Divine presence-causal, cybernetic, caring, cruciform: from information to incarnation

Abstract

The divine Spirit, breathed into matter, is the giver of life, the deepest secret of the evolutionary natural history. The most sophisticated such animation is embodied in Homo sapiens. One might begin with a claim of pervasive divine "inspiration" and end with the word "incarnation." "Incarnate" means "in flesh," and God is unable to be incarnate in stars or trees, without flesh. Higher, blooded, fleshed animals show little evidence of having spiritual experiences. Struggle and suffering, and life renewed in the midst of its death and perishing are central themes in Christianity. Natural history too is "cruciform." But the divine is fully incarnate only when love is taken at the pitch in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This reveals the omnipresence of divine grace, the destiny of life on Earth.