Science, Theology, and Ethics

Science challenges faith to seek fuller understanding; and faith challenges science to be socially and ethically responsible. This book begins with faith in God the Creator of the world, and then expands our understanding of creation in light of Big Bang cosmology and new discoveries in physics. Examining the expanding frontier of genetic research, Ted Peters draws out implications for theological understandings of human nature and human freedom. Issues discussed include: methodology in science and theology; eschatology in cosmology and theology; freedom and responsibility in evolution and theology; and genetic determinism, genetic engineering, and cloning in relation to freedom, the comodification of human life, and equitable distribution of the fruits of genetic technology.

The dialogue model of relationship between science and religion, proposed in this book, provides a common ground for the disparate voices among theologians, scientists, and world religions. This common ground has the potential to breathe new life into current debates about the world in which we live, move, and have our being.

Contents

Introduction

Part I: From Conflict to Consonance

Theology and science: where are we?

Scientific research and the Christian faith

Part II: Physics, Cosmology, and Creation

The Terror of Time

God as the Future of Cosmic Creativity

David Bohm, Postmodernism, and the Divine
Exo-theology: Speculations on Extra-terrestrial Life

Part III: Genetics, Ethics, and our Evolutionary Future

Genetics and Genethics: Are we Playing God with our Genes?

Cloning Shock: A Theological Reaction

The Stem Cell Debate: Ethical Questions

Designer Children: The Market World of Reproductive Choice

Multiple Choice in Baby Making

In Search of the Perfect Child: Genetic Testing and Selective Abortion

Playing God and Germline Intervention

Co-evolution: Pain or Promise

Part IV: Nuclear Waste and Earth Ethics

Nuclear Waste: The Ethics of Disposal

Whole and Part: The Tension Between the Common Good and the Individual Freedom

Not in my Backyard: The Crisis in Waste Siting

Part V: The Human Body: A Theological Prognosis

Wholeness in Salvation and Healing

The Physical Body of Immortality

Index.