Cosmology and incarnation

Abstract

Theological cosmology – usually expressed in terms of the doctrine of creation – has often been divorced from the cosmology of the scientist. It has also been divorced from our understanding of incarnation and salvation. In this paper Dr Chris Knight outlines his attempt over a number of years to bring these aspects of Christian thinking into a fuller relationship with each other. He does this by combining insights from two very different sources: the Eastern Orthodox tradition and the tendency towards philosophical naturalism, which has been a characteristic feature of the modern science-theology dialogue. He argues that part of our strategy in trying to re-think divine action must be to re-assess traditional Christian understandings, and outlines his exploration of the way in which the naturalism at the heart of the scientific enterprise can be interpreted in a theistic way.