Theology After Darwin [Paperback]

The purpose of this 2009 book is to "describe possible ways of viewing creation which are faithful to scripture and consistent with scientific understanding." It consists of eleven essays, primarily by British scholars. The first six essays are introductory material. They are:
1. Biology After Darwin, by R. J. Berry
2. After Darwin: Is Intelligent Design Intelligent? by Denis R. Alexander
3. Charles Kingsley's Christian Darwinism, by Amy Laura Hall
4. Reading the Bible After Darwin: Creation and a Culture of Restraint, by Ellen F. Davis
5. Darwin and Providence, by David Ferguson
6. Being Human after Darwin, by Francisco J. Ayala

The discussion of the main theme of the book, namely "Theology after Darwin," begins with John J. Bimson's Chapter 7 (Doctrines of the Fall and Sin After Darwin). Bimson notes that "the evolution of Homo sapiens from more primitive hominids is incompatible with the idea that the first human beings fell from a state of perfection." He mentions four common responses: (1) defending Genesis 1-3 as a literal account of our beginnings and rejecting an evolutionary view of human origins altogether, (2) treating Genesis as a primitive creation myth, (3) reading Genesis 3 as "an analysis of the universal human condition rather than a description of how it came to be," and (4) finding a place for the Fall within an evolutionary view of human origins. Bimson favors option (4) and presents and discusses two recent models of the Fall in an evolutionary context: (1) Adam as a Neolithic farmer, and (2) A Fall at the dawn of human consciousness, e.g., Jesuit theologian Raymund Schwager's model, in which the first humans emerged from our hominid ancestors when they experienced `an intensive, yet provisionally still implicit elimination of limits on the horizons of consciousness.' Bimson prefers the latter, on the basis of an Irenaean rather than an Augustinian view on the Fall, suggesting that there was no fall from perfection, but rather a failure to ascend according to God's plan.

In Chapter 8 (Theological Ethics After Darwin), Michael S. Northcott argues that the moral implications of Darwin's theory of natural selection depend on the extent to which randomness or chance may be said to characterize evolution. He draws on the work of Samuel Butler and of Simon Conway Morris, whose account of a `convergent creation' suggests that its outcomes are not open-endedly random. He suggests that a world that is created and sustained by God can have predation and pain as God works to bring order through suffering and suffering with his creation.

In Chapter 9 (Natural Evil After Darwin), Neil Messer identifies and maps the problem of evil vis-a-vis evolution, gives a summary of responses to that problem, and discusses theological difficulties with those responses. He then proposes and defends an alternative solution similar to Christopher Southgate's solution, namely that the suffering and destruction of evolution are not equal to the fallenness of the world, that God is co-suffering with creation, that the Cross is the moment of God's taking ultimate responsibility for the pain of creation, and that the Resurrection inaugurates the transformation of creation. The latter view is shared by Robert John Russell and others.

In Chapter 10 (Natural Theology After Darwin: Contemplating the Vortex), David Grumett questions the idea that Darwin's theory of evolution presents natural theology with insurmountable problems. It includes a positive discussion of the contributions of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

In Chapter 11 (Hope for Creation After Darwin: The Redemption of `All Things'), Denis Edwards explores a Christian theology of final fulfillment after Darwin, Einstein and Hubble and what it means for nonhuman creatures. He suggests that all of creation shares in the final redemption, based on Scripture (Romans 8:18-25, etc.), the Eastern patristic tradition (Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Maximus the Confessor), and the writings of Karl Rahner, and Robert John Russell.

This book includes an extensive and up-to-date bibliography and a ten-page index. It is obviously meant for readers who are already at least somewhat familiar with the issues being discussed.