Vast Universe
Extraterrestrials and Christian Revelation
Vast Universe
Extraterrestrials and Christian Revelation
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Paperback / softback
£12.99
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780814680476
Number of Pages: 118
Published: 01/05/2012
Width: 15.2 cm
Height: 22.9 cm
If we have learned anything from recent advances in cosmology and astronomy, it is that we have only barely begun to comprehend the vastness of our universe and all that it contains. For Christians, this raises some fascinating questions:
- If there are intelligent beings out there, what would be their relationship to what Christianity claims is a special history on Earth of life with God?
- Would the fact of persons on other planets banish or modify our understanding of God? Would it reduce the importance of Jesus?
- What role might goodness and evil play in extraterrestrial civilizations?
- Might God have incarnated himself among other races of creatures, as he became incarnate as Jesus among us?
Respectful of the sciences that disclose the reality of the universe, Thomas O'Meara wonders about good and evil, intelligence and freedom, revelation and life as they might exist in other galaxies. In this book, one possible aspect of the universe we live in meets the perspective of Christian revelation.
Contents
Preface ix
Chapter One Intelligent Beings on Distant Planets 1
Vast Universe 3
Discoveries 5
Probabilities 9
Gulfs 10
New Realities 12
Chapter Two Extraterrestrials amid Nature, Grace, and Sin 19
The Triad of Religion 20
Variety in Intelligent Life 20
Modes of Divine Presence 23
Forms of Evil and Sin 25
Star-Friends 27
Chapter Three From a Violent Planet to the Universe of a Loving God 29
A Generous Artist 29
Goodness of Existence or Presumption of Evil? 33
Communities in the Universe 36
Chapter Four Jesus of Nazareth and the Galaxies 41
The Word of God as a Person on Earth: Jesus of Nazareth 42
Jesus of Nazareth and the Cosmos 44
Other Incarnations? 47
Salvation Histories amid Galactic Evolution 49
Chapter Five Time and the Futures of Life 53
Time 53
Other Times 56
Space, Matter, and the Future 57
Chapter Six Intelligent Life in the Universe: Perspectives from Christian Thinkers in Past Centuries 63
Origen (Third Century) 64
Thomas Aquinas (Thirteenth Century) 68
Guillaume de Vaurouillon (Fifteenth Century) 73
Renaissance Thinkers (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries) 76
Chapter Seven Intelligent Life in the Universe: Perspectives from Christian Thinkers in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 81
Protestant Thinkers (Reformation to Twentieth Century) 81
Catholic Theologians (Early Twentieth Century) 85
Catholic Theologians (Late Twentieth Century) 87
Chapter Eight Star-Mentors and Star-Friends 97
Index of Names 101
Preface ix
Chapter One Intelligent Beings on Distant Planets 1
Vast Universe 3
Discoveries 5
Probabilities 9
Gulfs 10
New Realities 12
Chapter Two Extraterrestrials amid Nature, Grace, and Sin 19
The Triad of Religion 20
Variety in Intelligent Life 20
Modes of Divine Presence 23
Forms of Evil and Sin 25
Star-Friends 27
Chapter Three From a Violent Planet to the Universe of a Loving God 29
A Generous Artist 29
Goodness of Existence or Presumption of Evil? 33
Communities in the Universe 36
Chapter Four Jesus of Nazareth and the Galaxies 41
The Word of God as a Person on Earth: Jesus of Nazareth 42
Jesus of Nazareth and the Cosmos 44
Other Incarnations? 47
Salvation Histories amid Galactic Evolution 49
Chapter Five Time and the Futures of Life 53
Time 53
Other Times 56
Space, Matter, and the Future 57
Chapter Six Intelligent Life in the Universe: Perspectives from Christian Thinkers in Past Centuries 63
Origen (Third Century) 64
Thomas Aquinas (Thirteenth Century) 68
Guillaume de Vaurouillon (Fifteenth Century) 73
Renaissance Thinkers (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries) 76
Chapter Seven Intelligent Life in the Universe: Perspectives from Christian Thinkers in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 81
Protestant Thinkers (Reformation to Twentieth Century) 81
Catholic Theologians (Early Twentieth Century) 85
Catholic Theologians (Late Twentieth Century) 87
Chapter Eight Star-Mentors and Star-Friends 97
Index of Names 101
Thomas O'Meara is a Catholic theologian of international reputation and exceptional breadth of vision. In Vast Universe, he has produced a study of singular significance on what could at any time emerge as possibly the most important issue that the Catholic Church has ever faced. His volume provides readers with faithful analyses of the views of prominent thinkers from many cultures and many centuries.Michael J. Crowe, Cavanaugh Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame and author of The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915: A Source Book Vast Universe is written in the clear, concise, and accessible style that characterizes all of O'Meara's work. Here it is suitable for upper-division undergraduates.
Susie Paulik Babka, University of San Diego, Horizons
