Prologue: Genesis for the third millennium
PART I: THE SPIRITUAL QUEST IN THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE
1 The contemporary challenge of science to religious beliefs
The ‘two cultures’ and the dominance of science
The spiritual life of scientists
The forging of Christian belief through past challenges
The challenge of the scientific culture to religion today
2 Science and the future of theology
The intellectual reputations of science and theology
Science withstands the postmodernist critique
Evolution and human rationality
Reasonableness through inference to the best explanation
PART II: EXPLORING FROM SCIENCE TOWARDS GOD: NEW VISTAS, CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONS
whole–part influences in the world
The flow of information in the world
The world-as-a-whole: a System-of-systems
A lawlike world – no intervention
A world containing inherently unpredictable events
Brains, minds and persons in the world
Communication between persons in the world
The physical origin of the universe
The mechanism of biological evolution – natural selection
The process of chance and law (necessity)
Trends and directions in evolution?
The ubiquity of pain, suffering and death
The evolution of life and our exploration towards God
5 God’s interaction with the world
‘Chaotic’ systems and divine action
Quantum events and divine action
Whole–part influence and God’s interaction with the world
God as ‘personal agent’ in the world
God, human experience and revelation
How does God communicate with humanity?
PART III: THE END OF ALL OUR EXPLORING
8 ‘In him we live and move and have our being’
Immanence: a theistic naturalism Panentheism
The instrumental and symbolic relation of God and humanity to the world
The world as an instrument of God’s purposes
The world as a symbol of God’s purposes
A congruence between the scientific and sacramental perspectives
11 Knowing the place for the first time
Appendix: A contemporary Christian understanding of sacrament