Arthur Peacocke
Encyclopedia
The Reverend
Canon
Arthur Robert Peacocke MBE
(29 November 1924 - 21 October 2006) was a British
theologian and biochemist.
in on 29 November 1924. He was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys, Exeter College, Oxford
(BA
1945, MA
1948, BSc
1947, DPhil
1948, DSc
1962, DD
1982), and the University of Birmingham
(DipTh
1960, BD
1971).
He taught at the University of Birmingham
from 1948 until 1959 when he was appointed University Lecturer in Biochemistry in the University of Oxford
and Fellow and Tutor of St Peter's College
. In 1960 he was licensed as a Lay Reader
for the Diocese of Oxford
and he held this position until 1971, when he was ordained deacon and priest, unusually, both in the same year.
From 1973 until 1984 he was Dean, Fellow, and Tutor and Director of Studies in Theology of Clare College, Cambridge
, becoming a Doctor of Science
(ScD
) by incorporation
of the University of Cambridge
.
In 1984 he spent one year as Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies at Tulane University
. He returned to Oxford
the following year, becoming Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, 1988 and again from 1995 until 1999. He was appointed Honorary Chaplain of Christ Church, Oxford
in 1988 and Honorary Canon in 1994. Apart from one year during which he was Royden B. Davis Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Georgetown University
(1994), he spent the rest of his life in Oxford
, living in St John Street
, just across the road from another eminent theologian, Henry Chadwick
.
He had been Select Preacher before the University of Oxford
in 1973 and 1975 and was Bampton Lecturer
in 1978. He was Hulsean Preacher
at Cambridge
in 1976 and Gifford Lecturer at St Andrew's in 1993.
Among Peacocke's numerous subsidiary appointments he was the President of the Science and Religion Forum from 1995 until his death, having previous been Chairman (1972–78) and Vice President (1978–92). He was an Academic Fellow of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
in 1986. He was Warden of the Society of Ordained Scientists 1987-92 and Warden Emeritus from 1992 until his death. He was also a sometime Vice President of the Modern Church People's Union and member of the council of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
(Esssat
).
Peacocke was awarded the Lecomte du Noüy Prize
in 1983. He received honorary doctorates from DePauw University
(DSc
1983) and Georgetown University
(DLittHum
1991). He was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
by HM The Queen
in 1993. In 2001 he was awarded the Templeton Prize
.
Arthur Peacocke married Rosemary Mann on 7 August 1948. They had a daughter, Jane (born 1953), and a son who is the distinguished philosopher Christopher Peacocke
. They also have five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
, which he was careful to distinguish from being a pantheist
.http://www.metanexus.net/Magazine/ArticleDetail/tabid/68/id/7422/Default.aspx He is perhaps best known for his attempts to rigorously argue that evolution
and Christianity
need not be at odds (see Creation-evolution controversy
). He may be the most well-known theological advocate of theistic evolution
as author of the essay "Evolution: The Disguised Friend of Faith?".
Arthur Peacocke describes a position which is referred to elsewhere as "front-loading", after the fact that it suggests that evolution is entirely consistent with an all-knowing
, all-powerful
God
who exists throughout time
, sets initial conditions and natural laws, and knows what the result will be. An implication of Peacocke’s particular stance is that all scientific analyses of physical processes reveal God’s actions. All scientific propositions are thus necessarily coherent with religious ones.
According to Peacocke, Darwinism
is not an enemy to religion
, but a friend (thus the title of his piece, "The Disguised Friend"). Peacocke offers five basic argument
s in support of his position outlined below.
