Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology

Preface xii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

Part I Conceptual Clarifications: On the meaning of terms 9

1 Natural Theology: A Deeper Structure to the Natural World 11

Natural Theology in the Classical Tradition 13

The Conceptual Fluidity of Natural Theology 15

The Eternal Return of Natural Theology 18

2 Darwinism: A Narrative of Evolution 27

Darwinism: A Defensible Term? 28

Darwinism as an Ideology 32

The Metaphysical Inflation of Evolutionary Thought 36

Conclusion to Part I 40

Part II Historical Exposition: Darwin and the English natural theology tradition 47

3 English Natural Theology of the Augustan Age, 1690–1745 49

The Emergence of English Natural Theology 50

Newtonian Physics and Natural Theology 53

The Protestant Assumptions of English Natural Theology 56

A Foundation for Consensus: The Doctrine of Creation 61

Physico-theology: The Appeal to Contrivance 63

Natural Theology and the Beauty of Nature 72

The Problem of Development within Nature 74

Assessing Evidence: Changing Public Perceptions 75

4 A Popular Classic: William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) 85

Introducing Paley's Natural Theology 85

Paley's Source: Bernard Nieuwentyt's Religious Philosopher (1718) 88

The Watch Analogy: The Concept of Contrivance 91

Paley on Intermediary Causes within Nature 97

The Vulnerability of Paley's Approach 99

5 Beyond Paley: Shifts in English Natural Theology, 1802–52 108

The Impact of Geology upon Paley's Natural Theology 110

Henry Brougham: A Natural Theology of the Mind 112

Evidence, Testimony, and Proof: A Shifting Context 115

A New Approach: The Bridgewater Treatises 119

John Henry Newman: The Theological Deficiencies of Paley 127

Robert Browning’s "Caliban Upon Setebos": A Literary Critique of Paley 130

English Natural Theology on the Eve of the Darwinian Revolution 133

6 Charles Darwin, Natural Selection, and Natural Theology 143

The Development of Darwin's Views on Natural Selection 146

Problems, Prediction, and Proof: The Challenge of Natural Selection 150

Natural Selection and Natural Theology: An Assessment of Darwin’s Impact 155

Conclusion to Part II 171

Part III Contemporary Discussion: Darwinism and natural theology 183

7 A Wider Teleology: Design, Evolution, and Natural Theology 185

Directionality within the Natural World 187

Teleology: Introducing an Idea 188

Chance, Contingency, and Evolutionary Goals 191

The “Wider Teleology” of Evolution 194

The Inference of Design and Natural Theology 197

Suffering, Evolution, and Natural Theology 202

8 The Concept of Creation: Reflections and Reconsiderations 217

The Seventeenth Century: The Regnant Theology of Creation 218

Creation as Event and Process: Augustine of Hippo 222

Evolution and an Emergent Creation 230

God's Action within the Evolutionary Process 233

9 Universal Darwinism: Natural Theology as an Evolutionary Outcome? 247

The Darwinian Paradigm and Cultural Development 249

The God-Meme: Natural Theology and Cultural Replicators 254

Religion: Evolutionary Adaptation or Spandrel? 262

Natural Theology and Evolutionary Theories of the Origins of Religion 265

Conclusion to Part III 267

Part IV Conclusion 277

10 The Prospects for Natural Theology 279

Natural Theology and the Human Evolutionary Past 281

Natural Theology, Observational Traction, and the Best Explanation 283

A Community of Discernment: The Church and Natural Theology 285

In Quest of Meaning 288

Index 294