Books by Paul Allen
Divined Explanations: The Theological and Philosophical Context for the Development of the Sciences (1600-2000), 2024
Critical junctures in the historical development of science owe their origins to ideas, concepts,... more Critical junctures in the historical development of science owe their origins to ideas, concepts, and theories that became definitive in the minds of leading scientists who lived in a more or less religious culture. Scientists are never solitary but always internal to a network of scientific relationships and friendships. They have a well-attested genius, nurtured not only by their scientific training but also by ideas and stimuli received from the cultural and social contexts in which they lived. In particular, metaphysical and theological aspirations guided the genesis of many scientific ideas. This volume offers twelve examples of the development of scientific ideas that were shaped by religious factors and which changed the course of science itself. The interwoven nature of science, philosophy, theology, and culture is pervasive in these cases, thus demonstrating that throughout the modern era, natural philosophy enjoyed a deep coherence with theology. That entanglement lingers in the minds of scientists into the contemporary period. It continues to nourish scientific creativity in subtle and profound ways. New explanations of the world have emerged through illuminative, revolutionary and, one might say, divined ways.
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AUGUSTINE AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL ISSUES, 2022
Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence,
virtue, vice, habit and sin through ... more Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence,
virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis
in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope
to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing
the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction,
sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s
captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range
of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is
our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly
attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
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Papers & Book Chapters by Paul Allen
God and the Book of Nature: Experiments in Theology of Science, 2023
See file.
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Ex Auditu, 2017
The first question is a simple one: can science inform a genuinely theological approach to Script... more The first question is a simple one: can science inform a genuinely theological approach to Scripture? Second, I will discuss the way in which Romans 5-7 addresses perennial questions about human nature. I show how a Christian reading of human nature, building on Paul's view of sin, can engage successfully with contemporary scientific interpretations of human nature. Such an approach denies three perils: a) naturalism, b) historicism and c) relativism.
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American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 2018
Jesuit philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan (d. 1984) advocated a critical realism, in whi... more Jesuit philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan (d. 1984) advocated a critical realism, in which scientific and theological knowledge are products of self-critical phenomenological analysis. Allying his thought with Thomas Aquinas in elaborating a cognitional theory to serve epistemology and metaphysics, Lonergan challenged reigning idealist and empiricist philosophies by understanding the human knower as ordered both to the known world and to divine providence. This paper sketches how Lonergan constructs a methodical link between phenomenology and both contemporary science and theology. Lonergan does not embody the frequently cited idea of a rupture in Catholic thought from pre-Vatican II to post-conciliar thought, notably in his treatment of science and religion.
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Zygon , 2020
This article combines an appreciation of several themes in Josh Reeves's Against Methodology in S... more This article combines an appreciation of several themes in Josh Reeves's Against Methodology in Science and Religion. I hold that critical realism manages to combine the objective truth reached through inference and especially cognitive acts of judgment as well as the various, contingent historical contexts that also define where science is practiced. Reeves advocates a historical perspective, which is complementary to critical realism. This article of mine claims that in order for critical realism to be credible, a philosophical perspective must be maintained. I will examine some of the insights that Reeves conveys in his book for the purpose of revisiting their broader implications and raise some points that push back against what I take to be a too easy historicization of the science-religion dialogue.
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The 2019 Holy Spirit Colloquium (Duquesne University), 2020
This paper takes up the Spirit’s role as the cause of the creation and the Incarnation. The tradi... more This paper takes up the Spirit’s role as the cause of the creation and the Incarnation. The tradition refers to the Holy Spirit as a divine person and the meaning of this identity explains why we refer to the Holy Spirit as Love and Wisdom. But the first mention of the Holy Spirit in the (Nicene-Constantinopolitan) creed is ‘for’ the Incarnation. Following Basil’s inductive approach of defining the Holy Spirit in terms of the functions of what the Holy Spirit does, this paper takes the personal and materially contingent aspects of creation to be what the Creed refers to as God’s giving of life. Life is ‘naturally’ emergent in persons as mental illumination, imagination, understanding, truthful judgment and especially the personal conversion experience guided by God’s love. This is the form by which the Spirit is personally given. The Spirit’s activity in personal agents is in fact one of the best ways to develop a natural theology that respects the real resemblance between the giver and the personally manifest gifts of Love and Wisdom. Therefore, it is unsurprising that claims should be made about the activity of the Holy Spirit in other religious traditions, yet God’s Spirit is active in and through wise and loving persons primarily, not abstractions (ie: religions).
