An Interview with Process Theologian Philip Clayton

Philip Clayton is a Professor of Theology at the Claremont School of Theology and the 2010 Metanexus Senior Fellow. In these interviews with William Grassie, Clayton discusses his intellectual and spiritual journey, religion and science, the confluences and boundaries between, religious pluralism, Big History, Sir John Templeton, the Humble Approach, and more.

Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 1 5

Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 2 5

Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 3 5

Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 4 5

Interview with Philip Clayton, Part 5 5

Philip Clayton: What is panentheism?

Meet Philip Clayton, Process Theologian

Before I knew Philip Clayton as an ecologist I knew him as a process philosopher and theologian who strove to be connective to the church and practical to society. 

Philip's interests, like my own, are large and varied, and the lists of his book titles near the bottom of this post will show the amount of material he has digested in his lifetime in order to reach out to as many people as he could.

At this moment Philip is invested with the Institute for Ecological Civilization and works to connect and share it's Whiteheadian process perspective practically into the grand idea of human ecological societies with as many environmental groups as he can.

Before this time Philip was associated for many long years with the Claremont Graduate School of Theology. One of his latest books asks the reader to consider what an ecological civilization might look like? I tried this once with a group of state and national politicians and failed miserably. They showed no interest in the topic and very little desire to be involved in creating the foundations for an expansive ecological civilization.

In hindsight, I think the best we may do is to affect our local communities, schools, and government. Being myself involved for many years in implementing ecological policy for my community as a citizen volunteer has shown the positive impact it can have on many organizations, corporations, and educational bodies.

But efforts like these, in order to be successful, will take a lot of people with a shared vision, a lot of organizations, and a lot of effort. To those like Philip who have made process theology practical to the religious, scientific, and educational communities around the world we say thank you for your time and effort. It was not easily purchased... but there will be many hearts and souls who will carry on the tradition of mending lives to the earth and the earth back into lives.

R.E. Slater

May 28, 2021

https://www.philipclayton.net/

As a scholar, Philip Clayton (Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology) works at the intersection points of science, philosophy, and theology. As an activist (president of EcoCiv.org, President of IPDC), he works to convene, facilitate, and catalyze multi-sectoral initiatives toward ecological civilization.

BIOGRAPHY

As a scholar, Philip Clayton works at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and science. Although he continues to work on fundamental questions that arise within each of these fields and at their intersections, his more recent focus has turned increasingly to the intersection of climate science, ethics, religion, and social philosophy, or ecotheology. 

Clayton holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology, where he directs the PhD program in comparative theologies and philosophies; he is also affiliated faculty at Claremont Graduate University. A graduate of Yale University, he has also taught at Williams College and the California State University, as well as holding guest professorships at the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University. He has published two dozen books and some 350 articles.

Philip is President of the Institute for Ecological Civilization (EcoCiv.org), which works internationally to support multi-sector innovations toward a sustainable society through collaborations between governments, businesses, policy experts, and NGOs. He is also president of the Institute for the Postmodern Development of China, which works with universities and government officials to promote the concept of ecological civilization through conferences, publications, educational projects, and ecovillages. He has previously served as a Dean, Provost, and as the Executive Vice President of a small university. In 2018 he helped to organize the Justice track for the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Philip enjoys cycling, refereeing competitive soccer, and wilderness camping with family and dog.

* * * * * * * *

Amazon Link

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. The massive inequality between the rich and the poor is not separate from our systems of unlimited growth, the depletion of natural resources, the extinction of species, or global warming. As climate predictions continue to exceed projections, it is clear that hopelessness is rapidly becoming our worst enemy. What is needed—urgently—is a new vision for the flourishing of life on this planet, a vision the authors are calling an ecological civilization. Along the way they have learned that this term brings hope unlike any other. It reminds us that humans have gone through many civilizations in the past, and the end of a particular civilization does not necessarily mean the end of humanity, much less the end of all life on the planet. It is not hard for us to conceive of a society after the fall of modernity, in which humans live in an equitable and sustainable way with one another and the planet. This book explores the idea of ecological civilization by asking eight key questions about it and drawing answers from relational philosophies, the ecological sciences, systems thinking and network theory, and the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. It concludes that a genuinely ecological civilization is not a utopian ideal, but a practical way to live. To recognize this, and to begin to take steps to establish it, is the foundation for realistic hope.

