Science and Theology

When popular physicist Stephen Hawking dreams at the end of his best-selling Brief History of Time of a Great Unifying Theory (GUT) which would be able to merge the major physical theories describing the laws of nature, he goes on to say: “However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God.”  John Polkinghorne, Hawking’s colleague at Cambridge University, is on the one hand critical of such an approach. “What is God doing in the book at all?”  On the other hand, he is himself searching for his own very particular version of a GUT. “There is indeed a Theory of Everything, but a theory that is much grander and more comprehensive and intellectually satisfying than any Grand Unified Theory of Particle Physics could ever be.”  For former particle physicist Polkinghorne, this theory is his new field of work: theology.  How does he come to this?

La foi s’oppose-t-elle à la science ? Peut-on être scientifique et croyant ? Que dit la Bible en matière de science ? En quoi la science s’éloigne-t-elle de la Bible ? L’auteur répond sans concession à ces questions par une analyse approfondie des rapports et des conflits possibles entre la foi et la science, après un chapitre d’introduction à l’histoire de la science moderne.

Is the relationship between science and religion characterized by conflict or harmony? There are innumerable models for this relationship, but they basically fall into two camps. They either assert that science and religion are in unavoidable conflict, or that science and religion— understood correctly—are distinct but complementary aspects of human culture. For those who assert that science and religion must conflict, the most frequently cited proof of such conflict is the Galileo affair. In the popular interpretation of that unfortunate event, the famous physicist, inventor, and astronomer Galileo Galilei was sentenced to lifelong house arrest by the Catholic Church for asserting that the earth orbited the sun. The ecclesiastical authorities also forced him to recant his heliocentric (sun-centered) theory and promise not to advance it any longer. For conflict theorists, those who believe that science and religion are incompatible, this event provides one powerful example of the darkness of religion relative to the brilliance of science. The only solution, they propose, is to reject all religious belief and usher in a new age of unshackled reason, scientific investigation, and technological advance. Alas, the truth is not so simple.

Die Wissenschaft schreitet voran. Mit der Kartographierung der kosmischen Hintergrundstrahlung wurden Signale aus der ganz frühen Zeit des Universums sichtbar gemacht. Die Entdeckung des Higgs-Bosons im Jahr 2012 hat unsere Kenntnis der Elementarteilchen vervollständigt. Schon Anfang des neuen Jahrtausends ist die Sequenzierung des menschlichen Genoms gelungen; erste Versuche, künstliches Leben zu schaffen, folgten. Gewachsen ist auch die Fähigkeit, Gedanken allein aus der Beobachtung neuronaler Aktivitäten abzulesen.
Viele Fragen aber bleiben trotz des wachsenden Wissens unbeantwortet. Schauen wir nur auf uns selbst: Was ist der Sinn meines Lebens? Gibt es überhaupt so etwas wie bleibende Bedeutung? Oder verlieren wir uns im endlosen Universum?
Wodurch haben wir Menschen in der Evolution die eindrückliche Fähigkeit erworben, die Welt so weitreichend entdecken zu können?
Zu solchen Fragen nach den eigenen Ursprüngen und nach unserem Standort in der Wirklichkeit möchte das Buch ermuntern und nimmt dabei die Gottesfrage mit in den Blick. Dem Leser werden fundierte Einführungen in essentielle Fragestellungen des Dialogs zwischen Theologie und Naturwissenschaften geboten.

Here we propose a Trinitarian Theology of Nature that seeks to overcome the aporia intrinsic in previous incarnations of Natural Theology. This view failed on the grounds of creating a disconnection between Creator and the creation, operating methodologically from an anthropocentric starting point, thus falling prey to deistic explanations. In formulating a new Theology of Nature, one that is fully Trinitarian, two crucial theological problems are addressed. The first involves reversing the anthropocentric starting point to a fully theocentric position, starting in God's freedom and unique aseity in communicating the Divine Self in and through a contingent natural world. The second is how divine Self-disclosure in the natural world must reveal the triune God of scripture, and not merely a classical theistic construct of God's divine essence and attributes. We support this constructive theology with a correlative metaphysical theory of divine action called Divine Compositionalism, which meets several theoretical demands of a contemporary Trinitarian Theology of Nature.

