This article suggests that the nature of transcendence represents a promising topic for future engagement between revision-minded theologians in the field of science and religion and
tradition-oriented ones. It does so by drawing on Kathryn Tanner’s account of non-contrastive
transcendence within the history of Christian theology to illuminate the thinking of contemporary
science and religion pioneer Arthur Peacocke. Peacocke thought modern science showed God to
be immanently present to and working in the natural world, and not merely transcendent over it
as its creator. To correct an alleged theological overemphasis on God’s transcendence – one that
shaded into distance and disconnection – Peacocke sought to reintroduce immanence into the
God-creation relation. His approach imagined transcendence and immanence as separate modalities that could be increased or decreased independently of one another. Had Peacocke adopted a
non-contrastive view of transcendence, in which a particular kind of transcendence makes immanence possible, he could have met the requirements he set for satisfactory pictures of the Godworld relation, claimed the profound sense of immanence he wanted, and situated himself within
a more traditional way of thinking. In doing so, however, Peacocke would have had to settle for a
vision of science-theology relations in which science’s theological impact is less profound than
the field often assumes.
