Creation: A Catholic's Guide to God and the Universe (Engaging Catholicism)

Was creation a fantastic series of actions by God that long ago set the universe in motion? Or is creation an eternal flowing forth from God that even now causes all things to exist?

Christopher Baglow, director of the Science and Religion Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, writes from within the deep well of Catholic tradition and his personal love of both science and faith to provide probing yet lively and often-humorous answers to the foundational questions of human existence.

Christian doctrine sees creation not as a one-time event but rather as an eternal outpouring of divine merciful love. In Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe, Baglow explores how the doctrine of creation addresses the why of the universe, making it perfectly open to science, which helps us to answer how the universe came to be and continues to exist. He weaves the lessons of scripture, the Church’s long tradition of scientific inquiry and theological development, and cultural icons such as Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the inhabitants of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia series to create a concise and spirited guide for Catholics wanting to better understand the doctrine of creation without abandoning what science teaches us.

Baglow helps to neutralize the unnecessary conflict between faith and science that often runs rampant among people of faith. He provides an excellent guide for curious Catholics, and an expert resource for teachers in Catholic schools, parish leaders, campus ministers, and RCIA teams, helping those exploring foundational questions of faith dive into the meaning of creation and what it tells us about who God is, who we are, and how we are to live.

Christopher T. Baglow is the director of the Science and Religion Initiative in the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, where he also serves as a professor in the theology department. He is the author of the textbook Faith, Science, & Reason, and his work has been featured by the Word on Fire Institute and in That Man is You, Crux, and Church Life Journal. He is a consultant for the USCCB Committee on Catechesis and Evangelization and his thirty-year career in Catholic education has spanned high school, undergraduate, graduate and seminary teaching.

Baglow earned a bachelor’s degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville, a master’s degree from the University of Dallas, and a doctorate from Duquesne University. He is a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists and a theological liaison to the board. He is a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology and the Catholic Theological Society of America.

He was awarded grants from the John Templeton Foundation for his work helping Catholic educators integrate faith and science in their classrooms, most notably for creating and directing the Steno Learning Program in Faith and Science (named for Blessed Nicholas Steno) and the Integrating Faith and Science at Catholic High Schools Nationwide project.

Baglow and his wife, Christine, were honored with the Servus Fidelis Award for service to the Church in faith and marriage ministries and with the Ray Mock Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in youth ministry. Baglow was one of four people to receive an Expanded Reason Award for Teaching from the University of Francisco de Vitoria and the Vatican-Joseph Ratzinger Foundation.

He lives with his family in the South Bend, Indiana, area.

The McGrath Institute for Church Life was founded as the Center for Pastoral and Social Ministry by the late Notre Dame president Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, in 1976. The McGrath Institute partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes, and schools to provide theological education and formation to address pressing pastoral problems. The Institute connects the Catholic intellectual tradition to the pastoral life of the Church in forming faithful Catholic leaders for service to the Church and the world. The McGrath Institute strives to be the preeminent source of creative Catholic content and programming for the new evangelization in the United States.

John C. Cavadini is the McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. A member of Notre Dame’s department of theology, Cavadini served as chair of the department from 1997 to 2010, during which he led the department to a top-ten ranking in the National Research Council rankings of doctoral programs. He is an expert in patristic and early medieval theology, with a special focus on the theology of St. Augustine. In November 2009 he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to a five-year term on the International Theological Commission.