Theology After Darwin

223 Pages·2009·1.08 MB·English

by  Michael S Northcott and R J Berry (eds.)

Theology After Darwin

Theology After Darwin
Edited by Michael Northcott
and R. J. Berry
• •
MILTON KEYNES COLORADO SPRINGS HYDERABAD
Copyright © 2009 Michael Northcott and R. J. Berry
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First published 2009 by Paternoster
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The right of Michael Northcott and R. J. Berry to be identified as the
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-84227-646-4
Cover Design by Matt Rees
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by J.F. Print Ltd.,
Sparkford, Somerset
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
About the Contributors ix
Introduction 1
1 Biology After Darwin 4
R. J. Berry
2 After Darwin: Is Intelligent Design Intelligent? 22
Denis R. Alexander
3 Charles Kingsley’s Christian Darwinism 41
Amy Laura Hall
4 Reading the Bible After Darwin: Creation and
a Culture of Restraint 57
Ellen F. Davis
5 Darwin and Providence 73
David Ferguson
6 Being Human after Darwin 89
Francisco J. Ayala
vi TheologyAfterDarwin
7 Doctrines of the Fall and Sin After Darwin 106
John J. Bimson
8 Theological Ethics After Darwin 123
Michael S. Northcott
9 Natural Evil After Darwin 139
Neil Messer
10 Natural Theology After Darwin: Contemplating 155
the Vortex
David Grumett
11 Hope for Creation After Darwin: The Redemption
of ‘All Things’ 171
Denis Edwards
Epilogue: Darwin and the Theologians 190
Bibliography 196
Acknowledgements
Our thanks are due to all those involved in the production of this
volume in the 200th anniversary year of Charles Darwin’s birth and the
150th anniversary year of the publication of The Origin of Species. Robin
Parry, publishing editor of Paternoster, first suggested the idea for this
book to us after reading articles by us in the journal Science and Christian
Belief in which we were responding to Simon Conway Morris’ 2005 Boyle
Lecture, based on his important book Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in
a Lonely Universe. We are grateful to those who joined us in the project so
enthusiastically and for delivering their chapters in a timely fashion. Some
of us met in Trinity, Edinburgh in January 2009 for a writers’ workshop
to peer review every chapter in the book. We are grateful to Professor
David Fergusson for providing a subvention from a Science and Religion
project fund to assist with the costs of the weekend, and to Robin Parry
and Paternoster for their advance on the royalties which helped meet the
remaining costs. At that workshop Byron Smith provided superb research
assistance, taking notes on all suggested changes and forwarding them
to the authors at the end of the workshop. Byron subsequently prepared
the composite bibliography and index and we are very grateful for his
assistance. Many thanks finally to Kate Kirkpatrick who has been a
generous and effective copy-editor.

About the Contributors
Denis Alexander is a Fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, and
Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. His first
book on science and faith was Beyond Science (1972). More recently he
has written the critically acclaimed Rebuilding the Matrix (2001) and co-
authored Beyond Belief (2004). His latest book is Creation or Evolution: Do
We Have to Choose? (2008). Dr Alexander is Editor of the journal Science
& Christian Belief.
Francisco J. Ayala is President and Chairman of the Board of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. A biologist and philosopher,
he holds several appointments at the University of California, Irvine, and
has published over 950 articles and books. Internationally known for his
work on population and evolutionary genetics, his latest books have
focused on evolution, Darwin, intelligent design, and creationism.
R. J. (Sam) Berry was Professor of Genetics at University College
London 1974–2000. He is a former President of the Linnean Society, the
British Ecological Society and the European Ecological Federation. He is
the author of Neo-Darwinism (1982), God and Evolution (1988), God and the
Biologist (1996), God’s Book of Works (2003 – Gifford Lectures delivered
at the University of Glasgow), and Islands (2009). He has edited (jointly,
with Tom Noble) Darwin, Creation and the Fall (2009).
x (cid:22)(cid:145)(cid:142)(cid:152)(cid:149)(cid:152)(cid:144)(cid:162)(cid:561)(cid:3)(cid:286)(cid:142)(cid:155)(cid:561)(cid:6)(cid:138)(cid:155)(cid:160)(cid:146)(cid:151)
John Bimson teaches Old Testament studies at Trinity College, Bristol.
His special interests include the historical and archaeological background
to the Old Testament, environmental issues, and developing a biblical
perspective on creation care.
Ellen F. Davis is the Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of Bible and Practical
Theology at Duke Divinity School. The author of many books and articles,
her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the
life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues. She
is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Building Bridges seminar,
an international group of Muslim and Christian theologians. Her most
recent book is Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of
the Bible (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
Denis Edwards is a senior lecturer in systematic theology in the School of
Theology of Flinders University and a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese
of Adelaide. Publications include: Ecology at the Heart of Faith (2006)
Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit (2004); The God of Evolution: a
Trinitarian Theology (1999); Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology;
Jesus and the Cosmos (1991).
David Fergusson is Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh
and Principal of New College. His most recent book Faith and Its Critics:
A Conversation (2009) is based on his 2008 Gifford Lectures. He is a Fellow
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
David Grumett is Research Fellow in Theology in the University of
Exeter, UK. He is author of De Lubac: A Guide for the Perplexed (2007) and
Teilhard de Chardin: Theology, Humanity and Cosmos (2005).
Amy Laura Hall is an Associate Professor at Duke University. She is
the author of articles and chapters on bioethics, biblical ethics, disability
and theology, and Christian conceptions of love. Her two books are
Kierkegaard and the Treachery of Love and Conceiving Parenthood: American
Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction. In addition to her work on
muscular Christianity and Christian Darwinism, she is researching stories
of Methodist women missionaries as potential models for collaborative,
feminist work in areas of global health.
Neil Messer is a theological ethicist who also has a research training
in molecular biology, and is a minister of the United Reformed Church.
He is currently Senior Lecturer in Christian Theology at the University
of Wales, Lampeter. His research interests are focused on bioethics and
related areas. Recent publications include Selfish Genes and Christian Ethics:
Theological and Ethical Reflections on Evolutionary Biology (2007).