“The End of all our Exploring” in Science and Theology

Arthur Peacocke; Arthur Peacocke

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2004.00587.x

Abstract

Abstract. The present malaise of religion—and of theology, its intellectual formulation—in Western society is analyzed, with some personal references, especially with respect to its history in the United Kingdom and the United States. The need for a more open theology that takes account of scientific perspectives is urged. An indication of the understandings of God and of God's relation to the world which result from an exploration starting from scientific perspectives is expounded together with their fruitful relation to some traditional themes. The implications of this for the future of theology are suggested, not least in relation to the new phase, beginning in 2003, of the development of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science. In a concluding reflection the hope is expressed that the shared global experience and perspectives generated by the sciences might form a more common and acceptable starting point than hitherto for the exploration towards God of the seekers of many religious traditions and of none.

Keywords

energies of God, panentheism, Word (Logos) of God, postmodernism, T. S. Eliot, co‐creating creatures/created co‐creators, sociological surveys, open theology, Wisdom of God, New Testament scholarship, Philip Hefner, Ian Barbour, Antje Jackelén, Ralph Burhoe, special divine action, immanence, inference to the best explanation, evolutionary epic, Genesis for the third millennium, Ultimate Reality, theistic naturalism

How to Cite

Peacocke, A., (2004) ““The End of all our Exploring” in Science and Theology”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 39(2), 413–429. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2004.00587.x

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413–429

Published on

2004-06-02

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