Free Ebook Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson
Locating the appropriate Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson book as the best need is sort of lucks to have. To begin your day or to end your day at night, this Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson will certainly appertain enough. You can simply look for the floor tile here as well as you will certainly get the book Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson referred. It will certainly not bother you to reduce your important time to opt for buying book in store. In this way, you will also spend money to pay for transportation and other time spent.
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson
Free Ebook Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson
Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson. Provide us 5 mins and also we will show you the very best book to check out today. This is it, the Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson that will certainly be your finest choice for far better reading book. Your five times will not spend squandered by reading this internet site. You can take guide as a resource making far better idea. Referring the books Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson that can be situated with your requirements is at some time challenging. But here, this is so simple. You can locate the very best point of book Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson that you could read.
Do you ever before recognize the publication Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson Yeah, this is a really intriguing book to check out. As we informed previously, reading is not type of commitment activity to do when we have to obligate. Reading need to be a practice, a good behavior. By reading Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson, you could open the new world and get the power from the globe. Everything could be gained via guide Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson Well in quick, e-book is really effective. As what we provide you right below, this Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson is as one of checking out book for you.
By reading this book Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson, you will get the finest point to acquire. The brand-new point that you do not should spend over money to get to is by doing it on your own. So, just what should you do now? Visit the link web page and download and install guide Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson You can obtain this Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson by on-line. It's so very easy, right? Nowadays, modern technology truly sustains you activities, this on the internet publication Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson, is as well.
Be the very first to download this book Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson and allow reviewed by finish. It is very easy to review this e-book Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson considering that you do not should bring this printed Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson anywhere. Your soft file book could be in our gadget or computer so you could take pleasure in checking out almost everywhere and every time if required. This is why great deals varieties of people likewise review guides Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson in soft fie by downloading and install guide. So, be among them which take all benefits of checking out the publication Christian Eschatology And The Physical Universe, By David Wilkinson by on the internet or on your soft documents system.
Does matter matter? The scientific picture of the end of the physical Universe has undergone dramatic changes since the turn of the 21st century, with its future characterized by accelerated expansion and futility. Yet Christian theology has been largely silent on this, despite the interest in eschatology in popular culture and in theology itself. What can Christian theology learn from and contribute to the scientific picture of the future of the Universe? Can the biblical narratives of creation and new creation have a fruitful dialogue with scientific discoveries? David Wilkinson shows what a fruitful dialogue this can be. Critiquing the folk eschatology of the Left Behind series, the misguided faith of the scientific optimists and the lack of scientific engagement of the theologians of hope, Wilkinson argues for a rediscovery of the theological theme of new creation and the centrality of bodily resurrection.
- Sales Rank: #1474332 in Books
- Brand: Brand: TT Clark
- Published on: 2010-07-29
- Released on: 2010-07-29
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.12" h x .79" w x 6.36" l, .85 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 256 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
About the Author
David Wilkinson is currently Wesley Research Lecturer in Theology and Science at the University of Durham. From September 2006 he will be Principal of St Johns College, University of Durham. He is the author of numerous popular books on relationship between science and religion and has appeared on both radio and television. He regularly lectures in the UK and US.
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
The Bible and the Future of the Universe - the scientific picture and the Creator God of resurrection
By Edward A. Schroder
David Wilkinson has written a fascinating book on the future of the physical universe and our understanding of eternal life. He reminds us that we know for certain that in 5 billion years the Earth will be uninhabitable. The Sun will die. Wilkinson asks whether human science and technology can deliver us from the pessimism of the future?
He raises these theological questions: what is the place and significance of human beings both on the Earth and in the Universe, and the nature of the future? What hope can be offered? In a Universe which points towards futility is there any deeper purpose or story which puts human life into perspective? He expounds the teaching of selected passages of the Bible on this topic. This section is worth the price of the book.
He disagrees with St. Augustine on the nature of time in the resurrection by opposing any suggestion that the ‘new creation’ is timeless. The forty days of resurrection appearances and the time between resurrection and Parousia rejects a view of new creation as timeless eternity. He does not see the transformation from the natural to the resurrection body as being from transience to timeless existence. The transformation will not be a timeless new heaven and new earth but a new creation that is dynamic and more temporal not less. There is a tension between continuity and discontinuity in the future. God cannot be totally separated from time, if he is in some form of personal relationship with creatures and the Universe which takes petitionary prayer and human responsibility seriously. Rather than separating time and eternity, we may need to see time as a fundamental part of eternity. He posits the notion of multiple dimensions and God who is not limited by one dimension of time world but can interact with any instant within the world. God in Trinitarian relationship inhabits these higher dimensions of time. God thus exists in time but is not limited to the one dimension of time that limits us.
