Divine Involvement

Divine Involvement in An Evolutionary World: Toward A Teleological Model of Causality in the Theology & Science Dialogue develops a line of thought I have pursued across several monographs: how to speak coherently about God's purposive activity in a universe described by modern evolutionary theory. This volume focuses specifically on causality-how causes are ordered, how ends shape processes, and how divine and creaturely agency interrelate.

I revisit classical accounts of teleology, from Aristotle through Thomas Aquinas, and test them against contemporary physics and biology. Rather than abandoning final causality, I suggest that evolutionary dynamics can be interpreted as participating in layered patterns of directionality, openness, and constraint. Within this framework, God's action is neither an intrusive "gap‑filler" nor a distant first cause that leaves the world to run on its own.

For theologians, philosophers, and scientifically informed pastors, the book offers conceptual tools for preaching, teaching, and scholarly work on providence, petitionary prayer, and miracle. Diagrams and clear definitions help readers navigate distinctions between primary and secondary causality, top‑down and bottom‑up influence, and various models of divine‑world interaction.

The text is particularly suitable for graduate seminars in science and religion or doctrinal courses dealing with creation and providence. It invites readers to reconsider familiar debates about intervention and non‑intervention in light of a teleological understanding of causation that does justice both to empirical investigation and to Christian confession of God's wise governance.