Completed Thesis

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Completed Thesis THE UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Human Uniqueness: Twenty-First Century Perspectives from Theology, Science and Archaeology Josephine Kiddle Bsc (Biology) MA (Religion) Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2013 This Thesis has been completed as a requirement for a postgraduate research degree of the University of Winchester. The word count is: 89350 THE UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER ABSTRACT FOR THESIS Human Uniqueness: Twenty-First Century Perspectives from Theology, Science and Archaeology A project aiming to establish, through the three disciplines, the value of human uniqueness as an integrating factor for science with theology Josephine Kiddle Bsc (Biology) MA (Religion) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Doctor of Philosophy February 2013 The theme that underlies the thesis is the challenge presented by science, as it developed from the time of the Enlightenment through the centuries until the present day, to Christian theology. The consequent conflict of ideas is traced in respect of biological science and the traditions of Protestant Christian doctrine, together with the advances of the developing discipline of prehistoric archaeology since the early nineteenth century. The common ground from which disagreement stemmed was the existence of human beings and the uniqueness of the human species as a group amongst all other creatures. With the conflict arising from this challenge, centring on the origin and history of human uniqueness, a rift became established between the disciplines which widened as they progressed through to the twentieth century. It is this separation that the thesis takes up and endeavours to analyse in the light of the influence of advancing science on the blending of philosophical scientific ideas with the elements of Christian faith of former centuries. A shift in outlook, sparked off by the presentation by certain theologian- scientists of the concept of healing this rift by way of dialogue, is pin-pointed as a move away from conflict and towards compatibility. The possibility of so doing is considered in depth and extended, by the thesis, to something more than forms of agreement and towards the achieving of integration between theology and science by way of the agency of human uniqueness. This endeavour, requiring a new approach to the conflicting issues, is presented by means of two studies, one scientific and one theological, considered separately but in parallel, of a human issue of relevance to each, in the twenty-first century – that of human individuality. With the outcome of this presentation being found to be agreement amounting to no more than compatibility, the thesis proceeds to find a means of furthering the way towards integration. Disciplines having a close association with the scientific view of the individual human being and the theological concept of human individuality, are brought into the enquiry – archaeology to assist science and philosophy to aid theology, the common ground being specified as the uniqueness of the human individual. A narrative style, maintained throughout, is based on 'key figures' whose work illuminates the issues discussed and is designed to emphasise the central role of the human individual. The thesis is presented as an original contribution to the science versus theology debate, by virtue of its centring not on conflicting issues but on those of common interest. To this end, the employment of associated disciplines, archaeology in particular, has opened up an approach not previously explored. In its conclusion, the thesis makes a claim for the means suggested for integrating science with theology through the concept of human uniqueness, to be recognised as plausible and worthy of being considered in other fields of confrontation between the two disciplines. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................1 DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ............................................................................ 3 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 4 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER I: SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY BACKGROUND .............................. 11 CHAPTER II: NINETEENTH CENTURY SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT ........................................ 31 CHAPTER III: THE BEGINNING OF THE INFLUENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY ................................. 50 CHAPTER IV: TWENTIETH CENTURY INVOLVEMENT OF THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE IN ASSOCIATION WITH ARCHAEOLOGY IN ESTABLISHING THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS ... 60 CHAPTER V: THE HUMAN INDIVIDUAL .................................................................................. 84 CHAPTER VI: THE CHRISTLIKE GOD ..................................................................................... 107 CHAPTER VII: THE HUMAN GENOME .................................................................................. 124 CHAPTER VIII: A DISCUSSION OF THE CONCEPTS OF HUMAN INDIVIDUALITY ................... 140 CHAPTER IX: THE UNIQUENESS OF THE HUMAN INDIVIDUAL: A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH ............................................................................................................................................. 