Chaos & Complexity: Scientific Perspectives On Divine Action (Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, Vol 2)

427 Pages·2000·19.59 MB·English

by  Robert J. Russell

Chaos and Complexity
Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action
A Series on "Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action"
First Volume
Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature:
Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action
Edited by Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, and C. J. Isham
Second Volume
Chaos and Complexity:
Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action
Edited by Robert John Russell, Nancey Murphy, and Arthur R. Peacocke
Future Scientific Topics
Evolutionary and Molecular Biology
Neurobiology and Brain Research
Quantum Physics and Quantum Field Theory
Jointly published by the Vatican Observatory and
The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences
Robert John Russell, General Editor of the Series
Supported in part by a grant from
the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation.
Chaos and Complexity
Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action
Robert John Russell
Nancey Murphy
Arthur R. Peacocke
Editors
Vatican Observatory The Center for Theology
Publications, and the Natural Sciences,
Vatican City State Berkeley, California
SECOND EDITION
2000
Robert John Russell (General Editor) is Professor of Theology and Science in
Residence, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, and Founder and
Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
Nancey Murphy is Associate Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological
Seminary, Pasadena, California.
Arthur R. Peacocke is currently Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, Oxford,
England, Warden Emeritus of the Society of Ordained Scientists, and formerly
Dean of Clare College, Cambridge, England.
About the cover: the image on the cover of this volume is a graphic depiction of
a Rossler attractor: the simplest case for a chaotic attractor. The image is taken
from "Chaos" by James P. Crutchfield, et al., reprinted in this volume by
permission of Scientific American.
Copyright © 1995 by the Vatican Observatory Foundation
SECOND EDITION
Copyright © 1997 by the Vatican Observatory Foundation
Copyright © 2000 by the Vatican Observatory Foundation
Distributed (except in Italy and Vatican City State) by
The University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
U.S.A.
Distributed in Italy and Vatican City State by
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
V-00120 Citta del Vaticano
Vatican City State
ISBN 0-268-00812-4 (pbk.)
VATICAN PRESS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors with to express their gratitude to the Vatican Observatory and the
Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences for co-sponsoring this research.
Particular appreciation goes to George Coyne and Bill Stoeger, whose leadership
and vision made this series of conferences possible.
Editing for this volume began with an initial circulation of papers for critical
responses before the conference in 1993, and continued with extensive interactions
between editors and authors after the conference. The editors want to express their
gratitude to all the participants for their written responses to pre-conference drafts
and for their enthusiastic discussions during the conferences.
Regarding this volume, special thanks goes to Greg Maslowe, CTNS Editing
Coordinator, who devoted meticulous attention and long hours to every stage in the
preparation of the camera-ready manuscript of this volume. His effort ensured the
quality of the final manuscript and made it possible for us to meet our deadline for
publication in 1995. Thanks also goes to George Coyne for overseeing printing,
jacket design, and distribution, and to Karen Cheatham and Lisa Dahlen for their
help in hosting the conference at the GTU and their preliminary work on this
manuscript. One of us (RJR) wishes to express special personal thanks to Nancey
Murphy for the enormous effort she put into editing this volume, and to Wesley
Wildman for the pleasure of co-authoring with him.
The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences wishes to acknowledge the
generous support of the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation. The recent renewal
of their initial grant continues to make our on-going collaboration with the Vatican
Observatory possible. A second grant from the Valley Foundation, also recently
renewed, has supported the production of this volume.
The editors wish to thank the following for their generous permission to
reprint articles in this volume:
Chaos by James P. Cruthfield, J. Doyne Farmer, Norman H. Packard, and Robert
S. Shaw: From Scientific American 225, no. 6 (December 1986): 46-57. Reprinted
by permission.
Understanding Complexity by Bemd-Olaf Kuppers: From Emergence or
Reduction?, ed. Ansgar Beckermann, Hans Flohr, and Jaegwon Kim (Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter, 1992), 241-256. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Chance and Law in Irreversible Thermodynamics, Theoretical Biology, and
Theology by Arthur R. Peacocke: From Philosophy in Science 4 (1990): 145-180.
© 1990 by the Pachart Foundation dba Pachart Publishing House and reprinted by
permission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Robert John Russell
I. SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND: CHAOS AND COMPLEXITY
Chaos
James P. Crutckfield, J. Doyne Farmer,
Norman H. Packard, and Robert S. Shaw
Chaos: A Mathematical Introduction with Philosophical Reflections
Wesley J. Wildman and Robert John Russell
II. CHAOS, COMPLEXITY, AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
Understanding Complexity
Bernd-Olaf Kiippers
Chaos, Probability, and the Comprehensibility of the World
Michael Heller
Chance and Law in Irreversible Thermodynamics,
Theoretical Biology, and Theology
Arthur R. Peacocke
III. CHAOS, COMPLEXITY, AND DIVINE ACTION
The Metaphysics of Divine Action
John Polkinghorne
The Discovery of Chaos and the Retrieval of the Trinity
Denis Edwards
Divine Providence and Instrumentality: Metaphors for
Time in Self-Organizing Systems and Divine Action
Stephen Happel
Reflections on Chaos and God's Interaction with the World
from a Trinitarian Perspective
Jiirgen Moltmann 205
The God of Nature
Lang don Gilkey 211
IV. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO DIVINE ACTION
Gaps for God?
Willem B. Drees 223
Describing God's Action in the World in Light
of Scientific Knowledge of Reality
William R. Stoeger 239
God's Interaction with the World: The Implications of
Deterministic "Chaos" and of Interconnected and
Interdependent Complexity
Arthur R. Peacocke 263
Particular Providence and the God of the Gaps
Thomas F. Tracy 289
Divine Action in the Natural Order: Buridan's Ass
and Schrodinger's Cat
Nancey Murphy 325
Ordinary and Extraordinary Divine Action:
The Nexus of Interaction
George F.R. Ellis 359
LIST OF CONTRIBUTING PARTICIPANTS 397
INDEX 399