Fortress Press

Light from Light: Cosmology and the Theology of the Logos

Light from Light

Cosmology and the Theology of the Logos

Judith L. Corey (Author)

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Cosmology and theology share a long-held relationship with one another, explaining as they do the constitution of the world and the interaction of forces. The author explores the history of this relationship, from ancient prescientific and theological explanations through contemporary science and philosophy. In this history, a particular problem is highlighted by the author: the prevalence of dualism—from Aristotelian philosophy to modern mechanistic conceptions, many of these accounts presume a sharp, absolute dichotomy between matter and spirit, and the material world and the divine. Increasingly, dualistic conceptions are called into question by contemporary science, theology, and philosophy.

The author argues that a particular trajectory stemming from Greek Heraclitian and Platonic philosophy to nonorthodox and early Christian theologies provides a fruitful resource for contemporary discussions. This is the Logos theology and its attendant language of light. The author brings this tradition into dialogue with contemporary science and theology to construct an integrative account. 

  • Publisher Fortress Press
  • Format Hardcover
  • ISBN 9781451479294
  • eBook ISBN 9781506419008
  • Dimensions 6 x 9
  • Pages 282
  • Publication Date December 1, 2016

Contents

Introduction
1. Cosmologies in the Pre-Christian Era
2. Cosmologies of Divine Light and Logos in the Christian Era
3. Orthodoxy and the Logos
4. Medieval Orthodox and Early Modern Orthodox
5. Mechanistic Science and Its Sponsorship by the Church
6. Spirit and Matter in Contemporary Science and Theology
7. Interconnection with the Divine in a World of Light and Transcendence
Bibliography
Index

 

Endorsements

Judith L. Corey’s Light from Light makes a substantial, even revolutionary, contribution to our understanding of the relationship between natural philosophy and theology . . .

“Judith L. Corey’s Light from Light makes a substantial, even revolutionary, contribution to our understanding of the relationship between natural philosophy and theology from antiquity to the present. The real story, per Corey, is not the opposition of religious and scientific world views but the contrast between mechanistic and dynamic understandings of matter in both scientific and religious traditions. In their treatment of matter, Corey argues, the strengths and limitations of competing cosmologies are revealed. As mechanistic and dualistic worldviews reveal their shortcomings, Corey provides an expert overview of an alternative tradition that finds the potential for creation and transcendence in the very matter of which we and the world are made.”

 

Scott Wells | California State University, Los Angeles
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