148 CHAPTER X: THE UNIQUENESS OF THE HUMAN INDIVIDUAL: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH ........................................................................................................................... 169 CHAPTER XI: INTEGRATION ................................................................................................. 190 CHAPTER XII: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 198 BIBLIOGRAPHY: .................................................................................................................... 207 2 DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT STATEMENT No portion of the work referred to in the Thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. I confirm that this Thesis is entirely my own work. Copyright in text of this Thesis rests with the author. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the author. Details may be obtained from the RKE Office. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the author. 3 INTRODUCTION The theme that underlies the thesis is one which arose with the emergence of scientific ideas from seventeenth century philosophical trends towards rationality, which accompanied the Enlightenment – the challenge presented by science to the traditions of Christian theology and the conflict it predicted. Through the subsequent centuries as science advanced as a discipline, a split with theology became apparent, the challenge from biological science being particularly felt in respect of Christian doctrine, the threads of common interest of former times disintegrating. Relating aspects of biology to the human condition gave grounds for conflict which centred on the uniqueness of human beings amongst all other living creatures by virtue of 'origin' – the contention being about the manner in which the uniqueness had come about. For theology, 'origins' were part of the Divine purpose and the uniqueness of humanity was a gift of God. The origin of species was, for biology by way of evolution, human uniqueness emerging through neural advancement, this view being supported by the progress of nineteenth century prehistoric aspects of archaeology. A late twentieth century shift towards some form of reunion of the disciplines through the serious and scholarly work of certain theologian-scientists gave hope for a reduction of conflicting ideas in the twenty-first century by establishing a measure of compatibility, though any suggestion of integration was only tentative. The thesis is designed to take up this apparent reluctance as a challenge, endeavouring to present human uniqueness, not as a source of conflict, but as an agent of integration. Using a narrative style in order to bring out the central theme of humans as individuals, the case for the integration of the disciplines of science and theology is presented through the means provided by propositions put forward by selected writers, whose concern has been the relationship between science and theology, viewed from the background of the agreement and opposition that their ideas aroused. This background is traced, historically, through the trends of thought emerging from the philosophical science of the English Enlightenment, through the stages of scientific advancement to the twentieth century separation of science and theology, together with the influence of the developing discipline of archaeology. These trends, reflecting both compatibility and conflict arising between the disciplines, are represented as Moderate and Extreme views, both scientific and theological, and are analysed on the basis of the varying interpretations of the concept of human uniqueness. The issues of disagreement apparent in late twentieth and early 4 twenty-first centuries, when associated with new knowledge
Recommended publications
  • 1 Alec Vidler on Christian Faith and Secular Despair Born in Rye
    Alec Vidler On Christian Faith and Secular Despair Born in Rye, Sussex, son of a shipping businessman, Alec Vidler ( 1899‐1991)was educated at Sutton Valence School, Kent, read theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge (B.A. 1921),then trained for the Anglican ministry at Wells Theological College. He disliked Wells and transferred to the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, Cambridge, an Anglo‐Catholic community of celibates, and was ordained priest in 1923. He retained a life‐time affection for the celibate monkish life, never marrying but having a wide range of friends, including Malcolm Muggeridge, who was at Selwyn with him. Muggeridge’s father was a prominent Labourite and Vidler imbibed leftist sympathies in that circle. His first curacy was in Newcastle, working in the slums. He soon came to love his work with working class parishioners and was reluctantly transferred to St Aidan’s Birmingham, where he became involved in a celebrated stoush with the bishop E. W. Barnes, himself a controversialist of note. Vidler’s Anglo‐ Catholic approach to ritual clashed with Barnes’s evangelicalism. Vidler began a prolific career of publication in the 1920s and 30s. In 1931 he joined friends like Wilfred Ward at the Oratory House in Cambridge, steeping himself in religious history and theology, including that of Reinhold Niebuhr and “liberal Catholicism”. In 1939 Vidler became warden of St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden (founded by a legacy from Gladstone) and also editor of the leading Anglican journal Theology, which he ran until 1964, exerting considerable progressive influence across those years. He also facilitated a number of religious think‐tanks in these, and later, years.
