Taking Rational Trouble Over the Mysteries
Reactions to Atheism
Edited by Nicola Hoggard Creegan and Andrew Shepherd
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
How can one believe in an age of doubt? How can we name the mystery of God in human words? Does nature speak of the glory of God? Does science undermine faith? Is the problem of evil unanswerable? In this volume scientists, theologians, philosophers, as well as a historian and social scientist, take seriously the challenge of knowing and speaking about God in an age of doubt and challenge. All New Zealand writers, the authors reflect a variety of styles, inputs, and assumptions from "down under." Some look to answer new atheists directly, others point out links between belief and unbelief in any age. There are essays that show us new ways of reading old texts. Scientists reflect on nature, its signs, and its obscurity. We are confronted also with the mixed picture of belief and unbelief that the last few hundred years reveals to us. Most of these essays have come out of seminars and conferences put on by TANSA (Theology and the Natural Sciences in Aotearoa), a forum for discussion and interpretation amongst scientists and theologians in New Zealand.
Nicola Hoggard Creegan lectures in systematic theology at Laidlaw College. She is author of Animal Suffering and the Problem of Evil (OUP, 2013).
Andrew Shepherd works as a free-lance researcher and teacher in theology and ethics. He is the author of The Gift of the Other (Pickwick, forthcoming). He is the Education Co-ordinator for A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand--a Christian conservation movement.
"This thought-provoking collection of essays from New Zealand, written from a Christian perspective and based on sound theological and philosophical reasoning, makes a fine addition to the growing literature critical of many of the assertions and attitudes of the New Atheists. I warmly commend this volume to all who desire to be better informed about what the New Atheists are saying and who also wish to be better equipped to engage in dialogue with them."
--John R. Pilbrow
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Monash University and Former President of ISCAST
"Taking Rational Trouble over the Mysteries is a notable contribution to the contemporary discussion of atheism. Its multidimensional approach involves a host of creative (and sometimes provocative) contributions from a wide range of disciplinary experts. Each of the contributors is prepared to question ideological stances, Christian as well as secular. Rather than being merely a theoretical treatise, it challenges thinking (and living) across a fascinating compendium of topics of relevance to both Christians and non-Christians, whether scientists or non-scientists."
--D Gareth Jones
Emeritus Professor, Anatomy and Bioethics
University of Otago
"Nicola Hoggard-Creegan and Andrew Shepherd have assembled an excellent collection of interdisciplinary essays engaging with contemporary atheism. Those with both scholarly and lay interests in theology, philosophy, science and mathematics, spirituality, and history will find much to stimulate their thinking here."
--Stephen Garner
Lecturer in Theology
The University of Auckland
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