Professor Simon Oliver is Van Mildert Professor of Divinity At Durham University, UK. His research interests centre on issues in philosophical theology, the doctrine of creation, and theology and the history of natural science.

There are few scholars today who are sufficiently versed in the tradition of theological reflection on creation, fewer still who possess both the theological and philosophical acumen required to make sense of it, and even fewer who have the ability to distil that tradition and explain its relevance in highly accessible prose. Simon Oliver is one of those rare scholars, and this work is a correspondingly rare achievement. one could not ask for a better introduction to the doctrine of creation - not just in its historical origins and scope, but also in its dazzling metaphysical depth.

• AcknowledgementsPrefaceIntroduction1. Genesis: In the Beginning2. God and Creation ex nihilo3. God and Creation: Participation and Providence4. Creation, the Rise of Natural Science and the Design of the Universe5. The Environment and the Gift of Creation: Beyond Nature and CultureNotesBibliographyAppendix: Reading Aquinas

Professor Simon Oliver is Van Mildert Professor of Divinity At Durham University, UK. His research interests centre on issues in philosophical theology, the doctrine of creation, and theology and the history of natural science.

There are few scholars today who are sufficiently versed in the tradition of theological reflection on creation, fewer still who possess both the theological and philosophical acumen required to make sense of it, and even fewer who have the ability to distil that tradition and explain its relevance in highly accessible prose. Simon Oliver is one of those rare scholars, and this work is a correspondingly rare achievement. one could not ask for a better introduction to the doctrine of creation - not just in its historical origins and scope, but also in its dazzling metaphysical depth.

• AcknowledgementsPrefaceIntroduction1. Genesis: In the Beginning2. God and Creation ex nihilo3. God and Creation: Participation and Providence4. Creation, the Rise of Natural Science and the Design of the Universe5. The Environment and the Gift of Creation: Beyond Nature and CultureNotesBibliographyAppendix: Reading Aquinas