The study day considered the following:-

Creation is in the public mind through contemporary cosmology (beginning and end of the universe, make-up of matter, etc), and through contemporary life-sciences (evolution, neuroscience, brain studies, etc.)

Creation is a theme that is present in (only) three religious traditions - Jewish, Christian, and Islamic; all three claiming descent from Abraham. This religious literature is being re-read, and assessed theologically in the light of the new data from the sciences.

Greek philosophy is the only ancient philosophy to have even partially negotiated the real questions raised in these traditions.

In the middle ages, scholars from each of the three religious traditions, who knew Greek philosophy, struggled with the idea of creation. Aquinas stood at the point where all these streams of thought about creation met. He pinpointed its religious meaning and transformed the philosophy. In many ways, our theological idea of creation comes from his work.

Today, theologians from the three traditions, and philosophers who know their Greek sources and appreciate the vision of Aquinas, are trying to renew the understanding of creation in the light of new questions from science. There is a new realisation that creation is at the centre of the theological enterprise.

The theologians are looking at the kind of presence God has with creatures, (and vice-versa), and the kind of distinction there is between God and creatures, (and vice-versa).

A number of international conferences on 'creation' have been held, especially in Europe. They are an attempt to explore the tradition in the light of present knowledge.

The idea of this study-day is to introduce people into some of that thinking, while touching in a less heavy way on the scientific material.

It aims at unfolding the unique relation we have with the Creator, and thereby to touch questions about who we are for God, and who God is for us, and how God `acts' in the universe for us and with us . This touches fundamental questions of theology and of faith itself, in the context of today's (rather secular) ecumenism.

Some questions from the thinkers:

• How, when, and why the idea of creation originally emerged?

• The 'intentional' character of God's creative act: or, what did God have in mind in creating us?

• What does it mean to 'be a creature', and how do we as creatures relate to the Creator, and the Creator to us ?

• How does God's creative act differ from our kind of `creativity'?

• What is our future with the Creator? M Why is our death not annihilation?

See: D. Burrell and B. McGinn, eds., God and Creation, an ecumenical symposium, undp, 1990.
D. Burrell, Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions, undp, 1993.

For the background material:

Cosmology: What is the 'standard model'? Is there an `alternate model'?

J. Albright, Cosmology: what one needs to know, Zygon, 2000, 173-180.
R.Stannard, God and the Big Bang;Traces of a Designer; Who'd swap with the Sun?. The Tablet. April-May 2000_.
B. Greene, The elegant universe, OUP 1999. [A larger and more demanding book]

Life-sciences: Can genetics explain everything in the growth of an embryo? Does God immediately create a spiritual soul and infuse it into each human being?

A. Peacocke, Biology and a theology of evolution, Zygon, 1999, 695-712.
J.Albright/C.Ashbrook, The humanizing brain, Cleveland, Ohio, 1997.
M.Kaku, Visions: how science will revolutionize the 21st century and beyond. OUP, 1998.