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Peter Stork
MSc, MA (theol), PhD
Research
As an independent researcher, my interests focus on three big-picture concerns:
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The interface of modern scientific discoveries, especially in cosmology and evolutionary anthropology, and Christianity.
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The application of René Girard's mimetic theory in the above context.
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The phenomenon of universal human violence, including the crisis of human rights.
After my retirement from international consulting in my fields, initially in geoscience and later in the anthropology of people in careers, I studied theology at the Australian Catholic University (PhD 2006). Now a former Research Fellow of ACU, I am also a Fellow of ISCAST, the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Science & Technology in Australia. My contribution to knowledge consists of two books, chapters in three edited books, several articles in peer-reviewed journals, and unpublished research papers available on this site. I live in Sydney with my wife Barbara and am fond of cats.
My Favorite Project
Write, speak, and pray to illuminate and inspire fellow Christians to befriend the new cosmic story that emerges from the data of modern science. Since Christ and the cosmos are inseparable, neglecting scientific discoveries in our time can only lead to diminishing public credibility of Christian truth claims.
Books
New
For a limited period I can offer an "early bird" discount to Australian purchasers (A$32.00 incl. postage). Please order by email on contact form below. Don't forget to add your postal address. Pre-pay to BSB 112 908; Acc. 458 166 601.
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Relying on René Girard's theory of mimetic desire and the dramatic theology of Raymund Schwager, I examine the fragility and failure of the human rights system when faced with escalating global violence. One of my central concerns is the human condition that makes violence foundational to the social order. I also argue that the human rights crisis is neither an accident nor a shortfall in implementation but the result of subconscious, collective structures of civilization itself. In the theological key, I relate the notion of imitative desire to data of Christian hope enabling the reader to reflect on important questions of human rights from a fresh perspective.
Selected Articles
"The Scientific Challenge for the Church in the Work of Arthur Peacocke.” St Mark’s Review 221, no. 3 (September 2012): 14–30.
"Jesus’ Path to a New Social Order: Reflections of the Sermon on the Mount."
"Wisdom as the Interdisciplinary Space for Science and Theology.” AEJT 18, no. 3, (2011):211–218.
"Anatomy of Violence: A psychological reflection with a theological twist" (unpublished research paper).
"Terrorism: Icon of Resentment" (unpublished working paper).
"Hope—Essential and Abundant." AEJT 15 (January 2010): 1–10.
"The Ambiguity of Human Rights and the Politics of God" (unpublished research paper, 2010).
"The Representational Grounds of Human Mimesis." (unpublished research paper, June 2020).
"The Church and the Rhetoric of Expulsion." (unpublished research paper, September 2021)