Christopher B. Kaiser
Encyclopedia
Christopher Barina Kaiser is a noted author and scholar, knowledgeable in both astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...

 (Harvard/University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

) and Christian dogmatics (University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

). His Creation and the History of Science (1991) received an outstanding book award from the Templeton Foundation. Henry Margenau
Henry Margenau
Henry Margenau was a German-U.S. physicist, and philosopher of science.-Early life:Born Bielefeld, Germany, Margenau obtained his bachelor's degree from Midland Lutheran College, Nebraska before his M.Sc...

 and William G. Pollard
William G. Pollard
William Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...

, by his own admission, were two writers who influenced him as a science student in the 1960s.

Published works

Citation: Science and Religion in the English Speaking World, 1600-1727 A Biliographic Guide to the Secondary Literature, Richard S. Brooks & David K. Himrod, Scarecrow Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8108-4011-1, page 241:


This is a wide-ranging survey of the interaction of the doctrine of creation and physical science from the patristic writers of the early church to Einstein and Bohr. It is a useful volume in a series of introductory textbooks in the history of theology. His approach is similar to that of the history-of-ideas school. Kaiser argues that the basic theme in the "creation tradition" is "that the entire universe is subject to a single code of law which was established along with the universe at the beginning of time." This theme manifested itself in four flexible ideas: (1) the comprehensibility of the world; (2) the unity of earth and heaven; (3) the relative autonomy of nature; and (4) the ministry of health care and reconciliation. A majority of the book deals with theologians and natural philosophers from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Kaiser discusses many of the topics important for this bibliography--from hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...

 to the Puritan thesis. For example, he has an interesting insight into the relation between Newton's Arianism and his views of space and time. Kaiser is good on the details of theological differences and theological rationale. In this, his work complements those historians of science who miss the nuances within theological debates. The usefulness of Kiaser's book is partially frustrated by a lack of footnotes, some correctable mistakes, and some overapplications of his thesis to particular figures. Overall, however, it is recommended as a replacement for Dillenberger
John Dillenberger
John Dillenberger was Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He was instrumental in forming the Graduate Theological Union which he headed during its first decade, first as Dean from 1964-1969 and then, from 1967 to 1972, as its first...

's comparable survey.

Astrophysics

His astrophysics doctoral thesis was titled The thermal emission of interplanetary dust cloud models, published by the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 in 1968.

External links

  • His faculty page on the Western Theological Seminary
    Western Theological Seminary
    Western Theological Seminary is a professional and graduate school in Holland, Michigan affiliated with the Reformed Church in America....

     website
  • His thank you note to William G. Pollard
    William G. Pollard
    William Grosvenor Pollard was a physicist and an Episcopal priest. He started his career as a professor of physics in 1936 at University of Tennessee. In 1946 he championed the organization of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . He was its executive director until 1974. He was ordained...

    for Pollard's Man on a Spaceship
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