On Christmas Eve in 1909, twenty-one-year-old Kagawa Toyohiko
(1888-1960) rented a room in K be's worst slum where, apart from
two years of study in the United States, he remained with his wife
and co-worker Haru for more than ten years. They engaged in
pastoral work, evangelism, social reform movements, and literary
activities, founding numerous institutions that are still in
operation today. After publishing a best-selling novel in 1920,
Kagawa began to draw the attention of people from around Japan and
the world. His literary output was prodigious, amounting to more
than 300 books. Often compared with his contemporaries Mahatma
Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer, Kagawa was nominated twice for the
Nobel Prize in Literature (1947, 1948) and three times for the
Nobel Peace Prize (1954, 1955, 1956). Challenging the materialism
of Charles Darwin and the claim of H. G. Wells that "we must give
up any idea that evolution is purposeful," Cosmic Purpose draws on
research in physics, chemistry, astrophysics, mineralogy, genetics,
and biology to offer evidence of purpose in the vast span of
evolutionary history from the atom to human consciousness. In his
attempt to renew our sense of wonder at this process, Kagawa
proposes a "logic of finality" that links life to purpose. "Not
since the writings of Teilhard de Chardin has there been a book of
such awe-inspiring depth and scope as Kagawa's. He has produced a
magnificently sustained argument for purposefulness in the
universe. It is a single-minded pursuit of one theme that brings
together an amazing array of scientific discoveries and an original
blend of the human and ethical dimensions." --Eric Scerri,
University of California, Los Angeles "Cosmic Purpose is an
extraordinary example of how religion and natural sciences
complement each other. In its endeavor to provide a coherent answer
to the question of whether the universe has a purpose, this book is
sure to ignite theological and philosophical debate." --Luis X.
Lopez-Farjeat, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City "The history
of science contains certain key books that stand above all others
for their importance in shaping the public debate. One book of
enormous intellectual beauty that until now has been unknown in
Western circles is Kagawa Toyohiko's Cosmic Purpose, a monumental
attempt to reconcile a respect for religion with a respect for
science. The result is a deeply thoughtful and thought-provoking
text, arguably even more relevant in the twenty-first century."
--Michael Graziano, Princeton University, New Jersey "The book is
nothing less than remarkable. Kagawa's work points forward toward
features in contemporary scientific discussions about teleology,
convergence, and various forms of selection, as well as opens up
new discussions between science, theology, and philosophy on evil,
salvation, and the nature and purpose of being human." --Jan-Olav
Henriksen, Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo Thomas John Hastings
is Senior Research Fellow in Science and Religion at the Japan
International Christian University Foundation in New York City and
Research Fellow at International Christian University and the
Kagawa Archives and Resource Center in Tokyo. He was formerly
Director of Research, Associate Director, and Houston Witherspoon
Fellow in Theology and Science at the Center of Theological Inquiry
in Princeton and spent twenty-three years teaching in Japan, most
recently as Professor at Tokyo Union Theological Seminary from 1995
to 2008. He is the author of Practical Theology and the One Body of
Christ: Toward a Missional-Ecumenical Model (2007) and numerous
articles, chapters, and translations in Japanese and English."
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