ABSTRACT The concepts of symbiosis and mutualism advance our understanding of biology and have important implications for metaphysics and religious philosophy. However, symbiosis and mutualism presume that organisms are still individuals that relate to one another as distinct independent entities. While we agree that symbiosis and mutualism are important to understand, we suggest that a growing body of life science research supports a more accurate and an even more profoundly interconnected view of life as contingently existent and mutually constituting. While potentially disturbing to human self-understanding, this view could have a beneficial impact on theological reasoning and practical pastoral thinking.

中文翻译：

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生物共生和共生：显着的进步，还有更多

摘要共生和共生的概念提高了我们对生物学的理解，对形而上学和宗教哲学具有重要意义。然而，共生和共生假定有机体仍然是作为彼此独立的实体相互联系的个体。尽管我们认为共生和共生对理解很重要，但我们建议，生命科学研究的不断发展支持更准确，甚至更深刻地联系在一起的生命观点，这些观点是不断存在和相互构成的。尽管这种观点可能会扰乱人类的自我理解，但它可能会对神学推理和实践牧师思想产生有益的影响。