The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology (Oxford Handbooks) - Hardcover

Bringing together 38 authors from a vast range of backgrounds into this huge volume is an amazing feat in itself. Given all the authors and the editor are from academia immediately means that the contributions are weighty and require careful study. (John Wood, The Reader)

In sum, this book combines diversity of approach with brevity and flashes of genuine depth. Few contributions will fail to leave even the specialist reader a little wiser about natural theology, an ancient subject that continues to provoke fruitful debates across an astonishingly interdisciplinary array of traditions. (James Orr, St. John's College, Cambridge)

magnificent compendium (Reviews in Science and Religion)

A striking feature of this book is the presence of critiques of natural theology throughout. Most sections close with a chapter criticising natural theology from the perspective under discussion in that portion. Rarely can a handbook have devoted so much space to doubting the possibility or desirability of its subject. That is part of what makes this book so stimulating. (Revd Dr Andrew Davison, The Church Times)

contains some outstanding chapters (Graham Oppy, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews)

This is not an introductory work to an important area of theology but it is an excellent resourse for which many students will be grateful. (Paul Richardson, Church of England Newspaper)

This book combines diversity of approach with brevity and flashes of genuine depth. Few contributions will fail to leave even the specialist reader a little wiser about natural theology, an ancient subject that continues to provoke fruitful debates across an astonishingly interdisiplinary array of traditions. (James Orr, The Expository Times)

[a] valuable addition to the Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology series ... Recommended. (C.L. Hansen, CHOICE)

The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology is the first collection to consider the full breadth of natural theology from both historical and contemporary perspectives and to bring together leading scholars to offer accessible high-level accounts of the major themes. The volume embodies and develops the recent revival of interest in natural theology as a topic of serious critical engagement. Frequently misunderstood or polemicized, natural theology is an under-studied yet persistent and pervasive presence throughout the history of thought about ultimate reality - from the classical Greek theology of the philosophers to twenty-first century debates in science and religion.

Of interest to students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this authoritative handbook draws on the very best of contemporary scholarship to present a critical overview of the subject area. Thirty eight new essays trace the transformations of natural theology in different historical and religious contexts, the place of natural theology in different philosophical traditions and diverse scientific disciplines, and the various cultural and aesthetic approaches to natural theology to reveal a rich seam of multi-faceted theological reflection rooted in human nature and the environments within which we find ourselves.