Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love - Hardcover

Elizabeth A. Johnson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1472903730 ISBN 13: 9781472903730

Publisher: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2011

Synopsis

For millennia plant and animal species have received little sustained attention as subjects of Christian theology and ethics in their own right. Focused on the human dilemma of sin and redemptive grace, theology has considered the doctrine of creation to be mainly an overture to the main drama of human being's relationship to God. What value does the natural world have within the framework of religious belief? The crisis of biodiversity in our day, when species are going extinct at more than 1,000 times the natural rate, renders this question acutely important.Standard perspectives need to be realigned; theology needs to look out of the window, so to speak as well as in the mirror. Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love leads to the conclusion that love of the natural world is an intrinsic element of faith in God and that far from being an add-on, ecological care is at the centre of moral life.

About this title

Review:

In Ask the Beasts Elisabeth Johnson combines erudition and theological reflection, a pastoral passion and ethical commitment to show that Darwinian theory of evolution need not stand against a religious belief in God.  Instead,  she provides a theology of creation that not only integrates an understanding of evolution with a belief in the presence of God's love and grace in the world, but also encourages us to take up our common responsibility for the earth, its environment, and all its living creatures.  The clarity of her exposition and her ability to bring classical theological affirmations to bear on contemporary issues makes this book an accessible and required reading on the burning issues of faith, science, and ecological well-being. --Francis Schüssler Fiorenza

Elizabeth Johnson's beautifully written book shows us, more convincingly than any other book that I have ever read, how science and religion can engage in a dialogue which is mutually illuminating. She shows how the narratives of evolution and salvation are not just parallel stories but shed light on each other. The unpredictable creativity of matter is disclosed as the sphere of the working of the ever-fresh Holy Spirit. She brings us to a new understanding of the role of pain and death, and radically deepens our understanding of a cosmic redemption. I will read the Bible with a renewed understanding and pleasure. I have rarely enjoyed a book of theology more. --Timothy Radcliffe

About the Author:

Elizabeth A. Johnson is Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University, New York. She is the author of many bestselling books, including most recently Quest for the Living God.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Continuum
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1472903730
• ISBN 13: 9781472903730
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352