 

https://ecociv.org/our-mission/

What Is Ecological Civilization?

The Institute for Ecological Civilization

promotes civilizational change

for the long-term wellbeing of

people and the planet.​

      

WATER

We work to connect, catalyze and incubate urban water solutions globally.

ECONOMY

We work with global networks to transform economic systems in favour of human and ecological wellbeing.

COMMUNITY

We reimagine human communities to build more interconnected systems.

DIALOGUE

We build networks with thought leaders and experts worldwide to solve root causes of complex social and environmental challenges.

WE STAND FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

Dismantling institutional racism is not peripheral; it’s an integral part of building ecological civilizations. We join the ongoing protests demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others, and an end to the violence against Black bodies. we echo their urgent call to find ways that our various organizations and movements can do more to integrate anti-racism into our programming and to actively stand up for racial justice.

OUR MISSION

EcoCiv promotes civilizational change for the long-term wellbeing of people and the planet.

CORE BELIEF

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. The massive inequality between the rich and the poor is not separate from our systems of unlimited growth, the depletion of natural resources, the extinction of species, or global warming. Social and environmental movements require an orientation that is neither too narrow and short-term, nor too abstract and long-term to offer concrete guidance. Formulating the requirements for the flourishing of life in all its forms ― an ecological civilization ― will provide the roadmap that leaders need and will ground a hope that stimulates the necessary reforms.

OUR VISION

The Institute for Ecological Civilization works with allies and global leaders to design solutions for the well-being of people and the planet. By convening experts from across the major sectors of society, we have been able to catalyze groundbreaking explorations of the ways that current systems and structures need to be transformed. Ultimately, our goal is to work with leaders to shape the policies that, when implemented, will bring about a sustainable, ecological civilization.

Working at the intersection of theory and practice, we amplify narratives of hope that motivate, guide, and direct. As humanity works its way from social and environmental threat toward an ecological society, only the transformative vision of a positive new story will suffice. Where hopelessness arises, we call others to join us in walking toward ecological civilization, one step at a time.

https://ecociv.org/our-mission/

Philip Clayton Titles 

~ more may be found at the end of this post ~

* * * * * * * *

Philip Clayton (philosopher)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Philip Clayton (theologian))

Philip Clayton (born 1956) is a contemporary American philosopher of religion and philosopher of science. His work focuses on the intersection of science, ethics, and society. He currently holds the Ingraham Chair at Claremont School of Theology[1] and serves as an affiliated faculty member at Claremont Graduate University.[2] Clayton specializes in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and philosophy of religion, as well as in comparative theology.

Career

As an administrator in higher education, Clayton served as Dean of the Claremont School of Theology, and as Provost and Senior Vice President of Claremont Lincoln University, which at that time was an interreligious university.^[3] He was Principal Investigator for the Science and the Spiritual Quest project from 1999 to 2003.

Within the natural sciences, Philip Clayton’s research has focused on emergent dynamics in biology and on the neural correlates of consciousness in neuroscience. He has co-authored or edited a number of publications with physicists, chemists, and biologists, analyzing emerging natural systems and exploring their significance for the study of religion. He works in particular on the philosophical and religious implications of emergence theory. In this field his books include Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness and In Quest of Freedom:The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World. He was also editor of The Reemergence of Emergence. He has also published extensively in the field of science and religion, and served as the co-editor for the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science.

Philip Clayton received a joint PhD from Yale in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of religion. He has also held a variety of invited guest professorships at other universities, including the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University.^[4] As Fulbright Senior Fellow and Humboldt Professor he studied with Wolfhart Pannenberg in Theology and in Philosophy with Dieter Henrich and Lorenz Puntel. He later co-edited the English Festschrift for Pannenberg and translated Pannenberg’s work into English.