’s contention that naturalism reduces God to a distant entity. According to Peacocke, God continuously creates the world and sustains it in its general order and structure; He makes things make themselves. Biological evolution is an example of this and, according to Peacocke, should be taken as a reminder of God’s immanence. It shows us that "God is the Immanent Creator creating in and through the processes of natural order." (473, original italics) Evolution is the continuous action of God in the world. All "the processes revealed by the sciences, especially evolutionary biology, are in themselves God-acting-as-Creator". (474)
in biological evolution can be reconciled with a purposive creator because "there is a creative interplay of 'chance' and law apparent in the evolution of living matter by natural selection." (475) There is no metaphysical implication of the physical fact of "chance"; randomness
in mutation of DNA "does not, in itself, preclude these events from displaying regular trends of manifesting inbuilt propensities at the higher levels of organisms, populations and eco-systems." (476) Chance is to be seen as "eliciting the potentialities that the physical cosmos possessed ab initio." (477)
of the Problem of Evil
, which contends that an all-powerful, all-knowing and beneficent God cannot exist as such because natural evil
(mudslides which crush the legs of innocent children, for instance) occurs. Peacocke contends that the capacities necessary for consciousness and thus a relationship with God also enable their possessors to experience pain, as necessary for identifying injury and disease. Preventing the experience of pain would prevent the possibility of consciousness. Peacocke also takes an eastern argument for natural evil of that which made must be unmade for a new making to occur; there is no creation without destruction. To Peacocke, it is necessary that organisms go out of existence for others to come into it. Thus, pain, suffering and death
are necessary evils in a universe
which will result in beings capable of having a relationship with God. God is said to suffer with His creation because He loves creation, conforming the deity to be consistent with the Christian God.
Similar propositions had previously been put by writers such as C. S. Lewis
(in Mere Christianity
) and Teilhard de Chardin.
Conference on "Faith, Science and the Future", Cambridge, Mass., 1979.
made the following statement in correlation with many of Peacocke's arguments:
Similarly, the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A., in a 2002 resolution by the 214th assembly of the church, stated:
The Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Arthur Robert Peacocke MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(29 November 1924 - 21 October 2006) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theologian and biochemist.
Biography
Arthur Robert Peacocke was born at WatfordWatford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
in on 29 November 1924. He was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys, Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
(BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
1945, MA
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
1948, BSc
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
1947, DPhil
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
1948, DSc
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
1962, DD
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
1982), and the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
(DipTh
Diploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
1960, BD
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
1971).
He taught at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
from 1948 until 1959 when he was appointed University Lecturer in Biochemistry in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and Fellow and Tutor of St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Oxford
St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels - Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall - both of which were...
. In 1960 he was licensed as a Lay Reader
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...
for the Diocese of Oxford
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
and he held this position until 1971, when he was ordained deacon and priest, unusually, both in the same year.
From 1973 until 1984 he was Dean, Fellow, and Tutor and Director of Studies in Theology of Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
, becoming a Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
(ScD
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
) by incorporation
Incorporation (academic)
Incorporation is a university academic practice—particularly at the University of Oxford where it goes back at least to 1516—of awarding a degree based on the student having an equivalent degree from another university....
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
In 1984 he spent one year as Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. He returned to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
the following year, becoming Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, 1988 and again from 1995 until 1999. He was appointed Honorary Chaplain of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
in 1988 and Honorary Canon in 1994. Apart from one year during which he was Royden B. Davis Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
(1994), he spent the rest of his life in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, living in St John Street
St John Street, Oxford
St John Street is a street in central Oxford, England. The street mainly consists of stone-faced Georgian-style terraced houses. It was built as a speculative development by St John's College starting in the 1820s and finishing in the 1840s at the start of the Victorian era.At the northern end is...
, just across the road from another eminent theologian, Henry Chadwick
Henry Chadwick
Henry Chadwick , often called the "father of baseball," was a sportswriter, baseball statistician and historian.-Biography:...
.
He had been Select Preacher before the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 1973 and 1975 and was Bampton Lecturer
Bampton Lectures
The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton,. They have taken place since 1780.They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial. They continue to concentrate on Christian theological...
in 1978. He was Hulsean Preacher
John Hulse
John Hulse was an English clergyman. He is now known mainly as the founder of the series of Hulsean Lectures at the University of Cambridge.-Life:...
at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1976 and Gifford Lecturer at St Andrew's in 1993.
Among Peacocke's numerous subsidiary appointments he was the President of the Science and Religion Forum from 1995 until his death, having previous been Chairman (1972–78) and Vice President (1978–92). He was an Academic Fellow of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. Both members of IRAS and non-members congregate at the IRAS conference held annually at Star Island in New Hampshire.-History:IRAS...
in 1986. He was Warden of the Society of Ordained Scientists 1987-92 and Warden Emeritus from 1992 until his death. He was also a sometime Vice President of the Modern Church People's Union and member of the council of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
ESSSAT is a society of scholars who study the topic of Religion and Science. They meet every two years. They have 3 publications: Issues in Science and Theology , Studies in Science and Theology , and ESSSAT-News . It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its current president is Antje Jackelén...
