Creation and Reality

by Michael Welker

Michael Welker's newest book opens new vistas on the theology of creation and challenges reigning notions of nature, transcendence, revelation, and life in biblical studies, philosophy, and theology.Based on his Warfield Lectures at Princeton, the volume probes the classical creation accounts of Genesis 1 and 2. Welker exhumes a more dynamic, concrete, pluralistic sense of creation, with accents on interdependence, unrest, and the text's "astounding potential for critique of deeply ingrained conceptions and ways of thinking." Welker then sketches surprising and creative interpretations of the text's most perplexing features: the angelic, world, the image of God in humans, dominion, sin and the "fall."

Genres: Theology

116 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mats Winther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Welker’s book “Creation and Reality” (1999) offers profound insights into creation theology, natural theology, and angelology. It has deepened my understanding of Genesis 3:22: “Adam has become like one of us and knows what is good and evil.” From that moment, humanity gained the ability to discern what is beneficial and harmful for humanity itself but lost its unity with the rest of creation, leading to detrimental effects (ch. 6). Welker emphasizes that Creation encompasses the heavens, which are also creaturely (p. 35). The earth is not just a passive receptacle but an active source of power, an “active force field” (p. 42). This perspective challenges the overly sterile and abstract view of God’s power as a “one-upmanship from above” (p. 37). Welker convincingly argues that common conceptions of creation are flawed abstractions, relying on sterile notions of “transcendence” and an obsession with “the indeterminate power of production, causation, and dependence” (p. 17). While the book’s language is accessible, it challenges modern readers who are accustomed to simplistic abstractions.

[Jag Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A case study in how conceptual refinement and a theology of creation can integrate science and theology rather than use one as a resource at the expense of the other.

[Victoria Gaile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this as much as I wanted to.