Philip Clayton has taught at Haverford College, Williams College, and Sonoma State University. His international lectureships include India,^[5] Great Britain,^[6] France,^[7] and China.^[8] He speaks and writes extensively on issues at the intersection of science, religion, ethics, and politics.^[9][10]

Authored works

• Explanation from Physics to Theology, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
• God and Contemporary Science, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 1998.
• The Problem of God in Modern Thought, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s, 2000.
• Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• In Quest of Freedom: The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2007 (English edition 2009).
• Adventures in the Spirit: God, World, and Divine Action, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008.
• Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009.
• The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, and Christian Minimalism, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Select edited works

• Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists, London and New York: Routledge, 2002.
• In Whom We Live and Move and Have our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God's Presence in a Scientific World (with Arthur Peacocke), Eerdman’s, 2004.
• Evolution and Ethics (with Jeff Schloss), Eerdman’s 2004.
• The Re-Emergence of Emergence: The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion (with Paul Davies), Oxford University Press, 2006.
• The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (with Zachary Simpson), Oxford University Press, 2006.
• Practicing Science, Living Faith: Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists (with Jim Schaal), New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
• Panentheism across the World's Traditions (with Loriliai Biernacki), Oxford University Press, 2014.

References

1. ^ "Claremont School of Theology Faculty Profile". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
2. ^ "Claremont Graduate University Faculty Profile".
3. ^ "Calif. University Introduces First U.S. Multi-Faith School of Theology".
4. ^ "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF).
5. ^ "Science and Beyond: Consciousness, Cosmology and Technology in the Indic Traditions".
6. ^ "Faraday Institute Newsletter No. 2 - February 2006".
7. ^ "Les 20 ans de l'Université interdisciplinaire de Paris" (PDF).
8. ^ "The Process of Interfaith in China".
9. ^ "Prominent theologian says Turkey in crisis with international community". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
10. ^ "A Mystery of Body and Soul".

External links

• Philip Clayton's Personal Website and Blog
• Claremont School of Theology

* * * * * * * *

THE WRITINGS OF PHILIP CLAYTON

BOOKS

AUTHORED

Explanation from Physics to Theology:  An Essay in Rationality and Religion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).  German translation:  Rationalität und Religion. Erklärung in Naturwissenschaft und Theologie, trans. Martin Laube (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 1992).

Das Gottesproblem, vol. 1:  Gott und Unendlichkeit in der neuzeitlichen Philosophie, composed in German (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöfningh Verlag, 1996).

God and Contemporary Science (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press and Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

The Problem of God in Modern Thought (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000)

Mind and Emergence:  From Quantum to Consciousness (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).  

German translation:  Emergenz und Bewusstsein. Evolutionärer Prozess und die Grenzen des Naturalismus (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, October 2008).  

Romanian translation, 2008.  Spanish translation 2011. Chinese translation, 2015. Korean translation in process.

Adventures in the Spirit:  God, World, Divine Action (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008). Chinese translation underway.

In Quest of Freedom:  The Emergence of Spirit in the Natural World (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009).  

German translation: Die Frage nach der Freiheit. Biologie, Kultur und die Emergenz des Geistes (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009). 

French translation: Les origines de la liberté. L’Émergence de l’esprit dans le monde naturel, trans. Allesia Weil (Paris: Éditions Salvator, 2012).

Transforming Christian Theology:  For Church and Society (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009). Danish translation 2011. Korean translation 2012. 

Religion and Science: The Basics (London: Routledge, 2011). Second edition, 2019. Swedish translation forthcoming.

The Predicament of Belief: Science, Philosophy, Faith, with Steven Knapp (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011). 

Confronting the Predicament of Belief: The Quest for God in Radical Uncertainty, with Steven Knapp and eight critics, edited by James W. Walters, Philip Clayton, and Steven Knapp (Edmond, OK: Crowdscribed, 2014).

Spanish translation by Gorgias Romero García: Marxismo Orgánico: Una alternativa al capitalismo y a la catástrofe ecológica (Claremont: Process Century Press, 2016). 

