Re-Imagining Nature
The Promise of a Christian Natural Theology
1. Edition July 2016
256 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-1-119-04635-6
John Wiley & Sons
Reimagining Nature is a new introduction to the fast developing area of natural theology, written by one of the world's leading theologians. The text engages in serious theological dialogue whilst looking at how past developments might illuminate and inform theory and practice in the present.
* This text sets out to explore what a properly Christian approach to natural theology might look like and how this relates to alternative interpretations of our experience of the natural world
* Alister McGrath is ideally placed to write the book as one of the world's best known theologians and a chief proponent of natural theology
* This new work offers an account of the development of natural theology throughout history and informs of its likely contribution in the present
* This feeds in current debates about the relationship between science and religion, and religion and the humanities
* Engages in serious theological dialogue, primarily with Augustine, Aquinas, Barth and Brunner, and includes the work of natural scientists, philosophers of science, and poets
Introduction 1
1 Natural Theology: Questions of Definition and Scope 6
The Aim of This Work 8
A Brief Genealogy of Natural Theology 11
Natural Theology: Six Approaches 18
The Natural Theology Project: Thick and Thin Descriptions 22
In Defense of a "Christian" Natural Theology Project 25
The Christian Accommodation of Classic Natural Theology 35
2 Natural Theology and the Christian Imaginarium 41
Sensorium and Imaginarium: Christianity and the Re-Imagination of Nature 42
Modernity and the Suppression of the Imagination 47
Metanoia: Seeing Things as They Really Are 50
Imaginative Transformation: The Church as an Interpretive Community 55
Theoria: Imaginative Beholding and Rational Dissection 57
Nature as logikos: Reflections on the Doctrine of Creation 61
Metaphors of Beauty and Order: Harmony and the Dance 66
3 Text, Image, and Sign: On Framing the Natural World 69
Natural Theology as a Habitus 69
The Intellectual Challenge of the Ambiguity of the World 73
Nature as a Text: Natural Theology and the Book of Nature 78
Nature as Image: Natural Theology and Landscapes 87
Nature as a Sign: Natural Theology and Semiotics 93
4 Natural Theology: Contexts and Motivations 101
The Importance of Cultural Location for Natural Theology 101
A New Vocational Space: Natural Theology as a Religious Calling 105
The Wasteland: Natural Theology and the Recovery of a Lost Nature 107
Wonder and Mystery: Transcendent Experiences 110
Re-Enchantment: Sustaining a Sense of Wonder 113
The Rational Transparency of Nature and Faith 116
Connectedness: The Human Longing for Coherence 120
Meaning: Nature and Ultimate Questions 122
Natural Theology as a "Natural" Quest 124
5 Natural Theology: Some Concerns and Challenges 128
Natural Theology: Improper and Redundant? 128
Ontotheology? Natural Theology and Philosophical "First Principles" 133
David Hume: The Intellectual Inadequacy of a Deist Natural Theology 135
Charles Taylor: Natural Theology and the "Immanent Frame" 138
Barth and Brunner: The Debate which Discredited Natural Theology? 144
Fideism: Natural Theology as Self-Referential and Self-Justifying? 149
6 The Promise of a Christian Natural Theology 154
The Natural Sciences: Natural Theology and the Subversion of Scientism 156
The Affective Imagination: Natural Theology and the Spirituality of Nature 163
Boundaries and Trespass: Natural Theology and Systematic Theology 168
Apologetics: Natural Theology and Public Engagement 173
Conclusion 181
Bibliography 184
Index 240
1 Natural Theology: Questions of Definition and Scope 6
The Aim of This Work 8
A Brief Genealogy of Natural Theology 11
Natural Theology: Six Approaches 18
The Natural Theology Project: Thick and Thin Descriptions 22
In Defense of a "Christian" Natural Theology Project 25
The Christian Accommodation of Classic Natural Theology 35
2 Natural Theology and the Christian Imaginarium 41
Sensorium and Imaginarium: Christianity and the Re-Imagination of Nature 42
Modernity and the Suppression of the Imagination 47
Metanoia: Seeing Things as They Really Are 50
Imaginative Transformation: The Church as an Interpretive Community 55
Theoria: Imaginative Beholding and Rational Dissection 57
Nature as logikos: Reflections on the Doctrine of Creation 61
Metaphors of Beauty and Order: Harmony and the Dance 66
3 Text, Image, and Sign: On Framing the Natural World 69
Natural Theology as a Habitus 69
The Intellectual Challenge of the Ambiguity of the World 73
Nature as a Text: Natural Theology and the Book of Nature 78
Nature as Image: Natural Theology and Landscapes 87
Nature as a Sign: Natural Theology and Semiotics 93
4 Natural Theology: Contexts and Motivations 101
The Importance of Cultural Location for Natural Theology 101
A New Vocational Space: Natural Theology as a Religious Calling 105
The Wasteland: Natural Theology and the Recovery of a Lost Nature 107
Wonder and Mystery: Transcendent Experiences 110
Re-Enchantment: Sustaining a Sense of Wonder 113
The Rational Transparency of Nature and Faith 116
Connectedness: The Human Longing for Coherence 120
Meaning: Nature and Ultimate Questions 122
Natural Theology as a "Natural" Quest 124
5 Natural Theology: Some Concerns and Challenges 128
Natural Theology: Improper and Redundant? 128
Ontotheology? Natural Theology and Philosophical "First Principles" 133
David Hume: The Intellectual Inadequacy of a Deist Natural Theology 135
Charles Taylor: Natural Theology and the "Immanent Frame" 138
Barth and Brunner: The Debate which Discredited Natural Theology? 144
Fideism: Natural Theology as Self-Referential and Self-Justifying? 149
6 The Promise of a Christian Natural Theology 154
The Natural Sciences: Natural Theology and the Subversion of Scientism 156
The Affective Imagination: Natural Theology and the Spirituality of Nature 163
Boundaries and Trespass: Natural Theology and Systematic Theology 168
Apologetics: Natural Theology and Public Engagement 173
Conclusion 181
Bibliography 184
Index 240
"Encounter this book with enormous respect. In this remarkable text, McGrath is judicious, audacious, and perceptive. Setting the entire project of Natural Theology in an historical context, he weaves together an account of natural theology that is innovative, powerful and intriguing. Critics and advocates for Natural Theology alike will have their worldview changed as they encounter this remarkable argument."
