Without Nature?: A New Condition for Theology

Published by Fordham University Press 2010

Without Nature?

A New Condition for Theology

Edited by: David Albertson and Cabell King

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823293568

Overview
Contents

About this book

Does “nature” still exist? Common wisdom now acknowledges the malleability of nature, the complex reality that circumscribes and constitutes the human. Weather patterns, topographical contours, animal populations, and even our own genetic composition—all of which previously marked the boundary of human agency—now appear subject to our intervention. Some thinkers have suggested that nature has disappeared entirely and that we have entered a postnatural era; others note that nature is an ineradicable context for life. Christian theology, in particular, finds itself in an awkward position. Its Western traditions have long relied upon a static “nature” to express the dynamism of “grace,” making nature a foundational category within theology itself. This means that any theological inquiry into the changing face of nature must be reflexive and radically interdisciplinary. This book brings leading natural and social scientists into conversation with prominent Christian theologians and ethicists to wrestle collectively with difficult questions. Is nature undergoing fundamental change? What role does nature play in theological ethics? How might ethical deliberation proceed “without nature” in the future? What does the religious drive to transform human nature have to do with the technological quest to transcend human limits? Would the end of nature make grace less comprehensible?

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Without Nature? David Albertson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The World in Order Lorraine Daston Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
Part One.Ecology and nature Peter H. Raven, William French and Cabell King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Part Two. Genetics and nature Stuart A. Newman, Ronald Cole-Turner and Gerald Mckenny Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Part Three. Geography and nature Edward W. Soja, Timothy J. Gorringe and Sallie Mcfague Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Part Four. Anthropology and nature Michael M. J. Fischer, Lisa Sowle Cahill and Thomas A. Carlson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Part Five. Theology without nature? William Schweiker, Peter Manley Scott and Kathryn Tanner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	377
List of Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	453
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	457

Language: English
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 448

eBook

Published: March 24, 2022
ISBN: 9780823293568