Abstract
Comparison of the concepts of creation from chaos and creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) leads me to reject the latter for several reasons: it is not the biblical concept, and it presents serious conceptual, scientific, and theological problems. Chaos theology is outlined under the headings creation from chaos; chaos and contingency; chaos, evil, and creativity; chaos and incarnation; chaos and eschatology. It is shown to be well suited for the science‐theology dialogue by some examples of its application to aspects of cosmic and biological evolution: initial mystery, separation and ordering; chaos and entropy; contingency and fine‐tuning of the universe; purpose and progressiveness in evolution; and complexity theory and chaos events.
Keywords
theodicy, chaos events, evil, initial chaos, eschatology, creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo), Big Bang theory, incarnation, chaos
How to Cite
Bonting, S., (1999) “Chaos Theology: A New Approach to the Science‐Theology Dialogue”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 34(2), 323–332. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.00215
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© 2024 The Author(s).54
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