Ian S. Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary
"This theological book emerges from a deep and integrating vision of creation - the natural world appreciated through the Christian imaginarium. Composed in crystalline prose, McGrath explores the complexity of theologia naturalis in a way that is both insightful and erudite. He enriches the particularities of place with a spiritually always and only historically and culturally localised. In a time of global ecological concerns, this is a much needed labour. Christians need to engage these concerns, rooting them profoundly in a thick account of reality and what it is to be alive. There's a promise of transformation in doing this, and McGrath knows it. This book is an exciting testimony to the imaginative power behind that promised potential."
Graham Ward, University of Oxford
"In this game-changing book, Alister McGrath develops a thick theology of nature from a distinctly Christian point of view. He expertly tackles topics that are underexplored in traditional natural theology, such as the moral and aesthetic ambiguity of nature, emphasising the importance of both rational and imaginative ways of engaging with nature."
Helen de Cruz, Oxford Brookes University
"Being informed about natural theology is essential to any substantive understanding of the relationship of science and theology. The present book nicely sums up and carries further his indispensable contributions to the topic."
John F Haught, author of Science and Faith: A New introduction
"In contemporary theology, the project of natural theology has many opponents. In his latest book, Re-Imagining Nature, McGrath presents an ambitious vision for retrieving a holistic Christian understanding of natural theology that goes beyond the rationalistic proofs of God's existence of the 19th century. By stressing the imaginative powers of human beings and not just rational ones, McGrath defends a thick and contextual but at the same time traditional model of Christian natural theology as a way of seeing the world. A stellar addition to the contemporary literature on natural theology."
Aku Visala, University of Helsinki
Ian S. Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary
"This theological book emerges from a deep and integrating vision of creation - the natural world appreciated through the Christian imaginarium. Composed in crystalline prose, McGrath explores the complexity of theologia naturalis in a way that is both insightful and erudite. He enriches the particularities of place with a spiritually always and only historically and culturally localised. In a time of global ecological concerns, this is a much needed labour. Christians need to engage these concerns, rooting them profoundly in a thick account of reality and what it is to be alive. There's a promise of transformation in doing this, and McGrath knows it. This book is an exciting testimony to the imaginative power behind that promised potential."
Graham Ward, University of Oxford
"In this game-changing book, Alister McGrath develops a thick theology of nature from a distinctly Christian point of view. He expertly tackles topics that are underexplored in traditional natural theology, such as the moral and aesthetic ambiguity of nature, emphasising the importance of both rational and imaginative ways of engaging with nature."
Helen de Cruz, Oxford Brookes University
"Being informed about natural theology is essential to any substantive understanding of the relationship of science and theology. The present book nicely sums up and carries further his indispensable contributions to the topic."
John F Haught, author of Science and Faith: A New introduction
"In contemporary theology, the project of natural theology has many opponents. In his latest book, Re-Imagining Nature, McGrath presents an ambitious vision for retrieving a holistic Christian understanding of natural theology that goes beyond the rationalistic proofs of God's existence of the 19th century. By stressing the imaginative powers of human beings and not just rational ones, McGrath defends a thick and contextual but at the same time traditional model of Christian natural theology as a way of seeing the world. A stellar addition to the contemporary literature on natural theology."
Aku Visala, University of Helsinki
Alister McGrath is currently Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford; he was previously Professor of Theology and Education at King's College, London. He is regarded as one of the world's leading Protestant theologians and is the author of some of the world's most widely used theological textbooks, including the bestselling Science and Religion (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), Christianity (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015), Christian Theology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2016), and The Christian Theology Reader, (5th edition, 2016). He is in constant demand as a speaker at conferences throughout the world, especially in Southeast Asia.
