Partaking of God

Denis Edwards (1943-2019), was a professorial fellow of Australian Catholic University. He was a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and priest in residence in Tranmere parish. He was also a  member of the national Lutheran–Roman Catholic Dialogue and the national Australian Anglican–Roman Catholic Commission, and he was involved with the SA Council of Churches. His books include How God Acts: Creation, Redemption and Special Divine Action; Ecology at the Heart of Faith; and Breath of Life: A Theology of the Creator Spirit.

“Written in clear, careful prose, this book makes an important contribution to the growing field of theology of nature. Bringing the wisdom of the early church theologian Athanasius into dialogue with recent evolutionary science, it opens new possibilities for Christian thought and practice. Besides the sharp insights on offer, Edwards’s own magnanimous vision moves the heart. The book is a gift, a beautiful theology of the world centered on the energizing presence of the triune God.”Elizabeth Johnson,  Fordham University

• ContentsA Personal Beginning   1Part 1: Athanasius of Alexandria as Resource   11Chapter 1    Trinity in Act: Creating   18Chapter 2    Trinity in Act: Deifying   37Chapter 3    Deep Incarnation: The Meaning of Incarnation for the Rest of the Natural World   54Part 2: Darwin’s “Tangled Bank”   69Chapter 4    The Attractor and the Energy of Love: Trinity in Evolutionary Context   74Chapter 5    The Costs of Evolution and the Divine Passion of Love   88Chapter 6    A Humble God and the Proper Autonomy of Evolutionary Processes   104Chapter 7    Neuroscience and the Creation of the Human Soul   116Chapter 8    Evolution, Cooperation, and the Theology of Original Sin   130Part 3: Ecological Conversion   147Chapter 9   Christian Ecological Conversion   152Chapter 10 The Community of Creation  164Index   183