Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine

Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe

Andrew Davison

In recent decades, powerful telescopes have enabled astrophysicists to uncover startling new worlds and solar systems. An epochal moment came in 1995, when a planet – 51 Pegasi b – was located orbiting a star other than our own sun. Since then, thousands of new planets have followed, and the question of life beyond earth has become one of the principal topics in discussions between science and religion. Attention to this topic has a long history in Christian theology, but has rarely been pursued at any depth. Writing with both passion and precision, Andrew Davison brings his extensive knowledge of Christian thought to bear, drawing particularly on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, as well as his training as a scientist. No book to date better prepares the Christian community for responding to evidence of other life, if it is found. And yet, we do not need to wait for that to have happened before this book shows its worth. In thinking about planets, creatures, and ecosystems beyond our planet, Davison already reinvigorates our theology for the earth.

Andrew Davison is the Starbridge Associate Professor of Theology and Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where his work has inspired the arts and humanities programme at the ground-breaking Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe. One of the foremost scholars working between theology, philosophy, and the natural sciences, he is fellow in theology and Dean of Chapel at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. His work on life elsewhere in the universe has been covered by news outlets around the world, in more than twenty languages. Davison is the author of Participation in God: A Study in Christian Doctrine and Metaphysics, Blessing, The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians, and Why Sacraments?

Advance praise

‘This innovative and immensely readable work is easily the best introduction currently available to the theological questions raised by the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It offers both a critical analysis of issues such as multiple incarnations and a constructive response to them, deeply rooted in the Christian tradition.’

Alister McGrath, Senior Research Fellow, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, & Emeritus Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford