Creation and Chaos Talk

Description: Talk about chaos is pervasive. Biblical scholars, theologians, and scientists have been using the word chaos for some time, occasionally mingling ideas across disciplines around the shared word. Quite often, discussions of chaos center on the issues of creation's origin and nature, as well as on God's creative methods and relationship to creation. Eric M. Vail investigates the current uses of the word chaos in those areas. A new way of articulating creation out of nothing is offered as both helpful and appropriate in our current milieu. He suggests where we ought to focus our use of the word chaos in Christian discourse and argues that chaos is more fitting for naming where creation has gone awry rather than for naming that state out of which creation comes to be. Endorsements: ""Vail takes recent work on creation and chaos and offers a new perspective for Christian theology. This perspective retains the kernel of ancient creation doctrines that suppose God creates something from nothing, but it does so with a fresh perspective on . . . other theological doctrines, such as soteriology and sanctification. Those who seek a faithful reading of the Christian tradition and contemporary worldviews will be wise to work through the nuances of Vail's creative creation and chaos proposal."" --Thomas Jay Oord, Northwest Nazarene University ""Beginning 'in the beginning,' Vail's careful and constructive study enlists biblical scholars, theologians, scientists, and patristics to chart a bold new course in creation theology for Christians. How he gets there is just as important as his destination. An invaluable, interdisciplinary resource!"" --William P. Brown, Columbia Theological Seminary ""Vail's book surely does get creation and chaos talking with each other! Careful, detailed, and deliberate, Vail takes us knee-deep--and sometimes deeper--into the tangled issues of 'chaos' and its multiple meanings in order to explore the complexities of relation between Creator and creation. What emerges is an exhilarating doctrine of cooperative, conversational creation, a cosmic community yet in the making."" --Michael Lodahl, Point Loma Nazarene University About the Contributor(s): Eric M. Vail is the senior pastor of First Church of the Nazarene in Saint Joseph, Missouri.