Design and Disorder : Perspectives from Science and Theology

The concept of a divine design has traditionally been based on the assumption of a world order. If there is order in creation, this proves there is a God: if disorder, then no God. Or so it has been assumed by design proponents as well as their critics. This volume questions the picture. The sciences of complexity show how nature abounds with fluid and semi-stable patterns which are essential for the emergence and further propagation of evolutionary order. Order and disorder seem to wander together. The fact that fundamental physics, chemistry and mathematics appear as if tuned for the emergence and harbouring of life, for the support and channelling of the evolutionary processes of creation and selection, continues to trigger religious awe and reflection. It is also argued that a Christian theology has the potential of affirming instability and transient orders as part of the "grandeur" of creation. Authors of the essays in this work include prominent voices from the secular, the Protestant, the Catholic and the Orthodox traditions.