God and Molecules: Chemical Evolution and Divine Providence

God's Providential Work in Creation Before Life Began

God has been present and active in creation from the moment he created it ex nihilo. Few Christians would question this claim, but its implications for ongoing theologyand science dialogues have not been fully explored.

In this pathbreaking and field-advancing work, Ross Hastings brings his expertise in both scientific and theological disciplines to bear on the topic of divine providence in chemicalevolution.

Based on the latest research in the developing field of chemical evolution and the work of theological giants such as Karl Barth, Hastings shows how God may have been providentially and non-competitively at work in the process by which simple prebiotic molecules gave rise to the complex molecules in the first living organisms.

In God and Molecules, Hastings

* provides cutting-edge theological engagement with the developing scientific field of chemical evolution,
* advances the discussion in theology and science with this new integrative work, and
* offers a holistic alternative for thinking about chemical evolution that overcomes the binary of theology versus science.

God and Molecules pushes toward new frontiers in theology and science and casts a compelling, integrative, and ultimately healing vision for how God has been lovingly involved in the developmental process of the earliest life on earth.