Creation and creatureliness: Any relevance nowadays? Reverend Professor Frances Young
Event details
St William of York Lecture
The Idea of divine creation has been controversial for quite a while in our scientific age – people cannot buy into what has been called “the engineering God.” At the same time human impact on the natural world is now reminding us that we are both part of nature and dependent upon it, as creatures alongside other creatures.
Beginning with personal experiences of our vulnerability as creatures, the lecture will turn to an exploration of debates about creation in early Christianity, consider the implications of the arguments and their conclusions, and how they might be illuminating even in our own very different context.
Is our idea of God’s creativity too much of a projection of human craftsmanship? Is current rejection of the Creator God more about the problem of evil and suffering in our world?
How do we live with the world’s stark realities and personal tragedies? Is our sense that this is a far from perfect world too human/self oriented? What is the overall perspective of the Bible on these issues?
Image credit: Photo by Alex Pudov on Unsplash
This talk is supported by the Public Lectures Fund.
About the speaker
Frances Young was, until her retirement, Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology in the University of Birmingham, and the author of many books and articles, both academic and more popular, on Christian faith and tradition. She studied Classics at Bedford College, University of London, then Theology at the Universities of Cambridge and Chicago. Ordained in mid-life she always sought to bring church life and theology together. The mother of three sons, she now has adult grandchildren.