Creation and Doxology: The Beginning and End of God’s Good World (Center for Pastor Theologians Series)
Overview
The doctrine of creation is crucial to the Christian faith, but it has often been maligned, misinterpreted, or ignored.
Some, such as pagan philosophers and Gnostics, have tended to denigrate the goodness of the material world. More recently, new questions have emerged regarding human origins in light of the Darwinian account of evolution. What does it mean today to both affirm the goodness of God’s creation and anticipate the new creation?
The Center for Pastor Theologians (CPT) seeks to assist pastors in the study and production of biblical and theological scholarship for the theological renewal of the church and the ecclesial renewal of theology. Based on the third annual CPT conference, this volume brings together the reflections of church leaders, academic theologians, and scientists on the importance—and the many dimensions—of the doctrine of creation.
Contributors engage with Scripture and scientific theory, draw on examples from church history, and delve into current issues in contemporary culture in order to help Christians understand the beginning and ending of God’s good creation.
Key Features
- Demonstrates a depth of both pastoral and theological insights
- Addresses the ethical and pastoral implications of a biblical doctrine of creation
- Connects creation with love for God and thankfulness for all that God has done
Contents
Part I: The Doctrine of Creation Expressed
- Reading Genesis 1 with the Fourth Commandment: The Creation Week as a Calendar Narrative
- Galaxies, Genes, and the Glory of God
- Mere Creation: Ten Theses (Most) Evangelicals Can (Mostly) Agree On
- All Truth Is God’s Truth: A Defense of Dogmatic Creationism
Part II: The Doctrine of Creation Explored
- Is the World Sacramental? Ontology, Language, and Scripture
- Irenaeus, the Devil, and the Goodness of Creation: How Iranaeus’s Account of the Devil Reshapes the Christian Narrative in a Pro-terrestial Direction
- Wendell Berry and the Materiality of Creation
- Creation, New Creation, and the So-Called Mission of God
Part III: The Doctrine of Creation Practiced
- Intellectually Frustrated Atheists and Intellectually Frustrated Christians: The Strange Opportunity of the Late-Modern World
- It All Begins in Genesis: Thinking Theologically about Medicine, Technology, and the Christian Life
- Justice, Creation, and New Creation: In Christ All Things Hold Together
- Creation, Theology, and One Local Church in Southern California
Top Highlights
“Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism.” (Page 55)
“To quote the famous Harvard paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson,” (Page 52)
“If the earth is young, then God made it young. If the earth is old, then God made it old. If human beings came from literal dust, then God did it. And if human beings share common ancestry with other species, then God did that too.” (Page 56)
Contributors
- Andy Crouch
- Paige Comstock Cunningham
- Deborah B. Haarsma
- Gerald Hiestand
- Kristen Deede Johnson
- Michael LeFebvre
- Hans Madueme
- Jeremy Mann
- John H. Walton
- Gregory Waybright
- Todd Wilson
- Stephen Witmer
Praise for the Print Edition
Creation is vast, the universe an incomprehensible diversity—‘worlds without end.’ This much is familiar, but who knew the doctrine of creation was equally far-reaching? The essays in Creation and Doxology range far and wide, as do their authors’ disciplines, and, while the question of origins is ably represented, the real surprise is the wide array of topics these chapters cover: everything from genes to Genesis, time and truth, matter and medicine. The doctrine of creation looms large over all areas of life. Of the many important takeaways in this book, one is surely the call to pastor-theologians to tear down the dichotomy between the spiritual and the material. These essays remind us that the gospel is good news for the whole creation.
—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, research professor of systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
This book is a treasure-trove for Christians desirous of finding their biblical and theological bearings on questions of faith and science. The essays represent diverse positions and offer helpful ways of addressing conflicts between believers over these matters. Above all, this is a book on creation that fills one’s mind and heart with praise to the Creator!
—Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary
The topic of creation has been the subject of a great deal of recent scholarship in Christian theology. This excellent, diverse collection of essays brings fresh new light to the topic not only by addressing challenging issues, but by bringing light to important aspects of the discussion that have often been ignored. The volume is refreshingly characterized by intellectual rigor, a passion for orthodoxy, and a deeply pastoral tone.
—Michael Murray, senior visiting scholar at Franklin and Marshall College
Product Details
- Title: Creation and Doxology: The Beginning and End of God’s Good World
- Editors: Gerald L. Hiestand and Todd Wilson
- Series: Center for Pastor Theologians (CPT)
- Publisher: IVP
- Publication Date: 2018
- Pages: 240
- Resource Type: Collected Essays
- Topic: Doctrine of Creation
About the Editors
Gerald L. Hiestand (PhD candidate, University of Reading) is the senior associate pastor at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the cofounder and director of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is the coauthor of The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision and the coeditor of Becoming a Pastor Theologian.
Todd Wilson (PhD, Cambridge University) is senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the cofounder and chairman of the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is the author of Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith and Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living, the coauthor of The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision and Pastors in the Classics, and the coeditor of Becoming a Pastor Theologian.
Sample Pages from the Print Edition
Reviews
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Will Scholten
1/26/2019
Wow! This looks awesome!! So much going on, during YHWH'S Appointed Times. I knew how to make the second month fit, but did not know of the others. Numbers 9 will tell us if someone touches a dead body, they must keep Passover/Unleaven Bread, the second month, with the same dates. Noah's father Lamech dies before his grandfather Methuselah, You can use Logos timeline, to see Methuselah was born in Nisan, so it is very possible Noah had to deal with that, that being said; 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 7:10–12). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. On the 17th, the flood began, 7 days after he entered the ark (the 10 day of the 2nd month) chose his deliverer. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. The New International Version. (2011). (Ac 1:3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. So this proves, the Appointed Times were in effect from the beginning!!!!! Is that awesome or what???
