I am deeply sorrowed at the death of Denis Edwards this past March. Denis was a senior lecturer in theology with the Australian Catholic University’s Adelaide campus. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2012 for his contribution to the Archdiocese and to theological education. He was a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion, he wrote 14 books on the dialogue between science and faith and he was a sought after speaker around the globe, particularly in the area of ecological theology and the papal encyclical Laudato Si’. Most of all, he was a compassionate and gracious priest who always offered those around him, by his very embodiment of them, the peace of God, the grace of Christ and the joyful presence of the Spirit. I first met Denis in 1990 when he spent a sabbatical at the GTU and participated enthusiastically in the ongoing CTNS programs. That Fall Ted Peters and I taught a new course on the Trinity for doctoral and seminary students, and Denis actively participated with that rare combination of a scholars care for clarity and a priest’s passion to communicate God’s grace. He was thoroughly engaged in Bonaventure’s approach to the subject, yet he marveled, critically but appreciatively, at Barth’s Trinitarian theology (as many of us do!). He and I spent many leisurely afternoons in my office talking theology and in particular theology and science, and I gained a deeper understanding of the Australian context of the field, especially from his Catholic experience. He participated in two of the five international research conferences co-sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and CTNS: Conference 2 on Chaos and Complexity, contributing a chapter to the volume entitled “The Discovery of Chaos and the Retrieval of the Trinity” and Conference 3 on Evolutionary and Molecular Biology, writing a chapter entitled “Original Sin and Saving Grace in Evolutionary Context.” (Please see http://www.ctns.org/ books.html for an extended summary of both chapters.) Both have had a lasting impact on the field of theology and science. Over the years since then we have spent several happy times of reunion in conferences such as the Copenhagen one organized by Niels Gregersen several years ago on “Deep Incarnation.” I will miss Denis tremendously. His faith in Christ was extraordinarily clear and graciously gentle. His wry humor and contagious smile were worth the world to experience. His compassionate support to me as I have struggled with issues in cosmology and eschatology has been both nurturing, in being able to share them seriously with him, and life-changing, in giving me a renewal of Christian hope. Dear Denis, may God in God’s gracious acceptance surround you with love and guide you peacefully into your home in the heaven of the New Creation.

中文翻译：

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经理 丹尼斯·爱德华兹（1943-2019）

丹尼斯·爱德华兹（Denis Edwards）于今年三月去世，令我深感悲痛。丹尼斯曾在澳大利亚天主教大学阿德莱德校区担任神学高级讲师。2012年，他因对大主教管区和神学教育的贡献而被授予澳大利亚勋章。他是国际科学与宗教学会的创始成员，他撰写了14本关于科学与信仰之间对话的书，并且在全球范围内都很受追捧，尤其是在生态神学和罗马教皇百科全书Laudato Si'领域。最重要的是，他是一位富有同情心和亲切的牧师，他总是以自己的化身，上帝的平安，基督的恩典和圣灵的快乐同在向周围的人献身。1990年，我第一次遇到了丹尼斯（Denis），当时他在GTU休假，并热情地参加了正在进行的CTNS计划。那个秋天，泰德·彼得斯和我为博士生和神学院的学生开设了一门关于三位一体的新课程，而丹尼斯则积极参与，这种罕见的结合是学者们追求清晰，而牧师则热衷于传达神的恩典。他完全参与了Bonaventure的研究方法，但他却批评却又感激地赞叹了Barth的三位一体神学（就像我们许多人一样！）。他和我在办公室里度过了许多悠闲的下午，谈论神学，尤其是神学和科学，尤其是从他的天主教徒经历中，我对澳大利亚的这一领域有了更深入的了解。他参加了由梵蒂冈天文台和CTNS共同发起的五个国际研究会议中的两个：混沌与复杂性会议2，为题为“混沌的发现与三位一体的检索”的一章和进化和分子生物学，写了一个标题为“进化背景下的原罪与救赎恩典”的章节。（有关这两个章节的扩展摘要，请参见http://www.ctns.org/books.html。）两者都对神学和科学领域产生了持久的影响。从那以后的几年中，我们在聚会上度过了几次快乐的时光，例如几年前由尼尔斯·格里格森（Niels Gregersen）组织的哥本哈根会议，主题是“深化身”。我会非常想念丹尼斯。他对基督的信仰格外清晰和优雅。他那令人担忧的幽默和富有感染力的微笑值得世界去体验。当我在宇宙学和末世论问题上挣扎时，他的慈悲支持使我得到了养育，能够与他认真地分享它们，并且改变了生活，给了我新的基督徒希望。亲爱的丹尼斯，愿上帝在上帝的恩典中充满爱，并在新造天国的和平中引导您进入家中。