At this very moment, the world in which we live is at risk. Our earth is threatened by overpopulation, overconsumption of unrenewable resources, the depletion of the protective ozone layer, the fouling of fresh water supplies, and an overall degradation of the environment. The new cosmology calls these our contem- porary "social sins." They are beyond the quick fix of science. They challenge the relevance of most theology.

At the same time, our understanding of the origins of the universe and the planet we call home are growing. As they do, we are forced to rethink our personal and communal roles and relationships within the unfolding story of creation. We need a new way to see the cosmos. We need a new story of creation. Such a cosmology also sets forth a new and larger vision for we humans.

One of the most challenging problems facing theologians, pastors, and religious educators is to relate their fields of study and ministry to a new cosmology and its companion, creation spirituality.

This book presents the foremost spokesperson of a new cosmology, Thomas Berry, and introduces a fresh vision of creation and our relationships within that creation. It then portrays a dynamic dialog of that vision, between Berry and several theologians and a scientist. You can witness in these riveting pages a vital exchange among Donald Senior (scripture), Gregory Baum (theology and social action), Margaret Brennan (women's issues), Stephen Dunn (moral theology), James Farris (philosophy), and Brian Swimme (science). Then you can begin your own reflections on your views and disciplines in light of Berry vision and cosmology. This book's urgent message and the subsequent refle tion it triggers promise hours of sober amazement and exciting optimism.