Starbridge Lecturer in Theology and Natural Sciences
Fellow and Director of Studies in Theology Corpus Christi College
Theology and the Natural Sciences
Christian Doctrinal and Philosophical Theology
Andrew Davison is accepting applications for PhD students.
Biography:
Dr Davison is the Starbridge Lecturer in Theology and Natural Sciences. Before he moved into theology he was a scientist, and he holds undergraduate degrees and doctorates in both natural science (Merton College, Oxford) and theology (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge). Andrew taught Christian doctrine at Oxford and Cambridge before his current appointment, and was junior chaplain of Merton College. In 2015 he was made a canon of St Albans Cathedral in the UK: the first 'canon philosopher' in the Church of England.
Research Interests
Dr Davison works at the intersection of theology, science and philosophy. During the 2016-17 academic year, he was a fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, on a NASA-sponsored programme to consider the implications for human society and self-understanding of life elsewhere in the universe. His work there looked at the significance of such 'exobiology' for the main aspects of the Christian faith. Previous work has considered theological perspectives on finitude in Aquinas and Duns Scotus. A growing area of interest spans symbiosis in biology, and emergence and whole-part relationships in metaphysics. Alongside the book on astrobiology, his other principle project is a book, recently completed, surveying the 'metaphysics of participation' as a structuring principle in Christian theology.
Dr Davison is open to supervising doctoral research in Christian theology, as it bears upon the natural sciences, or other areas of interest.
Key Publications
Journal Articles
Davison, A. (2018). 'Christian Systematic Theology and Life Elsewhere in the Universe: A Study in Suitability'. Theology and Science, 16.4. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2018.1525224.
Davison, A. (2018). ‘"He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change", but "who knows how?": Evolution and Divine Exemplarity.' Nova et Vetera, 16.4.
(2017). ‘"Not to escape the world but to join it": responding to climate change with imagination not fantasy'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 375 (20160365)https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0365.
Davison, A. 'Scientific Cosmology as Creation ex Nihilo Considered "from the Inside"'. In Bockmuehl, Markus and Anderson, Gary (eds), Creatio ex nihilo: Origins and Contemporary Significance. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017.
Monographs
- Blessing London: Canterbury Press, 2014.
- Care for the Dying: A Practical and Pastoral Guide, with the physician Sioned Evans. London: Canterbury Press, 2014.
- The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians. London: SCM Press, 2013
- Why Sacraments? London: SPCK, 2013
- For the Parish: A Critique of Fresh Expressions, with Alison Milbank. London: SCM Press, 2010.
Edited Volumes
- Amazing Love. London: DLT, 2016.
- Imaginative Apologetics: Theology, Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition. London: SCM Press, 2011.
Andrew is also a regular contributor to Church Times and the Times Literary Supplement.
Subject area and speciality
College
- Corpus Christi College:
- Fellow and Director of Studies in Theology
