Loren Wilkinson 
Circles and the Cross 
Cosmos, Consciousness, Christ, and the Human Place in Creation

Circles and the Cross is an invitation to explore two mysteries. One is the miracle of the cosmos: why is there something and not nothing? The other is the miracle of consciousness: why should this collection of stardust be an I and not just an it? Our basic response to those mysteries is wonder, and from wonder have grown the three great trees of human culture: religion, art, and science. This exploration is undertaken in the light of a third mystery: the cross of Christ is the clearest picture we have of the triune Creator of both cosmos and consciousness. That self-emptying of the Creator out of love for the creation helps us understand the pleasures, paradoxes, and pains of science; it helps us understand how ‘evolution’ can be another name for creation; it casts light on the Enlightenment and Romanticism. In particular, it illuminates the environmental movement: an ethic in search of a religion. Loren Wilkinson, drawing on fifty years of teaching and writing about our relationship to creation, invites you to join this journey into understanding how the cross of Christ sheds light on the mysteries that surround us–and gives us hope in a difficult age.

About the author

After working as an English teacher and Anglican clergyman Peter Harris moved to Portugal in 1983 with his wife Miranda and family to establish and run A Rocha’s first field study centre and bird observatory. In 1995 the work was given over to national leadership and they moved to France where together with national colleagues they oversaw the establishment of two other centres, while travelling worldwide to resource the growing movement of Christians active in nature conservation. A Rocha is now established in 21 countries on 5 continents, and following the loss of Miranda in a road accident in South Africa in 2019 Peter continues volunteering as president emeritus.