Chinese translation, trans. Xian Meng,Guifeng Yu, and Lixia Zhang (Beijing: The People's Press, 2015): [美]菲利普克莱顿贾斯廷海因泽克著;孟献丽于桂凤张丽霞译:《有机马克思主义——生态灾难与资本主义的替代选择》, 北京：人民出版社，2015年。

Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe, with Justin Heinzekehr (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2014);

God and Gravity: A Philip Clayton Reader on Science and Theology, ed. Bradford McCall (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2018). 

What is Ecological Civilization? Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet, co-authored

with Andrew Schwartz (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2019).

Now What? Rebuilding the Sacred from the Rubble of God, co-authored with Claudia Pearce (in preparation).

Hope in an Age of Unbelief, with Steven Knapp (in preparation).

The New Socialism: Sacred and Secular Roots of a Transformative Politics, co-authored with Justin Heinzekehr (in preparation). 

BOOKS EDITED

The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg: Twelve American Critiques, co-edited with Carl Braaten (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1988).

Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists, co-edited with Mark Richardson et al. (London and New York: Routledge, 2002).

Quantum Mechanics, vol. 5 of Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, coedited with Robert J. Russell John Polkinghorne, and Kirk Wegter-McNelly (Vatican City: Vatican Observatory, and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, 2002).

In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God’s Presence in a Scientific World, co-edited with Arthur Peacocke (Grand Rapids: Eerdman‘s, 2004).

Science and Beyond:  Cosmology, Consciousness and Technology in the Indic Traditions, co-edited with Roddam Narasimha, B. V. Sreekantan, and Sangeetha Menon (Bangalore, India: NIAS Publications, 2004).

Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective, co-edited with Jeffrey Schloss (Grand Rapids: Eerdman‘s, 2004).

The Re-emergence of Emergence:  The Emergentist Hypothesis from Science to Religion, co-edited with Paul Davies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, with associate editor Zachary Simpson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). Arabic translation, 2014.

Practicing Science, Living Faith:  Interviews with Twelve Leading Scientists, co-edited with Jim Schaal (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007).

All That Is: A Naturalistic Faith for the Twenty-First Century, in honor of Arthur Peacocke. (Minneapolis: FortressPress, 2007).

Panentheism Across the World’s Traditions, co-edited with Loriliai Biernacki (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2013).

Socialism in Process, coedited with Justin Heinzekehr (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2017)

How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere: An Anthology of Spiritual Memoirs, coedited with Andrew M. Davis (New York: Monkfish, 2018).

What’s with Free Will?  Ethics and Religion after Neuroscience, coedited with Jim Walters (forthcoming from Wipf & Stock, 2020).

Thought at the Edge of Collapse: Reception and Response in the work of Philip Clayton, Festschrift edited by Zachary Simpson (in preparation).

Discussions in Science and Religion - An Introduction

 

Evolutionary tree showing the divergence of modern taxonomic  groups from their common ancestor
in the centre (black line). The three domains are bacteria blue, archaea green and eukaryotes red.

Introduction

After writing or publishing over 164 articles on the topic of science and religion the past 2 years it seems appropriate that I might take a brief break and study this subject from yet another viewpoint of one well-versed in the trade of (postmodern) theology and philosophy. Especially as it pertains to the idea of theological exploration, examination, and exhortation of the many substantive ideas that we have considered in previous discussions related to the biblical themes of God as Creator, the world as God's creation, and man as God's handiwork. And more especially as it pertains to the troubled areas of biblical examination of the ancient texts of Genesis utilizing more appropriate tools of historical criticism, ANE research, and a developing anthropological hermeneutic that is set amid a sea of multi-vocal narrations beginning from the creation-story's first recitation to ancient listeners to even now as it is pondered deeply by postmodern ears, minds, hearts, and souls far removed from the originating narration's first composition (which is where a diversified, flexible hermeneutic can lead us when appropriately applied).

