Syncretism or correlation: Teilhard and Tillich's contrasting methodological approaches to science and theology

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the article, published in Zygon 40(3) pp.739-750, which has been published in final form at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118699350/issueThis paper revisits Paul Tillich’s theological methodology, and contrasts his practice of correlation with the syncretistic methodological practices of Teilhard de Chardin. I argue that the method of correlation, as referred to in Robert John Russell’s 2001 Zygon article, fails to uphold Tillich’s self-limitation of his own methodology with regard to Tillich’s insistence upon the theological circle. I assert that the theological circle, as taken from Systematic Theology I, is a central facet within Tillich’s methodology and that this often ignored concept needs to be resuscitated if one is to remain authentically Tillichian in one’s approach to the science and theology dialogue

Ceremonies and Time in Shakespeare

This essay considers some moments in Shakespeare's texts which exemplify the Janus-faced quality of ceremonies: their enactment in the present looking backwards to past traditions and forwards to inaugurate new social relations. The argument draws on Victor Turner's theorization of ritual as an event that gives shape to “liminality,” that which “eludes or slips through the network of classification that normally locate states and positions in cultural space,” and argues that this applies to time as well. It also considers the construction of time in terms of kairos, a moment of time infused with meaning. The essay analyses ceremony in three Shakespearean genres. First, it examines Bertram's and Helena's ring exchange in All's Well That Ends Well as a “distended” ritual that collapses time. It then turns to Richard III, unpacking its complex sequence of ceremonies of betrothal, mourning, and sovereignty that are “continuously disrupted”. The final section describes the ceremonial time of romance in The Winter's Tale, unfolding the power invested in the kairotic time evoked by the oracle of Delphi, the sheep-shearing ceremony, and Paulina's “resurrection” of Hermione

Atheisms and the purification of faith

Philosophers of religion have distinguished between ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ atheism. This article considers further conceptions of atheism, especially the idea that atheism can facilitate a faith in God purified of idolatrous assumptions. After introducing Bultmann’s contention that a ‘conscious atheist’ can find something transcendent in the world, this contention is interpreted through reflection on Ricoeur’s claim that the atheisms of Nietzsche and Freud serve to mediate a transition to a purified faith – a faith involving heightened receptivity to agapeic love. The troubling question of what differentiates atheism from belief in God is then discussed in the light of Simone Weil’s meditations on God’s secret presence

A better life through information technology? The techno-theological eschatology of posthuman speculative science

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the article, published in Zygon 41(2) pp.267-288, which has been published in final form at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118588124/issueThe depiction of human identity in the pop-science futurology of engineer/inventor Ray Kurzweil, the speculative-robotics of Carnegie Mellon roboticist Hans Moravec and the physics of Tulane University mathematics professor Frank Tipler elevate technology, especially information technology, to a point of ultimate significance. For these three figures, information technology offers the potential means by which the problem of human and cosmic finitude can be rectified. Although Moravec’s vision of intelligent robots, Kurzweil’s hope for immanent human immorality, and Tipler’s description of human-like von Neumann probe colonising the very material fabric of the universe, may all appear to be nothing more than science fictional musings, they raise genuine questions as to the relationship between science, technology, and religion as regards issues of personal and cosmic eschatology. In an attempt to correct what I see as the ‘cybernetic-totalism’ inherent in these ‘techno-theologies’, I will argue for a theology of technology, which seeks to interpret technology hermeneutically and grounds human creativity in the broader context of divine creative activity

The need for illness

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45466/1/11089_2005_Article_BF01845887.pd

Existential Loneliness and end-of-life care: A Systematic Review

Contains fulltext : 88662.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Patients with a life-threatening illness can be confronted with various types of loneliness, one of which is existential loneliness (EL). Since the experience of EL is extremely disruptive, the issue of EL is relevant for the practice of end-of-life care. Still, the literature on EL has generated little discussion and empirical substantiation and has never been systematically reviewed. In order to systematically review the literature, we (1) identified the existential loneliness literature; (2) established an organising framework for the review; (3) conducted a conceptual analysis of existential loneliness; and (4) discussed its relevance for end-of-life care. We found that the EL concept is profoundly unclear. Distinguishing between three dimensions of EL-as a condition, as an experience, and as a process of inner growth-leads to some conceptual clarification. Analysis of these dimensions on the basis of their respective key notions-everpresent, feeling, defence; death, awareness, difficult communication; and inner growth, giving meaning, authenticity-further clarifies the concept. Although none of the key notions are unambiguous, they may function as a starting point for the development of care strategies on EL at the end of life.1 april 201