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Issues in Science and Theology: Nature – and Beyond: Transcendence and Immanence in Science and Religion, 2019
Christian theology is staked on the distinctiveness of salvation history as the arena for divine ... more Christian theology is staked on the distinctiveness of salvation history as the arena for divine action, but this claim has been questioned in light of the movement known as Big History, which seeks to tie the trajectory of historical developments to natural, evolutionary history. This paper proposes an analogy between evolution in nature on the one hand with historical development on the other, utilizing the theologies of Wolfhart Pannenberg and Bernard Lonergan. It argues that history is directly transcendent to nature and this claim would mean that Big History is less successful in relativizing theological claims than its advocates believe. God is indirectly transcendent to nature via history. One implication of this perspective is that it is too simplistic to argue for the existence of God on the basis of a straightforward interpretation of nature without reference to history.
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Theology and Science, 2019
This paper analyzes the work of Christopher Southgate with a view
toward interpreting his insight... more This paper analyzes the work of Christopher Southgate with a view
toward interpreting his insights into the integrity of creation,
redemption and theodicy in light of Saint Augustine’s theology.
Drawing on various contributions that Southgate has made, this
paper seeks to establish parallels, connections and some
agreement between his work and the great African bishop
without papering over the obvious disagreements over the Fall,
Original Sin, the premises of salvation and biblical hermeneutics.
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Divined Explanations: The Theological and Philosophical Context to the Development of the Sciences (1600-2000), 2023
See below
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Critical realism (CR) has served as a benchmark in science-theology dialogue as a way of determin... more Critical realism (CR) has served as a benchmark in science-theology dialogue as a way of determining similar rational structures in these disciplines. One implication has been that Theology has a parallel form of verification to that of the natural sciences. However, defenders of CR in Theology have not clarified how this might be the case and so critics of CR have noted numerous alleged shortfalls in thinking of Theology
objectively from a pragmatist perspective. This paper describes some of these criticisms, especially the more nuanced perspective of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, whose concern for hermeneutics and epistemology is well suited to CR. Taking several cues from the theory of retroduction in the work of philosopher of science Ernan McMullin and the philosopher theologian Bernard Lonergan, this paper proposes a more explanatory form of CR that takes hermeneutical issues seriously while also retaining a cognitive focus on judgment. It is the capacity to judge, in the form of verified theories in science and theological doctrines, where a true parallel exists between theology and the natural sciences. The paper ends by noting a number of themes in Lonergan's magnum opus, Method in Theology, where theological doctrines are capable of being explanatorily true whilst remaining subject to revision, analogous to the status of verified theories in the natural sciences.
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Necessary yet insufficient for an account of special divine action would be a theory of human cog... more Necessary yet insufficient for an account of special divine action would be a theory of human cognition. Human understanding is the non-material key to cognitional operations that are identifiable along four irreducible levels of consciousness. From Augustine through the medieval tradition of ‘agent intellect’, this was known as Divine Illumination theory. In current exchanges with neurobiology, Divine Illumination theory would require a reformulation along the lines of three desiderata. First, as Lonergan specifies in his magnus opus, Insight, the act of insight is that cognitional act which is most neurologically indefinite yet evidentially real. Second, on grounds supplied by the Doctrine of the Incarnation, there are valid reasons to suppose that God limits divine action to that type of co-operation requiring a receptive human mind or social group thereof. This mediating activity includes, not excludes, the notions of miracle and bodily resurrection. Third, a contemporary theory of divine action entails updating the medieval notion of the supernatural, which adds the elements of intention and supervenient relation to created natural processes. Special divine action through illumination is opposed to claims of divine intervention since the notion of supernatural activity does not require divine intervention because a supernatural order is enacted in terms of human history and personal meaning.
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Threats to human dignity, including the spread of doctor-assisted death, are best countered by ar... more Threats to human dignity, including the spread of doctor-assisted death, are best countered by arguments that take into consideration the form of the person. This notion more adequately meets the objections from those who conceive of personhood exclusively in terms of personal autonomy.