(Esssat
European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
ESSSAT is a society of scholars who study the topic of Religion and Science. They meet every two years. They have 3 publications: Issues in Science and Theology , Studies in Science and Theology , and ESSSAT-News . It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its current president is Antje Jackelén...
).
Peacocke was awarded the Lecomte du Noüy Prize
Pierre Lecomte du Noüy
Pierre Lecomte du Noüy was a French biophysicist and philosopher. He probably is best-remembered by scientists for his work on the surface tension, and other properties, of liquids.- Life and work :...
in 1983. He received honorary doctorates from DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
(DSc
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
1983) and Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
(DLittHum
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
1991). He was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
by HM The Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in 1993. In 2001 he was awarded the Templeton Prize
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical...
.
Arthur Peacocke married Rosemary Mann on 7 August 1948. They had a daughter, Jane (born 1953), and a son who is the distinguished philosopher Christopher Peacocke
Christopher Peacocke
Christopher Arthur Bruce Peacocke is a philosopher especially known for his work in philosophy of mind and epistemology...
. They also have five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Peacocke's views
Peacocke self-identified as a panentheistPanentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
, which he was careful to distinguish from being a pantheist
Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
.http://www.metanexus.net/Magazine/ArticleDetail/tabid/68/id/7422/Default.aspx He is perhaps best known for his attempts to rigorously argue that evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
need not be at odds (see Creation-evolution controversy
Creation-evolution controversy
The creation–evolution controversy is a recurring cultural, political, and theological dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe....
). He may be the most well-known theological advocate of theistic evolution
Theistic evolution
Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution...
as author of the essay "Evolution: The Disguised Friend of Faith?".
Arthur Peacocke describes a position which is referred to elsewhere as "front-loading", after the fact that it suggests that evolution is entirely consistent with an all-knowing
Omniscience
Omniscience omniscient point-of-view in writing) is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. In Latin, omnis means "all" and sciens means "knowing"...
, all-powerful
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
who exists throughout time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, sets initial conditions and natural laws, and knows what the result will be. An implication of Peacocke’s particular stance is that all scientific analyses of physical processes reveal God’s actions. All scientific propositions are thus necessarily coherent with religious ones.
According to Peacocke, Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
is not an enemy to religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, but a friend (thus the title of his piece, "The Disguised Friend"). Peacocke offers five basic argument
Argument
In philosophy and logic, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion.Argument may also refer to:-Mathematics and computer science:...
s in support of his position outlined below.
Process as immanence
The process-as-immanence argument is meant to deal with Phillip JohnsonPhillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...
’s contention that naturalism reduces God to a distant entity. According to Peacocke, God continuously creates the world and sustains it in its general order and structure; He makes things make themselves. Biological evolution is an example of this and, according to Peacocke, should be taken as a reminder of God’s immanence. It shows us that "God is the Immanent Creator creating in and through the processes of natural order." (473, original italics) Evolution is the continuous action of God in the world. All "the processes revealed by the sciences, especially evolutionary biology, are in themselves God-acting-as-Creator". (474)
Chance optimizing initial conditions
The chance-optimizing-initial-conditions argument runs as follows: the role of chanceChance
- Philosophy, logic and theology :* Chance * Contingency * Indeterminism* Luck* Probability* Randomness- Places :* Chancé, a commune in Brittany, France* Chance, Kentucky, U.S.* Chance, Maryland, U.S.* Chance, Virginia, U.S....
in biological evolution can be reconciled with a purposive creator because "there is a creative interplay of 'chance' and law apparent in the evolution of living matter by natural selection." (475) There is no metaphysical implication of the physical fact of "chance"; randomness
Randomness
Randomness has somewhat differing meanings as used in various fields. It also has common meanings which are connected to the notion of predictability of events....
in mutation of DNA "does not, in itself, preclude these events from displaying regular trends of manifesting inbuilt propensities at the higher levels of organisms, populations and eco-systems." (476) Chance is to be seen as "eliciting the potentialities that the physical cosmos possessed ab initio." (477)
Random process of evolution as purposive
The random-process-of-evolution-as-purposive argument is perhaps best considered an adjunct to the process-as-immanence argument, and a direct response to Johnson’s continued references to evolution as "purposeless." Peacocke suggestsNatural evil as necessity
The natural-evil-as-necessity argument is meant to be a response to the classic philosophical argumentPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
of the Problem of Evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...