 

As such, Philip Clayton will be leading a discussion group with Homebrewed Christianity's Tripp Fuller in this much debated area of Christian Creationism into which I wish to provide a weekly diary coupled with mine own thoughts, passions, interests, and absorptions that have percolated over a lifetime of reading, studying, listening, examining, dialoging, and reflection.

 

From the outset my own views of biblical creation is that of Evolutionary Creationism, meaning that from the evidence obtained by present-day science across the genomic, biologic, geographic, geological, anthropological, cultural, quantum, and cosmological spectrum (to mention just a few scientific disciplines), it seems most statedly true that we live in a world begun by applied evolutionary systems onto our present form of cosmos, beginning with the cosmos itself in its pre-postmordial form of quantum soup and multi-verse.

 

Moreover, we use the term creationism to convey the idea that God designed, initiated, developed, maintained, sustained, and produced this cosmos that we live in by His own will, mind, heart, and passion. This is the old idea of Theistic Evolution. But to that idea is the process by which God has developed, which is why we should more rather use the newer term "evolutionary creationism." So that when combining both ideas of Creator (the who) and the process (the what) we are left with a more complete idea of biblical creation as we understand it before us today through our lenses and telescopes, computers and sonic instruments, chalkboards and focus groups, quantum and biological laboratories, and theological and philosophical think tanks.

 

Naturalist Charles Darwin

Thus, to say that evolution was divinely created is to say that we intend to elaborate a theistic system of evolution, and not a non-neutral, nor atheistic system, nor even an agnostic one. Even as the descriptive expressions of Darwinian evolution, or natural selection, or even scientific naturalism have come to be associated with a discipline which remains neutral to personal biases and neutral to unprovable philosophical assumptions... as well it should. And yet, Charles Darwin himself was a 19th century Christian naturalist and biologist believing in God's creational handiwork through natural selection even as he wrote of his theories in strict accordance with scientific principles. Even so, because his theories disavowed the more popular idea of biblical creationism without mediated generation, he was vilified and by passionate Christians wishing to demonize him and his theories (we see Darwin's public characterization  brought to life during the Scopes-Monkey Trial in the early 20th Century). Thus to speak of Darwinian evolution is to tell of a Christian scientist whom the church disqualified on the grounds of a perceived godless theology that went against their understanding of science. Making Charles Darwin not unlike past recepients of this dubious honor like Copernicus and  Galileo whose scientific discoveries drastically altered the way the church viewed itself, its God, its mission, and the world.

Moreover, evolutionary creationism implies God's mediating presence and direction in the formation of life and soul, being and end, as versus the more popular (but unscientific) past ideas of im-mediate formulation by spontaneous generation (as in "poof!" here is the sun, moon, stars... or "poof!" here is man formed complete... or "poof!" here are past fossils and geologic formations locked in the soils of evolutionary drift describing time but denied by Christian 7-day creationists). Between these ideas of a mediated evolution or a spontaneous/immediate generation comes a whole host of in-between Christian theories making allowances for older homo sapien life forms, Earth's biologic development, and the universe's cosmic formation. However, to each of these may be applied the theological idea of a theistic creation - that is, God is viewed as creation's Creator. Not nature per se. Nor cosmic force alone utilizing random chance through chaotic process. But by God Himself as declared within the biblical page.

But, for the evolutionary theist we have a problem. Because s/he must admit at once that evolution occurs within nature by cosmic force, by random chance and by chaotic process. If not, then we do not have the strict application of evolution but an application of some other kind of quasi-evolution that goes beyond the scope and bounds of scientific evolution as begun by the study of natural selection. And so, for the Christian evolutionist we must at all times allow for the fullness of scientific evolution theory without admixture, distillation, dilation, dilution, or synthesis from what has firmly been stated by-and-within evolutionary theory itself  (for a fuller discussion as to what evolution is I suggest Wikipedia's handy summation as found here).

