Like a therapist, I invite God to sit on the couch in front of me. I flip open my notepad, pen in hand. Now tell me, in your own words, what happened that night. It was a friendship, wasn't it? I hate to open old wounds, but invite me in to all those years ago, before the world was created and all you had were angels who lived in Heaven, and one angel who captured your heart. Describe that moment when everything changed. When was it when Lucifer turned into Satan? And why? Wasn't Heaven good enough? And what did you do when Heaven faced its biggest challenge? Did you trust the wrong source? Were you merely too vulnerable? Maybe if you could turn back time, you wouldn’t have given your angels a choice to rebel. Of course, true love has its risks, one that broke your heart for the very first time.

Art for everyone--the Federal Art Project's drive for middlebrow visual culture and identity

In keeping with the Scriptural witness and the theological heritage, this remarkable book examines the doctrine of creation alongside new creation. The connection between the two - creation and new creation - has drawn renewed attention in the last several decades; but the burden of Sean McDonough's argument is that this emphasis on creation and new creation has been a feature of the doctrine since the beginning, whether in the eschatological reading of Genesis 1 that predominated at least until early modern times, or the intertwining of the narratives of creation and redemption in thinkers from Irenaeus to Barth. Whilst covering the traditional elements of the doctrine, McDonough treats the important subject with a special emphasis on how these unfold in the story of what Gunton has called God's "creation project".

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.

Exploring the theological reception of developments of modern science, this collection of studies from the Henry Center's Creation Project examines how influential modern theologians—from the turn of the nineteenth century through the present—have engaged the scientific developments of their times in light of the doctrine of creation.

What does it mean to be a good reader of Genesis 1-11? What does it mean to take these ancient stories seriously and how does that relate to taking them literally? Can we even take any of this material seriously? Reading Genesis Well answers these questions and more, promoting a responsible conversation about how science and biblical faith relate by developing a rigorous approach to interpreting the Bible, especially those texts that come into play in science and faith discussions. This unique approach connects the ancient writings of Genesis 1-11 with modern science in an honest and informed way. Old Testament scholar C. John Collins appropriates literary and linguistic insights from C. S. Lewis and builds on them using ideas from modern linguistics, such as lexical semantics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics. This study helps readers to evaluate to what extent it is proper to say that the Bible writers held a "primitive" picture of the world, and what function their portrayal of the world and its contents had in shaping the community.

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.