    [Show full text]
  • The Natural Science Underlying Big History
    Review Article [Accepted for publication: The Scientific World Journal, v2014, 41 pages, article ID 384912; printed in June 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/384912] The Natural Science Underlying Big History Eric J. Chaisson Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA [email protected] Abstract Nature’s many varied complex systems—including galaxies, stars, planets, life, and society—are islands of order within the increasingly disordered Universe. All organized systems are subject to physical, biological or cultural evolution, which together comprise the grander interdisciplinary subject of cosmic evolution. A wealth of observational data supports the hypothesis that increasingly complex systems evolve unceasingly, uncaringly, and unpredictably from big bang to humankind. This is global history greatly extended, big history with a scientific basis, and natural history broadly portrayed across ~14 billion years of time. Human beings and our cultural inventions are not special, unique, or apart from Nature; rather, we are an integral part of a universal evolutionary process connecting all such complex systems throughout space and time. Such evolution writ large has significant potential to unify the natural sciences into a holistic understanding of who we are and whence we came. No new science (beyond frontier, non-equilibrium thermodynamics) is needed to describe cosmic evolution’s major milestones at a deep and empirical level. Quantitative models and experimental tests imply that a remarkable simplicity underlies the emergence and growth of complexity for a wide spectrum of known and diverse systems. Energy is a principal facilitator of the rising complexity of ordered systems within the expanding Universe; energy flows are as central to life and society as they are to stars and galaxies.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Reviews the DOCTRINE of GRACE in the APOSTOLIC FATHERS
    Book Reviews THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. By T. F. Torrance. 15opp. Oliver <8- Boyd. 12/6. Probably all students of theology must have noticed the significant change in the understanding of the term ' grace ' from the time of the New Testament onwards. Perhaps, too, they will have wondered how and why it was that the evangelical Apostolic message degenerated so completely into the pseudo-Christianity of the Dark and Middle Ages. It is the aim of Dr. Torrance in his small but important dis­ sertation to supply an answer to both these problems. He does so by taking the word ' grace ' and comparing the Biblical usage with that of the accepted Fathers of the sub-Apostolic period : the Didache, I and II Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Barnabas, and the Shepherd of Hermas. The resultant study has a threefold value for the theologian. It has, first, a narrower linguistic and historical value as a contribution to the understanding of the conception of grace in the first hundred years or so of Christian theology. As the author himself makes clear in the useful Introduction, this question is not so simple as some readers might suppose, for the term grace had many meanings in Classical and Hellenistic Greek. It is important then to fix the exact con­ notation in the New Testament itself, and also to achieve an aware­ ness of any shift of understanding in the immediate post-Apostolic period. The exegetical discussions at the end of each chapter have a considerable value in the accomplishment of this task.
    [Show full text]
  • Gabriel Dover)
    Dear Mr Darwin (Gabriel Dover) Home | Intro | About | Feedback | Prev | Next | Search Steele: Lamarck's Was Signature Darwin Wrong? Molecular Drive: the Third Force in evolution Geneticist Gabriel Dover claims that there is a third force in evolution: 'Molecular Drive' beside natural selection and neutral drift. Molecular drive is operationally distinct from natural selection and neutral drift. According to Dover it explains biological phenomena, such as the 700 copies of a ribosomal RNA gene and the origin of the 173 legs of the centipede, which natural selection and neutral drift alone cannot explain. by Gert Korthof version 1.3 24 Mar 2001 Were Darwin and Mendel both wrong? Molecular Drive is, according to Dover, an important factor in evolution, because it shapes the genomes and forms of organisms. Therefore Neo-Darwinism is incomplete without Molecular Drive. It is no wonder that the spread of novel genes was ascribed to natural selection, because it was the only known process that could promote the spread of novel genes. Dover doesn't reject the existence of natural selection but points out cases where natural selection clearly fails as a mechanism. Molecular drive is a non-Darwinian mechanism because it is independent of selection. We certainly need forces in evolution, since natural selection itself is not a force. It is the passive outcome of other processes. It is not an active process, notwithstanding its name. Natural selection as an explanation is too powerful for its own good. Molecular drive is non-Mendelian because some DNA segments are multiplied disproportional. In Mendelian genetics genes are present in just two copies (one on the maternal and one on the paternal chromosome).
    [Show full text]
  • Christian Public Ethics Sagepub.Co.Uk/Journalspermissions.Nav Tjx.Sagepub.Com Robin Gill
    Theology 0(0) 1–9 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: Christian public ethics sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav tjx.sagepub.com Robin Gill This special online issue of Theology focuses upon Christian public ethics or, more specifically, upon those forms of Christian ethics that have contributed sig- nificantly to public debate. Throughout the 95 years of the journal’s history, there has been discussion about public ethics (even if it has not always been named as such). However, Christian public ethics had a particular flourishing between 1965 and 1975, when Professor Gordon Dunstan (1918–2004) was editor. When I became editor of Theology in January 2014, I acknowledged at once my personal debt to Gordon. He encouraged and published my very first article when I was still a postgraduate in 1967, and several more articles beyond that. And, speaking personally, his example of deep engagement in medical ethics was inspirational. When he died, The Telegraph noted the following among his many achievements: He was president of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology and vice-president of the London Medical Group and of the Institute of Medical Ethics. During the 1960s he was a member of a Department of Health Advisory Group on Transplant Policy, and from 1989 to 1993 he served on a Department of Health committee on the Ethics of Gene Therapy. From 1990 onwards he was a member of the Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority and from 1989 to 1993 he served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. (19 January 2004) The two most substantial ethical contributions that I have discovered in searching through back issues of Theology were both published when he was editor and were doubtless directly encouraged by him.
