The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis

by John Polkinghorne

Publishers:

Eerdmans; SPCK

, 2001

Overview

The development of kenotic ideas was one of the most important advances in theological thinking in the late twentieth century. In The Work of Love, 11 distinguished theologians and scientists discuss the kenotic view of creation, exploring the implications of this controversial perspective for Christian doctrine and the scientific enterprise generally. The authors’ backgrounds are diverse—ranging from systematic theology to neuropsychology—yet each agrees in seeing creation as God’s loving act of divine self-restriction. The key concept, kenosis (“self-emptying”), refers to God’s voluntary limitation of his divine infinity in order to allow room for finite creatures who are truly free to be themselves. This engaging formulation of God’s creative work challenges the common conception of God as a divine dictator and provides a more satisfying response to the perplexing problem of evil and suffering in the world. The fruit of discussions sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, these stimulating chapters bring a needed interdisciplinary approach to this weighty new trajectory in Christian thought.

Product Details

• Title: The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis
• Author: John Polkinghorne
• Publishers: Eerdmans, SPCK
• Print Publication Date: 2001
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Creation; Philosophical theology
• ISBNs: 9780802848857, 0281053723, 0802848850, 9780281053728
• Resource ID: LLS:WORKOFLOVE
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:52:30Z

About John Polkinghorne

Rev Dr. John Polkinghorne (1930-2021) was a distinguished physicist who spent recent decades studying and writing about the relationship between science and faith. His physics career began at Cambridge where he studied under the legendary quantum pioneer P.A.M. Dirac and others, and he worked for 25 years in the field of theoretical elementary particle physics as a professor at Cambridge. He resigned his professorship in 1979 and became an Anglican priest, and since then has become a leading spokesman for the faith among serious scientists. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974, and was appointed KBE (Knight Commander of the order of the British Empire) in 1997.