The new creation will be an existence of growth and flourishing. There will be continuity as well as discontinuity. The resurrection means that matter will be transformed. Therefore, there is a future to the physical Universe of atoms, photons, and macro-structures. The matter of new creation will continue to be located in space and time. Thus the new heaven and new earth will have an everlasting destiny rather than a timeless experience of eternity. It will be a temporal world whose character is everlasting, not an atemporal experience of illumination but the unceasing exploration of the riches of divine nature. He quotes Polkinghorne who argues that “Ultimately the issue is whether we live in a world that makes sense not just now, but totally and for ever.”
He has an interesting section of animals in the new creation and those who think we will all become vegetarians. Also the nature of our body, our soul, our pattern, especially for those who died prematurely or who were disabled.
Wilkinson concludes with the following questions and insights.
First, Christians must take seriously the relationship between creation and new creation. There must be continuity as well as discontinuity between the two. Thus the theology of the Left Behind series is not biblical and has serious consequences for Christian involvement and discipleship in this world, with a devaluing of the body, the environment and socio-political change.
Second, the movement between creation and new creation as a model of relationship as seen in the resurrection narratives and Paul’s thought. The New Testament teaches in the empty tomb and bodily resurrection that God transforms matter and space-time.
Third, the movement between creation and new creation is transformation of the present creation rather than complete destruction of the old creation.
Fourth, we should expect pointers within this creation not just to a Creator God but also to a coming new creation. The very futility expressed by scientific predictions of the end of the Universe may itself be a pointer to new creation, part of the groaning of eager expectation of this creation as Paul would describe it in Romans 8. In the face of those who view the futility of the future of the Universe with great despair, the resurrection is in the words of Moltmann not only “a consolation in a life…. Doomed to die, but it is God’s contradiction of suffering and death.”
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A review of and commentary on the current literature
By Paul R. Bruggink
David Wilkinson begins by discussing the pessimistic scientific view of the future if the universe, which is most likely continuous expansion and heat death. He then discusses the responses of two theologians of hope: Jürgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg and points out the shortcomings of their views on the topic of science and religion.
Next he explores the biblical literature in terms of the images of new creation and resurrection, looks at the nature of time and matter in the new creation, and opens up some of the implications for eschatology and the physical universe. He focuses on six specific passages: Isaiah 11:1-9, Isaiah 65:17-25, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1-8, and Romans 8:18-30.
He concludes this discussion by noting six important considerations for systematic theology: (1) the centrality of the new creation, (2) God as creator and sustainer, (3) the new creation is a transformation, renewal, or purification of the present creation, rather than a total annihilation and beginning again, (4) a consistent theme of judgment, (5) questions about the relationship of human beings to the rest of the universe are raised, and (6) God is at work towards new creation both in the process and in the particular event.
Wilkinson then discusses what the biblical texts of the resurrection have to say about eschatology, pointing out that “the resurrection reminds us that God acts in this creation for its renewal and transformation” and that “transformation is a key concept for the biblical literature. The world is not annihilated in order to be re-created, nor does some inherently eternal part of creation survive into new creation. The resurrection demonstrates the transformation of the whole, whether it be the body of an individual or the world.”
He makes several Interesting connections between the resurrection and the new creation: (1) the biblical texts point us towards the importance of the action of God as a basis for hope for the future, (2) the biblical texts concerning resurrection point us towards the transformation of matter, (3) the resurrection body gives us some insights into the nature of transformation, and (4) the resurrection reminds us of the need of holding together continuity and discontinuity in any thinking about the future.
Wilkinson then discusses what his conclusions mean for the biological world, the doctrine of providence, the doctrine of hope in the areas of ethics and apologetics, and the dialogue between science and religion.
Wilkinson concludes with six questions and insights: (1) if Christian theology is to be in dialogue with the scientific picture of the future of the Universe, then it must take seriously the relationship between creation and new creation, (2) this tension can be held using the resurrection as a model of the relationship, (3) the movement between creation and new creation is transformation of the present creation rather than complete destruction of the old creation, (4) we should therefore expect pointers within this creation not just to a Creator God but also to a coming new creation, (5) the action of God and the faithfulness of God must be held together in both creation and new creation, and (6) we have tried to work out what the tension of continuity and discontinuity means in terms of space-time and the nature of matter in creation and new creation.
