50: Dr Andrew M Davis: Philosophy, Theology, and Alien Life

Feb 28, 2024

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S3 E9: Dr Andrew M Davis: Philosophy, Theology, and Alien Life

If our theological framework was developed in medieval times under an earth centric understanding of the universe, how does that change with the discovery of near infinite galaxies out there? What does a Christian faith look like that is not earth centric or human centric? What does that do to the doctrine of the incarnation; God becoming human? If intelligent alien life made itself known to us, what theologies would go out the window?

Today we talk with Dr Andrew M. Davis, American process philosopher, theologian, and scholar of cosmological wonder. He is program director for the Center for Process Studies where he researches, writes, teaches, and organizes conferences on various aspects of process-relational thought. He has written many academic articles and books, and we talk about his book Metaphysics of Exo-Life: Toward a Constructive Whiteheadian Cosmotheology. But don’t let that title scare you away. This is one of the most fun conversations I have had. It felt like talking theology and philosophy with one of my favorite Science Fiction authors.

You can purchase Andrew’s new book here: https://rb.gy/2ou2fs
You can find Andrew’s work here: https://www.andrewmdavis.info/

Time Stamps for the episode:
03:54 Beer and Philosophy
07:32 Evangelical and academic roots
12:37 Turning points in faith
18:13 Expanding theology to fit the larger cosmos
22:36 Medieval theology in a modern context
26:55 Getting creative with contextualizing theology
31:35 What happens to certain theology if alien life is discovered?
37:44 Decentering our world / recentering our experience
43:03 The Church’s severe humbling through science
48:32 The world as verb instead of noun
54:37 Re-enchanting our modern world
1:01:34 incarnation and un-centering humanity from cosmology
1:08:45 Shift from instrumental value to Intrinsic
1:15:10 Spirituality as bridge between theory and practice
1:18:51 Conclusions

All Music for this episode is provided by Axeltree

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