Develops a true 'theology of nature' that begins and ends with strictly confessional Christian warrants. The author begins by showing how modern naturalism arose out of a theological matrix and how it lost its way specifically as naturalism as soon as it rejected that theological matrix.
Larry Chapp develops a true "theology of nature" that begins and ends with strictly confessional Christian warrants. He begins by showing how modern naturalism arose out of a theological matrix and how it lost its way specifically as naturalism as soon as it rejected that theological matrix. Indeed, modern naturalism is not so much a-theological as it is a rival theology to that of the Church. All claims of ultimacy, including those of natural science, have inherently theological orientations embedded within them - however unconsciously. Therefore, what confronts us in the modern world is not so much a choice between a non-theological naturalism and a theological naturalism. Rather, what confronts us is a choice between two rival theologies - one agnostic and a-theistic in its implications while the other is revelocentric and Christian.
'Chapp is right that theology matters. The world is at an intellectual crossroad shaped in large measure by a liberal ideology masquerading as a set of neutral technical procedures. Nothing short of a sustained mutual engagement between the metaphysics implicit in modern science and a "full-bodied confessional Christianity" will succeed in exposing and transforming this ideology.' - David L. Schindler, Provost and Gagnon Professor of Fundamental Theology, Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, at The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA.