So then, do we have a paradox? Yes and no. Yes if we allow it to become one. And no when we stand back and admit that the entirety of this process was designed, implemented, and ruled over by our Creator God. To admit that God chose all of these processes - and in this way - to form and fashion the earth and ourselves... incredible as it seems. As paradoxical as its mysterious. And yet, for the Christian believer it gives to us an even more amazing God than one that magically conforms to what we think His definition of Creator/creation should be.... By limiting God's definition of Creator-Redeemer to our own imagineless imagination by restricting Him to our own planes of finitude and simplicity.

 

Consequently, for the Christian we will have a distinct difference of opinion as to whether evolution was left to itself to run itself (a Christian Deism as versus an agnostic/atheistic position). Or whether there was always involved an end, a plan, a purpose, to which creation was made and is moving towards. To attend to this latter idea will subsequently require one of two kinds of divine sovereignty. Either a meticulous sovereignty wherein God controls all events and outcomes regardless of the indeterminacy He has built into nature, and to the denial of man's own free will. This might be better described as divine determinism. Or rather posit a God whose sovereign rule shows to us His willful submission to His own decrees; who comes into partnership to those same decrees; and thus, limits Himself in a kind of divine weakness before His holy being and essence (as demonstrated most beguilingly through His own incarnation in Jesus). This idea is what is meant by relational (process) theism as versus its more classic, modern forms (sic, see sidebars for further discussions under Theism). Moreover, this then would interplay the ideas of strict Calvinism (God rules against our own freewill and subtends over that of creation's indeterminacy with meticulous disregard to its very nature) against the more pliable doctrines of Arminianism (which more fully leans towards the fullness of meaning implied by human freewill and creational indeterminacy) (cf. both sidebars and index).

To this idea of divine sovereignty I would like to add one further idea to the idea of evolution - that evolution might bear within itself a latency towards teleology. What? A divine plan and purpose within its random, chaotic process of indeterminate mutation, whereby competitive Natural Selection is predisposed towards the creation of life as fully, and purposely possible, within any given context of (hostile) environment. Curiously, some agnostic and atheistic evolutionists are admitting to this nuanced idea of late - though in a non-Christian context (cf. Evolution and the Separate Problems of Teleology and Human Consciousness). Still, as a Christian evolutionist I could more fully accept the process of evolution should I find behind (or within) this process a Sovereign God who has been directing it towards some meaningful end. Even unto His own Kingdom of Light-and-Life where sin and death are swallowed up before His majesty and glory.

Now how "death" may cease to exist is beyond my imagination because by its very nature of our cosmos "death" inhabits all of its natural processes: from its quantum processes of destruction and annihilation; to its geologic processes with its gross residual affects; to even its biologic process involving death and mutational migration. "Death" is everywhere abounding. However, perhaps God's redemptive removal of "sin and death" may be more a reference towards humanity's "spiritual death" separated from its Creator God - especially as its connected to the immediately preceding descriptor of "sin." From the Bible we know that any fellowship with God would disallow sin's presence within that relationship. As such, the idea of a "new heavens and new earth" would portend a unity of fellowship between God and humanity where sin has been washed away in Jesus's atonement. And with its cleansing, death's presence between man and God no longer withholds man's redeemed (and restored) relationship from God, nor God from man. Truly, "sin and death" have been removed. Moreover, this theologic idea would also affect humanity's caretake of this Earth, remaking it so that it becomes "renewed" within itself, thus creating a renewed Garden of Eden as it were. At least this is how I could imagine a completing (or actualized) evolutionary process that evolves - or emerges - from death-to-life, and from life-to-life-everlasting. Such a process would henceforth bear within itself a teleological process of purpose and means.

And with that I must conclude this summary introduction to await the golden cusps of wisdom from those more learned than myself (and if you detect a bit of cynicism here than I know that you-and-I will agree that men are but mortal and must ever rely on God's own wisdom for our direction and purpose). But if you cannot await Part 2 several weeks from now - and wish to read on - there are 164 articles that may be read as contained here on Relevancy22 by referring to the sidebars under "Science." Moreover, I would encourage all prospective students to join with me and others to reflect upon evolution through Philip Clayton's lifetime of reading, studying, writing and lecturing. We may, or may not, agree with him, but it would behoove us to understand some of the timely issues involved pertaining to Science and the Bible. As ever, may God bless those of His little ones, and the shepherds of their estates, unto the green pastures of His fellowship. That we might together behold His wonder, beauty and majesty. His nearness and weakness. As found within our present-day, and very mortal, lives' filled with His glory and grace. Amen.