    [Show full text]
  • Program E-Conference Evolution, Original Sin and the Fall
    Evolution, original sin and the Fall June 22-24 2020, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO Organizers: Johan De Smedt, Helen De Cruz (Saint Louis University) Scientific committee: Johan De Smedt, Helen De Cruz (Saint Louis University), Adam Green (Azusa Pacific University) This conference will be held online. To register, please email deeptimemorality at gmail dot com by June 20. June 22 (All times are CT (Central Time Zone)) 9:50 – 10:00 Johan De Smedt and Helen De Cruz (Saint Louis University) Introduction, with review of the logistics of the conference (e.g., how participants can ask questions) 10:00 – 10:25 David Brown (Queen's University Belfast) Evolution as ontology and original sin: Is there a need for salvation? 10:25 – 10:30 Short break 10:30 – 10:40 Q and A 10:40 – 10:50 Break 10:50 – 11:15 Paul Macdonald (United States Air Force Academy) In defense of Aquinas’s Adam: Original justice, the Fall, and evolution 11:15 – 11:20 Short break 11:20 – 11:30 Q and A 11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break 12:30 – 13:10 Plenary talk: Hans Madueme (Covenant College) Sin and Evolution: A theological assessment 13:10 – 13:15 Short break 13:15 – 13:30 Q and A 13:30 – 13:40 Break 13:40 – 14:05 Walter Scott Stepanenko (John Carroll University) Evolution, the Fall, and Christian environmentalism 14:05 – 14:10 Short break 14:10 – 14:20 Q and A 14:20 – 14:30 Break 14:30 – 14:55 Janelle Aijian (Biola University) Believing in an interventionist God 14:55 – 15:00 Short break 15:00 – 15:10 Q and A End of day 1 June 23 (All times are CT (Central Time Zone)) 10:00
    [Show full text]
  • ED390648.Pdf
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 390 648 SE 056 959 AUTHOR Poole, Michael TITLE Beliefs and Values in Science Education. Developing Science and Technology Education. REPORT NO ISBN-0-335-15645-2 PUB DATE 95 NOTE 146p. AVAILABLE FROM Open University Press, Suite 101, 1900 Frost Road, Bristol, PA 19007 (hardcover: ISBN-0-335-15646-0; paperback: ISBN-0-335-15645-2). PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Beliefs; *Cultural Influences; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Moral Values; Science Curriculum; Science Instruction; Social Values; Student Attitudes; Technology; *Values ABSTRACT This book asserts that beliefs and values are integral to the scientific enterprise and the theory and practice of education and hence science education, and that it is desirable to explore such matters in the classroom. It aims at helping science teachers demonstrate how spiritual, moral, social, and cultural factors affect science. Chapter 1, "Everybody Needs Standards," begins by looking at ways in which beliefs and values are located within science and within education and moves on to fundamental matters about the bases of belief systems. Chapter 2, "What Science Cannot Discover, Mankind Cannot Know?" considers how beliefs about the nature of the scientific enterprise have affected popular views about the status of science, and the particular educational task this presents. The ways in which beliefs and values affect the language of science, its models, and metaphors, is the theme of chapter 3, "Every Comparison Has a Limp." Chapter 4, "Wanted! Alive or Dead," addresses issues of environmental beliefs and models. Chapcer 5, "In the Beginning," deals with teaching about the Earth in space and traces out current interest in metaphysical as well as physical questions about origin.
    [Show full text]
  • The Latitudinarian Influence on Early English Liberalism Amanda Oh Southern Methodist University, [email protected]
    Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar The Larrie and Bobbi Weil Undergraduate Research Central University Libraries Award Documents 2019 The Latitudinarian Influence on Early English Liberalism Amanda Oh Southern Methodist University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/weil_ura Part of the European History Commons, History of Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Oh, Amanda, "The Latitudinarian Influence on Early English Liberalism" (2019). The Larrie and Bobbi Weil Undergraduate Research Award Documents. 10. https://scholar.smu.edu/weil_ura/10 This document is brought to you for free and open access by the Central University Libraries at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Larrie and Bobbi Weil Undergraduate Research Award Documents by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. The Latitudinarian Influence on Early English Liberalism Amanda Oh Professor Wellman HIST 4300: Junior Seminar 30 April 2018 Part I: Introduction The end of the seventeenth century in England saw the flowering of liberal ideals that turned on new beliefs about the individual, government, and religion. At that time the relationship between these cornerstones of society fundamentally shifted. The result was the preeminence of the individual over government and religion, whereas most of Western history since antiquity had seen the manipulation of the individual by the latter two institutions. Liberalism built on the idea that both religion and government were tied to the individual. Respect for the individual entailed respect for religious diversity and governing authority came from the assent of the individual.
