A Review of Scott D. G. Ventureyra, On the Origin of Consciousness: The nature and emergence of human self-consciousness is a perennial question of philosophy. It is also one of the most hotly debated questions in contemporary philosophy and science. Into this debate enters Scott Ventureyra in his book, On the Origin of Consciousness….

One of the joys of inhabiting an explicitly interdisciplinary space is that one is constantly challenged and stimulated by ideas, critiques, and voices that collectively defy easy conceptual or disciplinary categorization. I consider myself extremely fortunate to exist in such a space, addressing theological questions by drawing upon scholarship not only from specific faith traditions,…

As reflected in the two parts of her book, Sarah Lane Ritchie’s project is twofold. She first critiques the “standard divine action model,” which she grounds in the Divine Action Project (p. 7). According to such models: God doesn’t intervene, and so doesn’t go against natural processes or the laws of nature. Rather, God acts…

There is a tension between scientific accounts of nature and theological accounts of God’s action in nature. On the one hand, the more we learn from science, the more difficult it becomes to find a place for God to act in the natural world. On the other hand, a robust theology of the relational and…

Reading Journal Home << Previous Entry Next entry >> Continuing my slow start to Dante’s Comedy, I look here at additional themes of love, community, and spiritual journey as the pilgrim prepares to enter the Inferno. N.B.: To get your bearings in our Dante series, start here. Canto II 1. Though the pilgrim has a guide in Virgil,…