released 3/27/2024

In a lecture from 2019, Anglican priest and theologian Simon Oliver focuses on the fundamental place of the doctrine of Creation to Christian theology. Oliver examines four implications of the doctrine of Creation ex nihilo, presenting a beautiful vision of human life as a sacred gift with an intrinsic and transcendent telos. If there are no given natures, Oliver argues, rationality dissolves.

This lecture was originally presented at the 2019 Methexis Institute Conference, where the conference title was “Creation’s Ends and Christian Theology and Philosophy.” It is featured here by permission.

28 minutes

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Many contemporary discussions that make reference to Creation are framed in light of assumed conflicts between science and religion and are frequently concerned with giving an account of the earth’s origins. But is talking about origins synonymous with what the church fathers meant by the act of Creation? In a lecture entitled “Creation, Modernity, and Public Theology,” canon-theologian Simon Oliver examined the traditional understanding of the doctrine of Creation and explained how some of our modern divisions and disputes are the products of an insufficient framework for Creation that developed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

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