According to Robert John Russell, one of the foremost scholars
on relating Christian theology and science, the topic of "time and
eternity" is central to the relation between God and the world in
two ways. First, it involves the notion of the divine eternity as
the supratemporal source of creaturely time. Second, it involves
the eternity of the eschatological New Creation beginning with the
bodily Resurrection of Jesus in relation to creaturely time. The
key to Russell's engagement with these issues, and the purpose of
this book, is to explore Wolfhart Pannenberg's treatment of time
and eternity in relation to mathematics, physics, and
cosmology."Time in Eternity" is the first book-length exposition of
Russell's unique method for relating Christian theology and the
natural sciences, which he calls "creative mutual interaction"
(CMI). This method first calls for a reformulation of theology in
light of science and then for the delineation of possible topics
for research in science drawing on this reformulated theology.
Accordingly, Russell first reformulates Pannenberg's discussion of
the divine attributes--eternity and omnipresence--in light of the
way time and space are treated in mathematics, physics, and
cosmology. This leads him to construct a correlation of eternity
and omnipresence in light of the spacetime framework of Einstein's
special relativity. In the process he proposes a new flowing time
interpretation of relativity to counter the usual block universe
interpretation supported by most physicists and philosophers of
science. Russell also replaces Pannenberg's use of Hegel's concept
of infinity in relation to the divine attributes with the concept
of infinity drawn from the mathematics of Georg Cantor. Russell
then addresses the enormous challenge raised by Big Bang cosmology
to Christian eschatology. In response, he draws on Pannenberg's
interpretation both of the Resurrection as a proleptic
manifestation of the eschatological New Creation within history and
the present as the arrival of the future. Russell shows how such a
reformulated understanding of theology can shed light on possible
directions for fundamental research in physics and cosmology. These
lead him to explore preconditions in contemporary physics research
for the possibility of duration, copresence, retroactive causality,
and prolepsis in nature. ""Time in Eternity" bridges the fields of
philosophical theology, systematic theology, and the
science-religion debate. It makes a distinctive and original
contribution to the field of theology and science, as well as being
significant for scholars and students in the other two disciplines.
The book not only meets high standards for scholarship in this
field; it actually sets new standards for future work." --Philip
Clayton, Claremont School of Theology
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