Evolution: Secular or Sacred?

Evolution: Secular or Sacred? gathers a range of scholarly essays that probe one of the most contested questions in contemporary theology: how should Christians interpret evolutionary theory in relation to faith? Rather than staging yet another superficial "religion versus science" debate, this volume offers careful historical, philosophical, and theological analysis from multiple perspectives.

The contributors engage topics such as the status of natural selection, the role of contingency and convergence in evolutionary history, and the implications of common ancestry for doctrines of creation, imago Dei, and the Fall. Some essays argue for understanding evolution as a process fully compatible with Christian theism; others raise searching questions about standard apologetic strategies. Throughout, I frame the discussion so that readers can see where the real points of agreement and disagreement lie.

This collection is particularly suited for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in theology and science, systematic theology, or philosophy of religion. Each chapter includes a clear abstract, substantive argumentation, and bibliographic guidance for further research, making the book a useful springboard for term papers, seminars, or thesis projects. Pastors and lay leaders who are seeking serious, non-polemical engagement with evolution will also find here a set of resources that can inform sermon preparation, adult education, or congregational forums.

As one of fourteen books I have authored or edited, *Evolution: Secular or Sacred?* fits within a wider program of exploring divine action, chance, and love in an evolutionary context. It can be fruitfully read alongside *A Modern Relation of Theology and Science Assisted by Emergence and Kenosis* or *A Christian Natural Theology of Chance & Contingency* for those who wish to trace the development of these debates across multiple volumes.