Abstract
Evan Thompson’s philosophical concept of enactivism offers a fruitful opportunity to bring Christian theology, biology, and philosophy into a dialogue centered around the concept of the organism and self-organizing systems. Thompson contends that mental life is intimately involved in an organismic selforganization that cannot be reduced to a purely material dynamic such as gene expression and selection. While enactivism is typically conceived of in a naturalistic way, it can serve as a bridge for dialogue involving theology as well. In contrast to traditional notions of God’s work of creation as a unilateral establishment of a dependent creaturely realm, an increasing number of theologians highlight the concept of self-organization.While creatures participate in the act of creation, God establishes boundaries that work as a fruitful, productive interface between chaos and order. While this scenario draws on Thompson’s depiction of life as autopoietic, his enactivism tends to consider organisms simply as active rather than as both active and passive. How does this relate to the importance of genetics and natural selection in evolution? Engaging such „mechanistic“ factors as well, theologians can both make sense of the risk inherent in creation and explore the systemic logic of organismic self-organization, drawing on traditional theological concepts such as the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
