How God Acts: Creation, Redemption, and Special Divine Action

226 Pages·2010·0.85 MB·English

by  Denis Edwards

E
d How God Acts
“Behold, I make all things new” w
a
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“In this marvelous book, Denis Edwards, a key contributor d
to ‘theology and science’ today, demonstrates how our s
understanding of God’s special action in the world—such
Creation, Redemption, and Special Divine Action
as the incarnation, resurrection, miracles, God’s answering
prayer—can be given fresh and invigorating illumination as
Denis eDwaRDs is Senior ‘non-interventionist’ and ‘participatory’. . . . The result is the
Lecturer in Systematic beginning of a consistent integrated model of divine action with
TheologyintheSchoolof natural sciences. Edwards’s book should be required reading for
TheologyofFlindersUni- scholars and non-technical readers interested in the growing
versity.Aninternationally dialogue between theology and science.”
acclaimed theologian, he —RobeRt John Russell
isauthorofmanyworks, Director,CenterforTheologyandtheNatural
H
includingrecentlyEcology Sciences,GraduateTheologicalUnion
at the Heart of Faith(2006) o
andThe God of Evolution: A HowdoestheChristiandoctrineofcreationsquare w
Trinitarian Theology (1999). withthepictureofanevolvinguniversewereceivefrom

sciencetoday?Howdothebaldlypredatorybehavior G
andwastefulextinctionofwholespeciesfitinaChristian
o
understanding? How does miraculous divine action,
d
picturedsovividlyinthebiblicalnarratives,squarewith