    [Show full text]
  • Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2006 Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference Based in Christian Ethics: a Critical Analysis and Response to the "Moral Individualism" of James Rachels Stephen Bauer Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Christianity Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Evolution Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Bauer, Stephen, "Moral Implications of Darwinian Evolution for Human Reference Based in Christian Ethics: a Critical Analysis and Response to the "Moral Individualism" of James Rachels" (2006). Dissertations. 16. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/16 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF DARWINIAN EVOLUTION FOR HUMAN PREFERENCE BASED IN CHRISTIAN ETHICS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE TO THE “MORAL INDIVIDUALISM” OF JAMES RACHELS A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Stephen Bauer November 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3248152 Copyright 2006 by Bauer, Stephen All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Crater, Catastrophe, Contingency: an Improbable Journey and the Human Situation: a Review of Books by Walter Alvarez Barry Wood University of Houston
    Crater, Catastrophe, Contingency: An Improbable Journey and the Human Situation: A Review of Books by Walter Alvarez Barry Wood University of Houston Correspondence | Barry Wood, [email protected] Citation | Wood, B. (2019) Crater, Catastrophe, Contingency: An Improbable Journey and the Human Situation: A Review of Books by Walter Alvarez. Journal of Big History, III(2); 101 - 114. DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v3i2.3260 alter Alvarez’ big history of our planet and conclude that a city-sized asteroid 10 to 12 miles in Wourselves, A Most Improbable Journey (2017), begins diameter had struck the earth somewhere, causing a with a 1991 expedition to Mexico with two other catastrophic disruption of planetary climate. Since the geologists to search for ejecta from the 110-mile- K-T boundary corresponded with the disappearance diameter Chicxulub crater recently found straddling of numerous megafaunal species, Alvarez theorized the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico. This was that this hitherto unknown asteroid had brought down a follow up episode in a decade-long – and by now the dinosaurs that had dominated the Earth over well-known – story. It began when Alvarez presented the previous 200 million years, along with half the his theory that a large asteroid had struck the Earth world’s wildlife. Following its publication in Science 65 million years ago, causing the extinction of the (1980), his theory received a lukewarm, sometimes dinosaurs. His evidence was a mysterious centimeter- hostile, response in the geological community until thick layer of clay located at the Cretaceous-Tertiary the Chicxulub Crater was discovered a decade later (K-T) boundary in the Apennine Mountains near the and dated at 65 million years.
    [Show full text]
  • A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO PUBLIC CATHOLICISM AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN AMERICA: THE ADAPTATION OF A RELIGIOUS CULTURE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF DIVERSITY, AND ITS IMPLICATIONS A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology by Michael J. Agliardo, SJ Committee in charge: Professor Richard Madsen, Chair Professor John H. Evans Professor David Pellow Professor Joel Robbins Professor Gershon Shafir 2008 Copyright Michael J. Agliardo, SJ, 2008 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Michael Joseph Agliardo is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2008 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents......................................................................................................................iv List Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................vi List of Graphs ......................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................. viii Vita.............................................................................................................................................x
    [Show full text]
  • An Essay in Descriptive Ecclesiology
    Grosvenor Essay no. 4 the shape of our church An essay in descriptive ecclesiology The Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church GROSVENOR ESSAY No. 4 The Shape of Our Church: An Essay in Descriptive Ecclesiology ISBN 0 905573 78 1 © Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church 2007 Comments or questions on this Essay should be directed to The General Synod Office 21 Grosvenor Crescent Edinburgh EH12 5EE Tel: 0131 225 6357 Email: [email protected] Also available in this series: Grosvenor Essay No. 1 - sketches towards a theology of science. £2.50 Published 2004. ISBN 0 905573 64 1 Grosvenor Essay No. 2 - theology and the power of the image. £3.00 Published 2005. ISBN 0 905573 66 8 Grosvenor Essay No. 3 - the inter-faith encounter. £2.50 Published 2006. ISBN 0 905573 71 4 GROSVENOR ESSAY No. 4 The Shape of Our Church: An Essay in Descriptive Ecclesiology Contents Preface 1 1. Introduction 3 2. Mission 13 3. Our Anglican Context 21 4. Foundations: Scripture, Tradition and Reason 24 5. Ministry 30 6. A Note of Caution 36 7. Worship 38 8. Conclusion 40 Further Reading 42 Preface The Shape of our Church: an Essay in Descriptive Ecclesiology The present Essay is the fourth in the series of Essays produced by the Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Like its predecessors, it is intended to be a stimulus to inquiring readers. Previous Essays have examined topics of general interest: the interrelationships of theology and the sciences (Essay no. 1) and of theology and the visual arts (Essay no.
    [Show full text]