Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In this exciting work, Samuel Powell offers a new constructive and systematic vision of creation by interpreting it in terms of contemporary science and trinitarian theology.
Powell's work unfolds in three stages, building on the multiple ways the doctrine of creation actually functions for Christians. He first analyzes its regulative dimension. Even in all the multiplicity of historical Christianity, he shows, the doctrine commits Christians to a particular set of normative beliefs about the world and God's relation to it. Second, Powell builds on the doctrine's hermeneutical potential. It allows Christians both to interpret the meaning of creation in terms of other prevalent philosophical, religious, or scientific ideas and also to interpret the world, as disclosed by scientific theory, in theological terms. In the heart of his book, Powell correlates creaturely characteristics with their participation in God through the trinitarian persons. Finally, in light of his findings, Powell drives home the often ignored ethical dimension of the doctrine, especially in relation to the environment, our consumerist lifestyle, and eschatology.
Powell's bold proposal harvests from two of the most fruitful fields of recent theology - trinitarian theory and religion-and-science - and crafts a creative new vision of how we and all creation participate in the life and work of the triune God.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the doctrine of creation in its historical development -- The rule of faith : the development of the regulative dimension of the doctrine of creation -- Understanding the faith : the hermeneutical dimension of the doctrine of creation in its historical development -- The development of the idea of creatures' participation in the Trinitarian life of God -- Understanding the world in a Trinitarian way : persistence and change in time -- Understanding the world in a Trinitarian way : generic identity and individualizing difference -- Understanding the world in a Trinitarian way : part-whole relations -- Understanding the world in a Trinitarian way: the relatedness of all things -- Practicing the faith : the ethical dimension of the doctrine of creation in its historical development -- The ethical dimension of the doctrine of creation today -- Conclusion concluding mystical postscript.