Notes from My Notebook 

The following are notes from my notebook as I engage in  readings for the class. 

The course shows how: 

1.  Scientific exploration of the universe and the contemporary issues raised are influencing theological reflection on the Christian doctrine of creation. 

2.  Paradigm shifts in science and theology are influencing contemporary Christian understanding of the creative process. 

3.  There are relationships between: 

a. Creation and salvation in Christ.

b. Protology (beginning of creation) and eschatology (ultimate fulfilment and completion of creation).

I am looking forward to understanding in a new way the divine mystery within created reality. Also the Study Guide states “we shall garner for ourselves Christian wisdom from the past for the purposes of enriching our present experience – a sacramental experience in the broadest sense – and look to the future in hope, to that fulfilment of all human expectation when all shall be made “new” in Christ.” 

Source: Marie T. Farrell, TH539 Creation and Fulfilment: Study Guide (Pennant Hills, Australia: The Broken Bay Institute, 2008), 10-12. 

Creation Theology 

1.  We can think about the creation in terms of relationship – “God creates, not out of need, but of mutual love existing among Father, Son and Holy Spirit within the God-head.” One should “allow time for pondering the mystery of creation, its essential goodness and its power to reveal the triune God of Christian faith.” 

2.  There is a relationship between ongoing creation and the biblical theme of salvation. 

3. Creation theology has developed from “a ‘static’ conceptual framework to one that is extremely ‘dynamic’ and where God’s communication and self-disclosure occurs from within creation itself (panentheism) while the distinction between creator and creature is always maintained.” 

4.  Finally, creation theology can be thought of as theology of blessing and where humans are involved in continuing that blessing today. As a result, the relationship between ecology and justice is important. 

Source: Marie T. Farrell, TH539 Creation and Fulfilment: Study Guide (Pennant Hills, Australia: The Broken Bay Institute, 2008), 20-21. 

Is it Impossible to Know God?
 

“The fact that over the course of the centuries so many people with no knowledge of revelation have recognized (and still recognize) that God exists and have some idea of him, authorizes me to conclude that one can know God by reason alone, though this knowledge is usually inadequate and imprecise.” John Paul II 

Source: Christian Montenat and others, How to Read the World: Creation in Evolution (London: SCM Press, 1985).