A focus of the entire book is on how much continuity and how much discontinuity there is between the present creation and the new creation.
This book is primarily a review of and commentary on the literature of each topic. It includes a 34-page bibliography and a 6-page modern author index. Wilkinson is not afraid to, and frequently does, criticize the views of others who have written about the same issues, then give his own views.
To appreciate this book, you have to seriously want to understand the issues, since the author discusses them in considerable detail, with numerous references to the literature.
5 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Disappointing
By Book Guy
Wilkinson's book is the first full treatment of the relationship between Christian eschatology and the recent "accelerating universe" cosmological models (also called Lambda-Cold Dark Matter models). In the past decade, astronomical observations have led to a scientific consensus that all objects in the universe are accelerating away from each other at faster and faster rates. Eventually, in the next tens of billions of years, what is left of Earth will see the rest of the galaxies slip over the horizon into a universe growing colder and darker from which there is no escape. Wilkinson asks: what does Christian eschatology have to say about this?
Wilkinson first interacts with the theologies of hope, Moltmann and Pannenberg, only to dismiss them as not taking seriously current scientific eschatology. Wilkinson's main complaint is that all theologies have failed to address the future of the universe in scientific theory. Finally, Wilkins presents an examination of the Biblical theology of the end of the current creation and the new creation. This exegesis is little more insightful than actually reading the relevant texts (Isaiah or Revelation) for oneself. The reader is left with the idea that God will intervene in some way, we know not how. How this differs from the theologians he criticizes is not clear. Our "dialogue" with science has produced little fruit. Wilkinson dismisses in one sentence what I would venture is the most appropriate response to Lambda-Cold Dark Matter models: the astronomical "observations" are themselves inferences that are linked with a long series of other inferences to result in a cosmological model where over 96% of the "stuff" in the universe are things (dark matter and dark energy) we have never seen in our laboratories. When "science" reaches these sorts of results, one has to step back and ask what is really going on here, as agnostic critics like David Berlinski have done. Is it any wonder theologians have declined to "dialogue" with such ephemera?
Over and above the treatment of the main thesis, the book has additional objectionable aspects. Wilkinson doesn't hide his contempt for dispensational pre-millennialism, largely its seems because of its prominence among Americans living in the American South who might be Republicans. Like Tom Wright, Wilkinson is happy to slander them on little evidence that their views on environmental policy and climate change are based on irrational religious prejudice, rather than a healthy contempt for the IPCC and other global warming hysterics. (For example, Frank Tipler, another leading thinker on science and Christian eschatology and a Roman Catholic, has gone on the record repeatedly that the data supporting the IPCC reports looks misleading at best and fraudulent at worst.) If Wilkinson's thesis is correct, why does the United States have such a better record on environmental protection than, say, the Soviet Union or Communist China?
Wilkinson also makes the argument that followers of dispensational pre-millennialism "don't care" about the physical world. That's kind of funny, given that the most common criticisms of pre- millennialism in the early church was that belief in an actual, earthly millennium was too worldly, physical and "Jewish." Luther and the other magisterial reformers said similar things about pre-millennial Anabaptists.
Leaving aside the scientific merits, Wilkinson is unwilling to address the profound ethical issues of the current environmentalism. He quotes with approval Lyn White to the effect that Christianity cannot address the environment adequately because it assumes the primacy of humanity. That is exactly the issue. The horns of the dilemma we find ourselves on is that, at the end of the day, the main issue the environmentalists have is biodiversity, which means there needs to be fewer humans and more plants and animals. The current six billion humans need to drop below one billion: less euphemistically, these people need to die and not have any more children. You will never hear a discussion of this objective of the movement when Congress is debating cap-and-trade or any other environmental legislation. No one speaks honestly about the misery and depravation that such a change in human population would cause. The current Great Recession may already be the result of collapsing world demographics that assure that by mid-century the world's population will be declining. And no one speaks honestly that achieving the goal will mean turning our societies into cheap little totalitarian dictatorships like North Korea. Wilkinson then exacerbates this "bugs over people" ideology by raising the issue of the "grave ethical issues" raised by human colonization of space! I would think the millions murdered by abortion each year is a graver issue and more directly relevant to current demography.
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson PDF
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson EPub
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson Doc
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson iBooks
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson rtf
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson Mobipocket
Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe, by David Wilkinson Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar