A New Copernican Turn by Costache, Doru; Lewis, Geraint F.;

Short description:

This short book discusses the latest in terms of cosmology’s knowns and unknowns, and sets out to ascertain the potential of Orthodox Christian theology for accommodating the current scientific view of the universe.

Long description:

This short book discusses the latest in terms of cosmology’s knowns and unknowns and sets out to ascertain the potential of Orthodox Christian theology for accommodating the current scientific view of the universe. It also addresses one of cosmology’s unknowns, the destiny of the self in the vastness of space, a topic that has caused angst since the dawn of modern science.

The book examines, accordingly, the signs of a “New Copernican Turn” within contemporary culture, favouring the self and its meaningful encounters with the infinite universe, at the forefront of which being the quest for a physics that views something akin to the self as undergirding reality, not as an inconsequential byproduct of natural phenomena. The book further shows that theological, spiritual, and religious forms of nature contemplation and wonder facilitate the self’s creative intersection with the universe. It amounts to an exercise in science-engaged Orthodox theology that takes contemporary cosmology as a starting point.

The intended audience of this book is scholars and researchers of science and religion, religious studies, philosophers, and theologians.

Table of Contents:

Introduction. 1. What We Know and What We Don’t Know About the Universe: Scientific Perspectives 2. What We Know and What We Don’t Know About the Universe: Theological Perspectives 3. The Self and the Universe in the Age of Science: For Another Copernican Turn. Conclusions. Bibliography. Index of Names. Thematic Index