The phrase "creation ex nihilo" refers to the primarily Christian notion of God’s creation of everything from nothing. Creation ex nihilo: Origins, Development, Contemporary Challenges presents the findings of a joint research project at Oxford University and the University of Notre Dame in 2014–2015. The doctrine of creation ex nihilo has met with criticism and revisionary theories in recent years from the worlds of science, theology, and philosophy. This volume concentrates on several key areas: the relationship of the doctrine to its purported biblical sources, how the doctrine emerged in the first several centuries of the Common Era, why the doctrine came under heavy criticism in the modern era, how some theologians have responded to the objections, and the relationship of the doctrine to claims of modern science—for example, the fundamental law of physics that matter cannot be created from nothing. Although the Bible never expressly states that God made everything from nothing, various texts are taken to imply that the universe came into existence by divine command and was not assembled from preexisting matter or energy. The contributors to this volume approach this topic from a range of perspectives, from exposition to defense of the doctrine itself. This is a unique and fascinating work whose aim is to present the reader with a compelling set of arguments for why the doctrine should remain central to the grammar of contemporary Christian theology. As such, the book will appeal to theologians as well as those interested in the relationship between theology and science. Contributors: Gary A. Anderson, Markus Bockmuehl, Janet Soskice, Richard J. Clifford, S.J., Sean M. McDonough, Gregory E. Sterling, Khaled Anatolios, John C. Cavadini, Joseph Wawrykow, Tzvi Novick, Daniel Davies, Cyril O’Regan, Ruth Jackson, David Bentley Hart, Adam D. Hincks, S.J., Andrew Pinsent, and Andrew Davison.

When we speak of the “environmental crisis” facing the planet, we reduce the coming catastrophe to a physical problem. In Rediscovering Our Home, Joshtrom Kureethadam seeks to extend the current understanding of what is truly an ecological crisis to include ethical and spiritual perspectives, arguing that the crisis is not merely an environmental problem, but is truly 'eco-logical' (a discourse about our common home - oikos) in nature. In its careful incorporation of the latest science around issues such as environmental degradation, pollution, climate change, and food production, this book also enters into dialogue with various disciplines in understanding the contemporary ecological crisis, adding to this theological meditation a depth of vision that yields up profound insights about our present milieu and future home.

This reader brings together modern material from a wide range of Christian theologians on the meaning and status of the doctrine of creation; its relation to scientific theories, our understanding of God and the theology of redemption; and its implications for our proper attitude to the world of Nature. Process theology, the Gaia hypothesis, New Age spirituality, and pantheism are among the range of topics that are introduced and critiqued. Contributors include Carol Adams, Karl Barth, Teilhard de Chardin, Celia Deane-Drummond, Colin Gunton, Jurgen Moltmann, Schubert Ogden, John Polkinghorne.

It is generally assumed that science and religion are at war. Many now claim that science has made religious belief redundant; others have turned to a literalist interpretation of biblical creation to reject or revise science; others try to resolve Darwin with Genesis. "The Nature of Creation" addresses this complex debate by engaging with both modern science and biblical scholarship together. Creation is central to Christian theology and the Bible, and has become the chosen battleground for scientists, atheists and creationists alike. "The Nature of Creation" presents a sustained historical investigation of what the creation texts of the Bible have to say and how this relates to modern scientific ideas of beginnings. The book aims to demonstrate what science and religion can share, and how they differ and ought to differ.

How might premodern exegesis of Genesis inform Christian debates about creation today? Pastor and theologian Gavin Ortlund retrieves Augustine's reading of Genesis 1-3 and considers how his premodern understanding of creation can help Christians today, shedding light on matters such as evolution, animal death, and the historical Adam and Eve.

Creation and the Sovereignty of God brings fresh insight to a defense of God. Traditional theistic belief declared a perfect being who creates and sustains everything and who exercises sovereignty over all. Lately, this idea has been contested, but Hugh J. McCann maintains that God creates the best possible universe and is completely free to do so; that God is responsible for human actions, yet humans also have free will; and ultimately, that divine command must be reconciled with natural law. With this distinctive approach to understanding God and the universe, McCann brings new perspective to the evidential argument from evil.

A belief in creationism, even in young-age creationism, does not necessitate belief in the unique creation of each species. Instead, many creationists accept a secondary origin of species from ancestors originally created by God. In this view, groups of modern species constitute the "Genesis kinds" that God originally created and beyond which evolution cannot proceed (if it can even be called 'evolution'). In this collection of papers, six scholars examine the species and the Genesis kinds. Topics covered include the history of creationist and Christian perspectives on the origin of species, an analysis of the Hebrew word min (kind) from the perspective of biblical theology, a baseline of minimum speciation within kinds inferred from island endemics, a comprehensive list of proposed kinds from the mammalian fossil record, the occurrence of discontinuity between kinds, and the origin of new species by symbiosis. - Abstract.