Cosmological Singularity and the Creation of the Universe

One of the most important and most frequently discussed theological problems related to cosmology is the creation problem. Unfortunately, it is usually considered in a context of a rather simplistic understanding of the initial singularity (often referred to as the Big Bang). This review of the initial singularity problem considers its evolution in twentieth-century cosmology and develops methodological rules of its theological (and philosophical) interpretations. The recent work on the "noncommutative structure of singularities" suggests that on the fundamental level (below the Planck's scale) the concepts of space, time, and localization are meaningless and that there is no distinction between singular and nonsingular states of the universe. In spite of the fact that at this level there is no time, one can meaningfully speak about dynamics, albeit in a generalized sense. Space, time, and singularities appear only in the transition process to the macroscopic physics. This idea, explored here in more detail, clearly favors an atemporal understanding of creation.     

Reflections on the Process of Creating Paintings: Reclaiming the Sacred and the Future in a World That Seems to Be Dying

In this paper, I want to reflect on the process involved in being a pastoral theologian who is also a painter and creative artist. I hope that reflecting on the process of creating paintings might be helpful for thinking about God and God's role as Creator with the whole created order. I will leave the reader to make the specific connections.     

Continuity, Naturalism, and Contingency: A Theology of Evolution Drawing on the Semiotics of C. S. Peirce and Trinitarian Thought

The starting point for this article is the question of the relationship between Darwinism and Christian theology. I suggest that evolutionary theory presents three broad issues of relevance to theology: the phenomena of continuity, naturalism, and contingency. In order to formulate a theological response to these issues I draw on the semiotics (theory of signs) and cosmology of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce developed a triadic theory of signs, underpinned by a threefold system of metaphysical categories. I propose a semiotic model of the Trinity based on Peirce's semiotics and categories. According to this model the sign‐processes (such as the genetic “code”) that are fundamental to life may be understood as vestiges of the Trinity in creation. I use the semiotic model to develop a theology of nature that addresses the issues raised by evolutionary theory. The semiotic model amounts to a proposal for a new metaphysical framework within which to understand the relationship between God and creation and between theology and science.     

论医学思路对医学创新的作用

思路,有广义和狭义之分。党的思想路线作为广义的思路,在中国革命和建设的两次历史性飞跃中起决定性作用。说明思路对创新起决定作用。医学思路作为狭义的思路,在医学创新及对创新成果实践检验中同样起决定作用。徐荣祥教授以医学思路变革为先导创立ＭＥＢＴ／ＭＥＢＯ及各派按不同思路对它实践检验而结果相反,典型地表现着这种关系。具有普遍指导意义。     

RELIGION AND THE THEORIES OF SCIENCE: A RESPONSE TO BARBOUR

Abstract. This paper offers a detailed response to “Religion and the Theories of Science” in Barbour's Gifford Lectures I. Topics include: complementarity, indeterminacy, parts and wholes, and Bell's theorem in quantum theory; metaphysical issues raised by relativity theory and thermodynamics, principally the problem of temporality and “top-down” versus “bottom—up” causality; design arguments and the origins of the universe in astronomy and creation; and God's action in the context of evolution and continuing creation. Areas of agreement and disagreement between Barbour and myself over philosophical and theological implications are presented, and endnotes indicate further areas of conversation.     

Le pouvoir d’agir à l’épreuve de la souffrance au travail : émotions,recherche et construction de sens

Work may support personnalization and creation when subjects can transfer and develop in their professional environment what they do, value, plan or got in other domains of life. By contrast, suffering at work traps the subject in a reciprocal causality loop in which agency decrease and loss of meaning go hand in hand. Both depend on work experience’s disconnection from other subject’s life experiences. We hypothesize that emotion, as an antecedent of meaning search (Rime, 2005) and a vehicle for behaviors intersignification, is a means for re-appropriating an identity of “homme capable” (Ricoeur, 2004). An action-research at Purpan’s hospital “Suffering at work” consulting, considers those statements at individual and collective levels by comparing two Groups of Work Situations Analyze.     

Paul Tillich's Realistic Stance Toward the Vital Trends of Nature

Many scientists have argued forcefully for the pointlessness of nature, something that challenges any doctrine of Creation. However, apparent design and comprehensibility are also to be found in nature; it is ambivalent. This trait is nowhere more evident than in the natural inclinations that lead to concupiscence and the "seven deadly sins" in human beings. These inclinations are dealt with as pertaining to the "pre-fallen" condition of nature and human beings. As a framework to make sense of the goodness of creation in this context, Paul Tillich's notion of the "vital trends of nature" is called to the fore. Being at the intersection of a philosophy of religion and a philosophy of nature, this notion hints at the goodness of Creation in fragment and anticipation.     

Curriculum, Critical Common-Sensism, Scholasticism, and the Growth of Democratic Character

My paper concentrates on Peirce’s late essay, “Issues of Pragmaticism,” which identifies “critical common-sensism” and Scotistic realism as the two primary products of pragmaticism. I argue that the doctrines of Peirce’s critical common-sensism provide a host of commendable curricular objectives for democratic Bildung. The second half of my paper explores Peirce’s Scotistic realism. I argue that Peirce eventually returned to Aristotelian intuitions that led him to a more robust realism. I focus on the development of signs from the vague and indeterminate to the determinate and universal. The primary example will be the evolution of the very idea of number. I believe we will never arrive at the end of number history because we can never fully contain creativity. I draw similar conclusions for the idea of curriculum. Whether or not there is an end to the evolution of signs in Peirce is a matter of debate. I incline toward the opinion there is not, though I am unsure. I conclude by arguing that rationality itself is but the form and structure of poetic creation and that we should embrace paradox and even contradiction rather that become caught in totalizing and totalitarian end of history stories.     

A GOD THAT COULD BE REAL IN THE NEW SCIENTIFIC UNIVERSE

We are living at the dawn of the first truly scientific picture of the universe‐as‐a‐whole, yet people are still dragging along prescientific ideas about God that cannot be true and are even meaningless (e.g., omniscience) in the universe we now know we live in. This makes it impossible to have a coherent big picture of the modern world that includes God. But we don't have to accept an impossible God or else no God. We can have a real God if we redefine God in light of knowledge no one ever had before. The key question is, “Could anything actually exist in the scientific universe that is worthy of the name, God?” My answer is yes: God is an “emergent phenomenon,” as real as the global economy or the government or the worldwide web, which are all emergent phenomena. But God arose from something deeper: the complex interactions of all humanity's aspirations. An emerging God has enormous implications.