God and Nature (e-copy)

The following is a guide/workbook that includes some commentary to round out the discussion. By exploring God’s relationship to nature, we consider the role of God in nature and how it is that Scripture informs our understanding of nature and how it is that nature informs our understanding of Scripture. We consider the framework of God in general and what it is that we are looking for in nature and how that might be taken up in a broader discourse within science and theology (i.e., science-engaged theology) from a particularly perspective of design and mind. We are interested in framing, developing, and constructing a perspective of nature (as God’s good creation) that is not beholden to the reductionisms of metaphysical naturalism (and some versions of methodological naturalism). Rather we are interested in exploring fertile ways that we might construct a view of the natural world that permits science to become a rich source of information for theology. This is useful for my course on God and Nature (and my MU course on Natural Theology) or as a resource for personal study.