 

R.E. Slater

September 10, 2013
edited September 23, 2013 re "teleology"

 

*ps - the books listed below will be part of the online class undertaken.
 

 

 

Biography

Philip Clayton is the Dean of Claremont School of Theology and Provost of Claremont Lincoln University. He also holds the Ingraham Chair at CST. Clayton earned a joint PhD in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Yale University and has held visiting appointments at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Munich. He has published over 20 books and hundreds of academic and popular articles.

 

Over the course of 25 years of teaching and researching, Clayton's interests migrated gradually from philosophy through the science-religion debate to constructive theology.Explanation from Physics to Theology: An Essay in Rationality and Religion (Yale 1989) and several dozen articles explored similarities and differences in how knowledge and explanations function across the disciplines.The Problem of God in Modern Thought (Eerdmans 2000) and a series of accompanying articles explored the fall and rise of theistic metaphysics in the modern era. Clayton then moved into a variety of leadership positions in the international debate on the science-religion relationship, including Principal Investigator of the Science and the Spiritual Quest program. He has been an outspoken advocate for multi-cultural and multi-religious approaches to the field. Clayton has written or edited over a dozen books in this field and spoken on the topic in almost every continent. Recent works include Adventures in the Spirit (Fortress 2009), In Quest of Freedom (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2009), The Predicament of Belief (Oxford 2012, with Steven Knapp), and Religion and Science: The Basics (Routledge 2012).

 

A series of events precipitated the most recent turn: leading the Ford Foundation grant "Rekindling Theological Imagination" with Marjorie Suchocki; lecturing around the country on emergent Christianity; organizing the "Theology After Google" event; and launching the "Big Tent Christianity" movement with Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Tripp Fuller, and others. Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society (Fortress 2009) argued that seminaries should help prepare Christian leaders for an unheralded transformation in the church, which has already begun in our culture. Soon thereafter the invitation came to help lead Claremont School of Theology as it becomes the Christian member of an interreligious consortium of schools known as Claremont Lincoln University. The offer was too tempting to refuse.

 

 

Book Description - Religion and Science

 

Publication Date: September 22, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0415598567 | ISBN-13: 978-0415598569

 

Religion and science are arguably the two most powerful social forces in the world today. But where religion and science were once held to be compatible, most people now perceive them to be in conflict. This unique book provides the best available introduction to the burning debates in this controversial field. Examining the defining questions and controversies, renowned expert Philip Clayton presents the arguments from both sides, asking readers to decide for themselves where they stand:

• science or religion, or science and religion?

• Intelligent Design vs. New Atheism
 
• the role of scientific and religious ethics – designer drugs, AI and stem cell research
 
• the future of science vs. the future of religion.

 

Viewpoints from a range of world religions and different scientific perspectives are explored, making this book essential reading for all those wishing to come to their own understanding of some of the most important debates of our day.

 

 

Book Description - The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology)

 

Publication Date: July 15, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0199543658 | ISBN-13: 978-0199543656

 

The field of "religion and science" is exploding in popularity among academics as well as the general reading public. Spawning an increasing number of conferences and courses, this field has shown an unprecedented rate of growth in recent years. Here for the first time is a single-volume introduction to the debate, written by the leading experts. Making no pretense to encyclopedic neutrality, each chapter defends a major intellectual position: at the heart of the book is a series of "pro" and "con" papers, covering each of the current "hot topics" (such as evolution versus creation, naturalism versus the supernatural). In addition to treatments of questions of methodology and implications for life and practice, the Handbook includes sections devoted to the major scientific disciplines, the major world religions, and the main sub-disciplines in this exciting and ever-expanding field of study.

Index to past discussions -

 

Index to past articles on "Science & Religion"