Theology of nature : reflections on the dogmatic doctrine of creation
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Authors
Danz, Christian
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AOSIS
Abstract
The doctrine of creation and the knowledge of nature have come into tension in modernity.
Against this background, the article discusses the basic problems of a theology of nature
starting from a systematic theology of religious communication. Dogmatic statements
about the world as God’s creation are not about a description of nature and reality but
about a reflexive account of Christian–religious communication. The object of the doctrine
of creation is thus the world-related contents of the Christian religion as well as the
function these have in it. Thus, both the critique of the representational version of the
doctrinal tradition’s conception of creation and its reflexive turn in 20th-century Protestant
theology are taken up and carried forward in such a way that the belief in creation is not
understood as a general qualification of the world but is related to the concrete contents of
religious communication.
CONTRIBUTION : The article proposes a new formulation of the traditional doctrine of creation on
the basis of a systematic theology of religious communication. This approach is intended to
avoid a coexistence of religious belief in creation and scientific explanation of the world, as
well as their being pushed into one another. By transferring the belief in creation to Christian–
religious communication, the latter thematises how religious contents are created in the
Christian religion.
Description
Special Collection: Theology and Nature, sub-edited by Johan Buitendag (University of Pretoria).
This research is part of the research project ‘Understanding Reality (Theology and Nature)’, directed by Prof. Dr Johan Buitendag, Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria
This research is part of the research project ‘Understanding Reality (Theology and Nature)’, directed by Prof. Dr Johan Buitendag, Department of Systematic and Historical Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria
Keywords
Theology and nature, Ecotheology, Doctrine of creation, Theology of religious communication, Jurgen Moltmann
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Danz, C., 2021, ‘Theology of
nature: Reflections on the
dogmatic doctrine of creation’,
HTS Teologiese Studies/
Theological Studies 77(3),
a6720. https://DOI.org/10.4102/hts.v77i3.6720.