Evolution and the sacred: the evolutionary theology of John Haught in relation to Daoist philosophy

Abstract

This paper was submitted as an entry for the 2015 Fraser Prize and was highly commended by the judging panel for demonstrating the benefits of enriching and sharpening the views of one tradition by setting it alongside a different one. It explores the evolutionary theology of the American theologian John Haught in the light of a comparative study of Daoism. Drawing on key aspects of Haught’s thought and relating them to parallel Daoist concepts, the paper shows first that God, in creating, takes the risk of allowing the cosmos to exist in relative liberty; second, that God can still be involved in continuing evolution; and, lastly, that ‘higher’ categories of life and mind can emerge through evolution.