The dream drives the action: An exploration of the meaning of cosmogenesis in Thomas Berry's functional cosmology

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of the meaning of cosmogenesis, the universe as an emergent process. Focused on its utilization within the functional cosmology of Thomas Berry, this paper investigates what implications the discovery of cosmogenesis can have for human-Earth relations in light of the ecological crisis within the framework of religion. It also queries into how the insights of cosmogenesis can be lived out in concrete ways, and what that might look like in religious terms. The first half of the thesis explores the meaning of cosmogenesis in its physical details, locates the work of Berry within the larger dialogue on religion and science, and identifies how the concept functions in Berry's cosmology. The second half discusses how Christianity can operate within a functional cosmology that takes the insights of cosmogenesis seriously, discusses contemporary Christian responses to the ecological crisis, and offers several ways that such insights can be manifested as praxis.