As of yesterday, with the help of one of my former tutors from Blackfriars, Oxford, Dr. Bill Carroll, an expert in the theology and philosophy of creation and the religious world's conversation with science, I have narrowed the broad area of my thesis topic down a bit more.
I am pretty sure I will be focusing on how the medieval debates about the (a)temporality of creation could shed some much needed philosophical/theological light on contemporary cosmologies. The issue at hand is divine action in creation. How we understand God's interaction with creation has everything to do with how we understand time. What I may end up doing is simply showing what sort of interaction is possible given a particular view of time. . .
Fortunately, most of the primary medieval texts are in our library. Some of the secondary texts, however, will have to be bought, found, stolen, or smuggled to me! Most of the texts on contemporary cosmologies are brand new. Also, fortunately, the thesis is usually restricted in length from 50 to 75 pages. So, no worries.
Fr. Philip, OP
Fortunately, most of the primary medieval texts are in our library. Some of the secondary texts, however, will have to be bought, found, stolen, or smuggled to me! Most of the texts on contemporary cosmologies are brand new. Also, fortunately, the thesis is usually restricted in length from 50 to 75 pages. So, no worries.
Fr. Philip, OP
God be with you in this! We need your help in Texas:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-science_20tex.ART.State.Edition1.4aab58e.html
"College professors, science teachers and pro-evolution groups urged the board to drop a rule that requires the strengths and weaknesses of Darwin's theory to be taught in science courses, while conservative groups aligned with a sizable bloc of board members said the rule has worked well and hasn't forced religion into those classes as critics charge."t
Shoot. I did one of my MA papers on a similar topic (God and time in general), and unfortunately I already turned all my secondary source materials into the library at St. Albert's. Good luck! I found it a fascinating topic.
ReplyDeleteBeing too poor to take the vow of poverty at the moment I can't buy you any books... I don't know whether Coles & Lucchin ("Cosmology, the Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure", 2nd ed.) would be of use to you? It's a graduate level physics book which I needed for the General Relativity course.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't the only OP, PHD to be his student.
ReplyDeleteWhen he starts pressing his ideas of "Agape" - and its relation to the ability for non-homosexual (which is important because it is a Catholic sin) friends who experience Agape love for one another to have what normal people would call sexual conduct - but since it's under the guise of philosophically honorable agape it's not considered "sexual" in a traditional sense, watch yourself.