, which contends that an all-powerful, all-knowing and beneficent God cannot exist as such because natural evil
Natural evil
Natural evil, or surd evil, is a term generally used in discussions of the problem of evil and theodicy that refers to states of affairs which, considered in themselves, are to be avoided and not to be promoted, and for which no agent is morally responsible...
(mudslides which crush the legs of innocent children, for instance) occurs. Peacocke contends that the capacities necessary for consciousness and thus a relationship with God also enable their possessors to experience pain, as necessary for identifying injury and disease. Preventing the experience of pain would prevent the possibility of consciousness. Peacocke also takes an eastern argument for natural evil of that which made must be unmade for a new making to occur; there is no creation without destruction. To Peacocke, it is necessary that organisms go out of existence for others to come into it. Thus, pain, suffering and death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
are necessary evils in a universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
which will result in beings capable of having a relationship with God. God is said to suffer with His creation because He loves creation, conforming the deity to be consistent with the Christian God.
Jesus as pinnacle of human evolution
The Jesus-as-pinnacle-of-human-evolution argument proposed by Peacocke is that Jesus Christ is
the actualization of [evolutionary] potentiality can properly be regarded as the consummation of the purposes of God already incompletely manifested in evolving humanity…. The paradigm of what God intends for all human beings, now revealed as having the potentiality of responding to, of being open to, of becoming united with, God. (484-5)
Similar propositions had previously been put by writers such as C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
(in Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity
Mere Christianity is a theological book by C. S. Lewis, adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, while Lewis was at Oxford during World War II...
) and Teilhard de Chardin.
Relationship between theology and science typology
In the introduction to The Sciences and Theology in the Twentieth Century, Peacocke lists a set of eight relationships that could fall upon a two-dimensional grid. This list is in part a survey of deliberations that occurred at the World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
Conference on "Faith, Science and the Future", Cambridge, Mass., 1979.
- Science and theology are concerned with two distinct realms
- Reality is thought of as a duality, operating within the human world, in terms of natural/supernatural, spatio-temporal/the eternal, the order of nature/the realm of faith, the natural(or physical)/the historical, the physical-and-biological/mind-and-spirit.
- Science and theology are interacting approaches to the same reality
- Accuracy of this view is widely and strongly resisted among those who otherwise differ in their theologies
- Science and theology are two distinct non-interacting approaches to the same reality
- The idea that theology tries to answer the question why, while science tries to answer the question how
- Science and theology constitute two different language systems
- Each are two distinct "language games" whose logical pre-conditions can have no bearing upon each other according to late-Wittgensteinian theory
- Science and theology are generated by quite different attitudes (in their practitioners)
- the attitude of science is that of objectivity and logical neutrality; that of theology personal involvement and commitment.
- Science and theology are both subservient to their objects and can only be defined in relation to them
- Both are intellectual disciplines shaped by their object (nature or God) to which they direct their attention. Both include a confessional and a rational factor.
- Science and theology may be integrated
- Science generates a metaphysic in terms of which theology is then formulated
- For example Alfred North WhiteheadAlfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...
's metaphysicsMetaphysicsMetaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
forms the basis of process theologyProcess theologyProcess theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and further developed by Charles Hartshorne . While there are process theologies that are similar, but unrelated to the work of Whitehead the term is generally applied to the...
- For example Alfred North Whitehead
Implications of Peacocke's theology
This framework, and particular aspects of Peacocke’s argument, are at work in a number of positions actually taken by various Christian denominations. The mainstream Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaEvangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
made the following statement in correlation with many of Peacocke's arguments:
The ELCA doesn't have an official position on creation vs. evolution, but we subscribe to the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, so we believe God created the universe and all that is therein, only not necessarily in six 24-hour days, and that he may actually have used evolution in the process of creation.
Similarly, the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A., in a 2002 resolution by the 214th assembly of the church, stated:
Styles and Honours
- Mr Arthur Peacocke (1924–1948)
- Dr Arthur Peacocke (1948–1971)
- The Revd. Dr Arthur Peacocke (1971–1993)
- The Revd. Dr Arthur Peacocke MBE (1993–1994)
- The Revd. Canon Arthur Peacocke MBE (1994–2006)