (Nick Spencer)
Pages: 150-151
Jonathan Edwards on Genesis: Hermeneutics, Homiletics and Theology
Brian Borgman, (Ernest Lucas)
Pages: 151-152
Why science and faith belong together: stories of mutual enrichment
Malcolm A. Jeeves, (Patrick Richmond)
Pages: 153-154
Exotheology: Theological Explorations of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life
Joel L. Parkyn, (Lucas J. Mix)
Pages: 154-156
Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality
James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky, (Carl Thomas)
Pages: 156-158
Varieties of Atheism in Science
Elaine Howard Ecklund and David R. Johnson, (Mike Brownnutt)
Pages: 158-159
John Stott on Creation Care
R.J. (Sam) Berry and Laura S. Meitzner Yoder, (Hugh Reynolds)
Pages: 160-161
In God’s Image: An Anthropology of the Spirit
Michael Welker, (Daniel Lee Hill)
Pages: 161-162
Could God Fail? The Fate of the Universe and the Faith of Christians
Ned Wisnefske, (Wilson Poon)
Pages: 162-164
Secular Discourse on Sin in the Anthropocene
Ernest M. Conradie, (Meric Srokosz)
Pages: 164-166
The Material Image: Reconciling Modern Science and Christian Faith
Donald Wacome, (David C. Lahti)
Pages: 166-169