theinexorablemarchofthelawsofphysics?Howdoes A
aGodoflovepermitsomuchdeathanddestruction? c
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s
Theseandahostofrelatedquestionsraisedbyordinary
experiencearetackledinthisimportantandoriginal
work from theologian Denis Edwards re-conceiving
divine action. From providence and miracles to
resurrectionandintercessoryprayer,Edwardsshows
how a basically noninterventionist model of divine
actiondoesjusticetotheuniverseasweknowityet
also to central convictions of Christian faith about
thegoodnessofGod,thepromisesofGod,andthe
fulfillment of creation. Here is wonderfully lucid
theologysupportingaconvincingvisionofjusthow
Godisatworkintheuniverse.
THEOLOGY
AND THE
SCIENCES
Religion / science
Denis Edwards
How God Acts
THEOLOGY AND THE SCIENCES
Kevin J. Sharpe, Founding Editor†
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Ian G. Barbour Arthur Peacocke, S.O.Sc.†
Emeritus Professor of Physics and Religion Saint Cross College, Oxford, England
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
John Polkinghorne, F.R.S.
Philip Hefner Past President, Queens College,
Past President, Zygon Cambridge, England
Founder, Center for Religion and Science
Robert John Russell
Emeritus Professor, Lutheran School of
Director, Center for Theology and
Theology, Chicago
the Natural Sciences
Sallie McFague Professor, Graduate Theological Union,
Distinguished Theologian in Residence Berkeley
Vancouver School of Theology
TITLES IN THE SERIES
Nature, Reality, and the Sacred Nature, Human Nature, and God
Langdon Gilkey Ian G. Barbour
The Human Factor In Our Image
Philip Hefner Noreen L. Herzfeld
On the Moral Nature of the Universe Minding God
Nancey Murphy and George F. R. Ellis Gregory R. Peterson
Theology for a Scientific Age Light from the East
Arthur Peacocke Alexei V. Nesteruk
The Faith of a Physicist
Participating in God
John Polkinghorne
Samuel M. Powell
The Travail of Nature
Adam, Eve, and the Genome
H. Paul Santmire
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, editor
God, Creation,
Bridging Science and Religion
and Contemporary Physics
Ted Peters and Gaymon Bennett, editors
Mark William Worthing
Unprecedented Choices Minding the Soul
Audrey R. Chapman James B. Ashbrook
Whatever Happened to the Soul? The Music of Creation
Warren S. Brown, Nancey Murphy, Arthur Peacocke and Ann Pederson
and H. Newton Malony, editors
Creation and Double Chaos
The Mystical Mind Sjoerd L. Bonting
Eugene d’Aquili and Andrew B. Newberg
The Living Spirit of the Crone
Nature Reborn Sally Palmer Thomason
H. Paul Santmire
All That Is
Wrestling with the Divine Arthur Peacocke
Christopher C. Knight
Christ and Evolution
Doing without Adam and Eve Celia Deane-Drummond
Patricia A. Williams
How God Acts
Creation, Redemption,
and Special Divine Action
Denis Edwards
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
HOW GOD ACTS
Creation, Redemption, and Special Divine Action
Theology and the Sciences series
Copyright © 2010 Fortress Press, an imprint of Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except
for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any
manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.
org/copyrights/ or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.
Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright © 1989 by
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United
States of America and are used by permission.
Cover image: “Creation and the Universe I,” Yvonne Ashby
Cover design: Ivy Palmer Skrade
Book design: PerfecType, Nashville, TN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Edwards, Denis, 1943-
How God acts : creation, redemption, and special divine action / Denis Edwards.
p. cm. — (Theology and the sciences)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8006-9700-6 (alk. paper)
1. Providence and government of God—Christianity. I. Title.
BT135.E39 2010
231’.5—dc22
2009037224
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements for American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI
Z329.48–1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Contents
Foreword by William R. Stoeger, S.J. ix
Preface xi
Chapter 1: Characteristics of the Universe Revealed by the Sciences 1
A Universe That Evolves at All Levels 2
A Universe Constituted by Patterns of Relationship 5
A Universe Where Natural Processes Have Their Own Integrity 7
A Directional Universe 8
The Costs of Evolution 11
Chapter 2: Divine Action in the Christ-Event 15
Jesus’ Vision of Divine Action: The Reign of God 15
Parables of Divine Action 16
Healing 18
The Open Table 20
The Community of Disciples 21
Divine Action for Jesus 24
Divine Action in the Light of the Whole Christ-Event 25
God Who Lovingly Waits upon Creation 26
The Vulnerability of Divine Love 30
v
Chapter 3: Creation as Divine Self-Bestowal 35
The Specific and Historical Character of Divine Acts 36
Creation as the Self-Bestowal of God 39
Enabling and Empowering Evolutionary Emergence 43
Noninterventionist Divine Action 45
Enabling Creaturely Autonomy to Flourish 47
Divine Action That Accepts the Limits of Creaturely Processes 50
Creating through Chance and Lawfulness 52
Chapter 4: Special Divine Acts 57
Special Acts in the Providential Guidance of Creation 58
Approaches to Special Divine Acts 59
Divine Action through Secondary Causes 62
God’s Special Acts in Evolutionary Emergence 64
The Dynamism and the Creaturely Limits of Special Divine Acts 65
Special Divine Acts in the Life of Grace 66
Experiences of the Holy Spirit 67
Personal Providence 68
Disruptive Grace 71
Special Divine Acts in the History of Salvation 72
Mediation by Created Realities 72
Sacramental Structure of Special Divine Acts 74
Conclusion 75
Chapter 5: Miracles and the Laws of Nature 77
The Miracles of Jesus 78
Aquinas on the Dignity of Secondary Causes 80
The Laws of Nature 84
A Theological Approach 87
Chapter 6: The Divine Act of Resurrection 91
Resurrection: A Free Act of God from within Creation
That Gives Creation Its Deepest Meaning 92
Central Expression of God’s Act of Self-Bestowal 92
Evolutionary Christology 94
Sacrament of Salvation 95
vi Contents
Resurrection as Ontological Transformation 96
Resurrection Expressed in Creation through Secondary Causes 99
Experience of the Risen Christ in the Christian Community Today 101
The Easter Appearances 102
The Eschatological Transformation of Creation 104
Chapter 7: God’s Redeeming Act: Deifying Transformation 107
Redemption and Deification through Incarnation: Athanasius 109
The God–Creation Relationship 109
The Central Place of Christ’s Death and Resurrection 113
Deification in Christ 114
Exploring a Theology of Redemption as Deifying Transformation 118
The Deifying Transformation of Human Beings 119
The Deifying Transformation of the Material Universe 121
The Deifying Transformation of the Biological World 124
A Participatory Theology of Redemption 126
Chapter 8: God’s Redeeming Act: Evolution, Original Sin,
and the Lamb of God 129
The Scapegoat Mechanism 129
Evolutionary Science on Human Emergence 131
Original Grace and Original Sin in Evolutionary History 134
The End of Scapegoating and the Beginning of New Creation 138
Chapter 9: Final Fulfillment: The Deifying Transformation
of Creation 143
We Hope for What We Do Not See: God as Absolute Future 144
Hope for the Whole Creation in the New Testament:
Romans 8:18-25 146
Hope for the Universe in Patristic Tradition:
Maximus the Confessor 150
The Deification of the Universe: Karl Rahner 152
The Deification of Matter 153
Radical Transformation 155
Real Continuity 157
Hope for the Animals 159
Contents vii
Chapter 10: Prayers of Intercession 167
God Wants Our Participation 168
Sharing What Matters with the Beloved 170
Entrusting Ourselves to God 173
Prayer as Desire for God 175
Conclusion 178
Notes 181
Index 203
viii Contents
Foreword
Understanding God’s action in the world—what divine action means, how
God acts, and how God does not act—is central to all theological reflec-
tion. This fundamental issue has received increased attention over the past
thirty years, as the dialogue between theology and the natural sciences has
broadened and deepened, and as the persistent challenges to anthropo-
morphic images of God’s interaction with us and with the world from our
experiences of natural and moral evil have increased. Many have repeated
the basic distinction between God’s universal creative action in nature
and God’s special action in history. Whereas divine creation has been
relatively easy to understand in light of the full range of our understand-
ing, divine special acts—such as the incarnation, resurrection, miracles,
God’s answering prayer—have challenged theologians and philosophers
of religion at a more profound level. How do they fit into the overall fab-
ric of reality without entailing outside micromanagement, aggravating the
problem of evil, or trivializing and disrespecting who God is for us?
We commonly follow Anselm by defining theology as “faith seek-
ing understanding.” Here Denis Edwards has done this in an extraordi-
nary way, probing both old and new avenues to understanding special
divine action in its central manifestations. He has critically appropriated
and developed Rahner’s insights on creation as divine self-bestowal, and
integrated his treatment with the wisdom of Thomas Aquinas on creation
and primary and secondary causality and with the vision of Athanasius
ix