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In Defense of Double Agency in Evolution: A Response to Five Modern Critics
Angelicum (2003)
  • Father Nicanor Austriaco, Providence College
Abstract

God acts in the world. That this is me is an ancient Christian conviction affirmed everytime anyone prays that the Father's will be done. Understanding how this is me, however, is an ongoing work oftheology. Several paradigmatic models for divine action in an evolving universe have been proposed recently by five schol­ ars working in the science-and-religion dialogue. They share two common elements. First, they all reject the theory ofdivine action as double agency - the solution pro­ posed by classical Western theism - as incoherent or inadequate. In this essay, I will argue that these five theologians have failed to properly understand classical double agency and the metaphysically rich account of causality that it presupposes. When double agency is cast within the classical framework of Western theism especially as it was articulated by St. Thomas Aquinas, it remains a coherent and fruitful the­ ological explanation for divine action in an evolving world. Second, these contempo­ rary models ofdivine action all seek to explain what one theologian has called "non­ interventionist objective special divine action." In response, I will argue that classi­ cal double agency allows one to accomplish the task ofexplaining noninterventionist objective special divine action without denying either the mystery o f divine providence where God knows all events past, present, and future, or the radical distinction between the Creator and his creatures, the wry distinction which defines Christian­ ity as the religion that it is.

Publication Date
2003
Citation Information
Father Nicanor Austriaco. "In Defense of Double Agency in Evolution: A Response to Five Modern Critics" Angelicum Vol. 80 (2003)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nicanor_austriaco/25/