Divine Grace and Emerging Creation
Wesleyan Forays in Science and Theology of Creation
Edited by Thomas Jay Oord
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Wesleyans and Wesleyan theology have long been interested in the sciences. John Wesley kept abreast of scientific developments in his own day, and he engaged science in his theological construction. Divine Grace and Emerging Creation offers explorations by contemporary scholars into the themes and issues pertinent to contemporary science and Wesleyan Theology.
In addition to groundbreaking research by leading Wesleyan theologians, Jurgen Moltmann contributes an essay. Moltmann's work derives from his keynote address at the joint Wesleyan Theological Society and Society for Pentecostal Studies meeting on science and theology at Duke University.
Other contributions address key contemporary themes in theology and science, including evolution, ecology, neurology, emergence theory, intelligent design, scientific and theological method, and biblical cosmology. John Wesley's own approach to science, explored by many contributors, offers insights for how two of humanity's central concerns--science and theology--can now be understood in fruitful and complementary ways.
Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books and professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID. Oord is known for his contributions to research on love, relational theology, science and religion, Wesleyan/Holiness/Church of the Nazarene thought and Evangelical theology. Oord serves in various consulting and administrative roles for academic institutions, scholarly projects, and research teams. He and his wife, Cheryl, have three daughters. Visit his blog at thomasjayoord.com
"These essays locate Wesley's view of the natural sciences in its eighteenth-century context in a way that shows how his followers should, and to some extent do, locate themselves in relation to current debates. It shows why we eschew both Kantian dualism and anything resembling anti-scientism, while remaining critical of some of the philosophical ideas with which so much science has associated itself."
--John B. Cobb, Jr
Claremont School of Theology
"Divine Grace and Emerging Creation provides a fresh, provocative, and stimulating perspective on the complex interactions of science and theology. Using John Wesley as the focus, this collection of essays from leading scholars ranges broadly over history, philosophy of science, and theology. Wesley comes to life as a fascinating transitional figure, astride the divide that separates contemporary science from its antecedents. Highly recommended."
--Karl Giberson,
Eastern Nazarene College
Editor-in-Chief, Science & Spirit
". . . Divine Grace and Emerging Creation, offers a probing conversation that is full of humility and hospitable space for the scientist and theologian alike to explore old and new 'connections' between science and a theology of creation . . . This is a robust exploration of 'connected grace' carried out by scientists and theologians in the vision of Wesley's 'catholic spirit' bursting with promising insight into the ongoing discoveries between 'Science and Theology of Creation.'"
--K. Steve McCormick
Nazarene Theological Seminary
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