Cosmic Love: Nature, Science, and God - Softcover

Honner, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809157276 ISBN 13: 9780809157273

Publisher: Paulist Press, 2025

Synopsis

The first part of Cosmic Love begins with an account of the rise of science and the shift in characterizations of nature from a mysterious Goddess to an ordered collection of material objects. This is followed by reflections on the feminist critique of science and the implications of indeterminacy in quantum theory. It concludes that a more complete account of nature will be one that takes a higher point of view, that includes all our senses, and that has a more explanatory power.

The second part explores concepts of love, particularly passionate love, and Teilhard's proposal that love is the least understood and most powerful force in the universe. It concludes that love is a force for union, inherently personal, a pointer to the divine, and an evolutionary promise for the future.

The third part of the book explores ideas about God not just as a creator, but as inherent (and incarnate) in creation, with a consideration of the God of religions, with a focus on a God of the future rather more than the past, and a God disclosed in Jesus Christ. The book will close with a personal conclusion on the God of faith and the God of surprises.

Endorsements

"This is...a call to transformation―of our scientific practice, our spiritual understanding, and our relationship with the natural world. In an era desperate for new ways of seeing and being, this wonderful book offers a path forward that is both intellectually rigorous and spiritually nourishing."
―from the foreword

"Cosmic Love easily steps between the worlds of religion and science, making a compelling case for a closer connection between them, with the focus on a flourishing earth. If we are to survive, thrive, and evolve we must find a way of bridging the two. Honner manages to do just this."
―Dean Rickles, professor of history and philosophy of modern physics, Sydney University

"Thank heaven for John Honner. And thank earth too. With his feet on the ground and his eyes on the stars, he gracefully unfolds many of life's most wonderful mysteries. Here at last is a scientist who is prepared to talk seriously about love. Cosmic Love is an invigorating challenge to anyone who wants to reduce life to a few clichés."
―Michael McGirr, author of Every Day Is New.

"In an age when science and religion are often at loggerheads, John Honner shows how they are better together than apart. You will learn much from reading this book."
―Terry A. Veling, author of For You Alone: Emmanuel Levinas and the Answerable Life.

John Honner's studies in philosophy, science, and theology culminated in a doctorate at Oxford on the foundations of physics and faith. The author of many books, he taught theology and philosophy in the Melbourne College of Divinity (now the University of Divinity) and was the founding editor-in-chief of Pacifica: Australasian Theological Studies.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Paulist Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0809157276
• ISBN 13: 9780809157273
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240