Abstract:
Following Paul’s injunction in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 we have to ‘become scientists’ to a
scientifically informed audience. While theology cannot agree with the naturalist denial of
transcendence, it can adopt the experiential-realist approach typical for the sciences in its
description of the Christian faith as an immanent part of cosmic evolution, albeit at a higher
level of emergence. The article begins with my understanding of evolutionary theory (big
bang cosmology, entropy, emergence, neural networks as infrastructure of consciousness,
evolution and differentiation, sequences of past, present and future, contingency etc.) It then
describes God consciousness as the intuition, perception or conceptualisation of the
transcendent Source and Destiny of experienced reality and locates God consciousness in the
evolutionary process. Biblical God consciousness displays two distinct characteristics: God’s
creative power is experienced in reality, while God’s benevolent intentionality is proclaimed on
the basis of a religious tradition. The evolutionary trajectory of biblical God consciousness,
culminating in the Christ-event, is sketched and the God consciousness of Jesus is deduced
from its religious embeddedness, its social-environmental relationships and its religious
impact. Implications of an experiential-realist approach are (1) a dynamic, rather than
ontological Christology and (2) the cosmic significance of the sacrifice of God in Christ. On this
basis revelation is described first in experiential-realist and then in theological terms. The
tension between the experience of God’s creative power and the proclamation of God’s
benevolence leads to a dynamic, rather than ontological rendering of the Trinity. Finally,
traditional eschatological assumptions are reconceptualised as God’s dynamic vision of
comprehensive well-being operating like a horizon that moves on as we approach it and
displays ever new vistas, challenges and opportunities.
Description:
Prof. Dr Klaus Nürnberger is
part of the research project,
‘Theology of Nature’, directed
by Prof. Dr Johan Buitendag
(Dean, Faculty of Theology),
Department Dogmatics and
Christian Ethics, Faculty of
Theology, University of
Pretoria.
