Theology of Creation in an Evolutionary World [Paperback]

James F. Salmon (Author), Karl Schmitz-Moormann (Author, Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

Karl Schmitz-Moormann takes as a given that the universe as a whole is in the process of evolution, and asks how the Christian interpretation of this universe as God's creation can be understood.

Product Details

• Paperback: 205 pages
• Publisher: Pilgrim Press/United Church Press (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0829812156
• ISBN-13: 978-0829812152
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,726,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real step forward in theology, despite one flaw., April 21, 2000

By 

Daryl P. Domning (Howard University, Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theology of Creation in an Evolutionary World (Paperback)

For Christianity, the intellectual tragedy of the twentieth century has been the failure of most Christians to understand evolution as a source of theological solutions rather than problems. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin saw clearly that evolution had wholly positive theological implications, but Rome silenced him. Karl Schmitz-Moormann, a leading Teilhardian scholar, continued the development of Teilhard's thought. For this, and for his public dissent from Humanae Vitae, he too suffered, being denied a chair at any German university. Thanks to our shared interest in evolution (he as a theologian, I as a paleontologist), I was privileged to know him slightly in the years just before his death in 1996, and we enjoyed some marathon arguments. Hence, I was reassured to see from this posthumously published book that our areas of agreement were vastly broader than our differences. Learnedly but readably, he demonstrates that the fact of evolution is the necessary point of departure for deepening our understanding of Christian doctrines, from creation to (most interestingly) the Trinity. Along the way he touches on some technical science, but readers comfortable with popular science magazines will have no trouble following him. Despite his impressive general knowledge of science, however, Schmitz-Moormann did not have an up-to-date grasp of evolutionary ecology or paleontology. Where he stumbles is in his visceral but misplaced hostility toward Neodarwinian ideas about the process, as distinct from the fact, of evolution. This was also a blind spot for Teilhard, and has roots in European intellectual history. It somewhat diminishes the book's value, because the details of the process hold crucial keys to theological problems. Still, there is much here that would advance Christian theology, and enlighten and comfort people who are needlessly troubled by evolution and the "problem of evil," if it became generally understood.