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{TEXT PROOFS} This article focuses on the question of sin in the context of natural theology‚ in ... more {TEXT PROOFS} This article focuses on the question of sin in the context of natural theology‚ in light of the Barth/Brunner debate. A contemporary notion of sin would benefit from Barth’s approach, but without his strict doctrine of sin as
nothingness (‘Nichtiges’). Brunner holds to the Augustinian tradition’s claim that sin is a paradox by distinguishing between the formal and material in the imago dei. On such a basis, we are able to claim that sin is at least wrongdoing,
anthropologically speaking. A natural theology of sin complements the doctrines of creation, election and reconciliation while correlating with findings from the
natural sciences.
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Books by Paul Allen
virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis
in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope
to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing
the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction,
sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s
captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range
of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is
our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly
attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
Papers & Book Chapters by Paul Allen
toward interpreting his insights into the integrity of creation,
redemption and theodicy in light of Saint Augustine’s theology.
Drawing on various contributions that Southgate has made, this
paper seeks to establish parallels, connections and some
agreement between his work and the great African bishop
without papering over the obvious disagreements over the Fall,
Original Sin, the premises of salvation and biblical hermeneutics.
objectively from a pragmatist perspective. This paper describes some of these criticisms, especially the more nuanced perspective of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, whose concern for hermeneutics and epistemology is well suited to CR. Taking several cues from the theory of retroduction in the work of philosopher of science Ernan McMullin and the philosopher theologian Bernard Lonergan, this paper proposes a more explanatory form of CR that takes hermeneutical issues seriously while also retaining a cognitive focus on judgment. It is the capacity to judge, in the form of verified theories in science and theological doctrines, where a true parallel exists between theology and the natural sciences. The paper ends by noting a number of themes in Lonergan's magnum opus, Method in Theology, where theological doctrines are capable of being explanatorily true whilst remaining subject to revision, analogous to the status of verified theories in the natural sciences.
nothingness (‘Nichtiges’). Brunner holds to the Augustinian tradition’s claim that sin is a paradox by distinguishing between the formal and material in the imago dei. On such a basis, we are able to claim that sin is at least wrongdoing,
anthropologically speaking. A natural theology of sin complements the doctrines of creation, election and reconciliation while correlating with findings from the
natural sciences.
virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis
in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope
to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing
the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction,
sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s
captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range
of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is
our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly
attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
toward interpreting his insights into the integrity of creation,
redemption and theodicy in light of Saint Augustine’s theology.
Drawing on various contributions that Southgate has made, this
paper seeks to establish parallels, connections and some
agreement between his work and the great African bishop
without papering over the obvious disagreements over the Fall,
Original Sin, the premises of salvation and biblical hermeneutics.
objectively from a pragmatist perspective. This paper describes some of these criticisms, especially the more nuanced perspective of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, whose concern for hermeneutics and epistemology is well suited to CR. Taking several cues from the theory of retroduction in the work of philosopher of science Ernan McMullin and the philosopher theologian Bernard Lonergan, this paper proposes a more explanatory form of CR that takes hermeneutical issues seriously while also retaining a cognitive focus on judgment. It is the capacity to judge, in the form of verified theories in science and theological doctrines, where a true parallel exists between theology and the natural sciences. The paper ends by noting a number of themes in Lonergan's magnum opus, Method in Theology, where theological doctrines are capable of being explanatorily true whilst remaining subject to revision, analogous to the status of verified theories in the natural sciences.
nothingness (‘Nichtiges’). Brunner holds to the Augustinian tradition’s claim that sin is a paradox by distinguishing between the formal and material in the imago dei. On such a basis, we are able to claim that sin is at least wrongdoing,
anthropologically speaking. A natural theology of sin complements the doctrines of creation, election and reconciliation while correlating with findings from the
natural sciences.
The paper will discuss four elements of an argument along these lines: a) the scriptural references to a 'natural' human desire for God, b) the telos of scientific investigation (as distinct from certain defined facts about the world's order or alternatively, gaps in its explicability) as coherent with faith, c) Bernard Lonergan's contribution to the issue and d) the evolutionary elements of sin that suggest an Augustinian, theological interpretation of desire for goodness and God, the source of goodness.