La question de l’origine de l’humanité est l’une des plus délicates du dialogue entre science et théologie. Pour la biologie, l’émergence de l’homme moderne dans la lignée des hominidés n’est rien de plus qu’un exemple de l’évolution d’une espèce. Mais il s’agit de notre espèce. Et selon le livre de la Genèse, l’être humain, parce qu’il est créé en image de Dieu, a un statut particulier. Or les sciences révèlent une continuité surprenante entre le monde animal et l’humanité. Où situer alors le moment précis du début de l’humanité ? Est-il possible, par exemple, de repérer un couple ancêtre unique dont descendraient tous les humains ? L’enjeu est vital pour la pensée chrétienne : c’est tout le diagnostic biblique du problème de l’humanité qui est en cause, et par conséquent également le projet de salut de Dieu.

Le présent ouvrage, fruit des travaux du Réseau des scientifiques évangéliques (RSE), met en dialogue plusieurs spécialistes, chacun apportant son éclairage dans son domaine de compétence – exégèse, littérature du Proche-Orient ancien, paléontologie, génétique, théologie systématique – tout en étant attentif aux apports des autres.

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https://doi.org/10.33929/sherm.2019.vol1.no2.07
This article argues that, given the historical and linguistic background of the terms involved, the study of theology can, in fact, be considered a scientific endeavor, but one must clearly note what is inferred by the term "scientific." Historically, the term "science" or "scientific" has dealt with the realm of knowledge of both the natural and supranatural world. The question of whether theology should be classified as a science arose during the formation of the medieval universities in the thirteenth century, as well as the formation of modern German universities in the nineteenth century. Theologians from Aquinas to Schleiermacher argued that theology should be considered a science and, therefore, a proper subject of study in the university. The affirmation of theology as a science in this article is based on this historical survey, as well as the broader linguistic understanding of the term "science."

Dialogul teologiei cu știința reprezintă o temă actuală. În ultimele decenii, în perioada comunismului, știința și religia au fost considerate ca fiind în opoziție. Totuși, descope-ririle științifice ale ultimului secol au arătat că această imagine nu este corectă. În prezent, numeroase rezultate experimentale și teorii dovedesc deopotrivă limitele și capacitatea uimitoare a omului de a desluși cu rațiunea sa ordinea complexă a lumii înconjurătoare, potențialul creativității umane, dar și resursele multiple ale materiei, care poate satisface aceste cerințe. Instrumente sofisticate descoperă imensitatea Universului, structura intimă a materiei și complexitatea vieții, dar rămân departe de a putea explica în totalitate istoria Universului, misterul viului și adâncul conștiinței umane. Căutând în lumea materială răspunsuri cu privire la raționalitatea ei, științele au dat jos vălul materialismului, dezvăluind țesătura energetică, care ține toată lumea, precum și multe taine ale Universului. Urmărind să elaboreze teorii precise cu privire la realitate, științele au descoperit în ea aspecte inefabile. Căutând să cuprindă în descrieri întreaga realitate, au ajuns să identifice limite intrinsece legate chiar de instrumentele lor. Această situație aduce știința în apropierea experienței religioase a smereniei. Constatarea limitelor ne pregătește pentru ceea ce ne depășește. Prezenta lucrare încearcă să argumenteze faptul că științele actuale, în special fizica și cosmologia, oferă date și teorii referitoare la lumea fizică, susceptibile a constitui deschideri spre teologia ortodoxă.

This study highlights more unusual cases where Byzantine liturgical sources, such as in
the Menaion and homiletic material of Fathers, are essential to understand certain notions of Palamas’ theoptic and epoptic ideas. The vocabulary and central themes of divine vision and participation in the divine energies are often found in Byzantine hymnody describing such experiences of divine light by the apostles and other saints. In some cases, Palamas’ formulations are closest to literature of a liturgical vs. dogmatic character. Furthermore, certain Palamite values, such as the presumed infallibility of patristic axioms (e.g., Basil the Great’s teaching on the Holy Spirit) build on liturgical assertions of the saint’s authority in doctrinal matters. Palamas’ combination of liturgical sources for his logical arguments on behalf of the apodeictic syllogism within an Aristotelian typology will be explored. This will lead to the conclusion that Palamas was very much influenced by contemporary Scholastic views and opinions on theology as a science and on the nature of the beatific vision. However, his own theory combined a natural epistemological skepticism with a divine illumination theory that distinguishes him from both Medieval Latin and Barlaamian positions on the scientific status of theology.

The Turin Shroud continues to be the object of controversy, dividing scholars and scientists into pro- and anti-authenticity camps. The relic is not an Article of Faith in the Catholic Church. The interview stresses the research, also including studies made on other relics and the opinions of well-known scholars and scientists.

The Book of Genesis from a Darwinian Perspective uses the tools of biology to understand the book of Genesis. The field of Biblical Studies as it stands today cannot advance unless it is willing to assume a Darwinian perspective.

The Book of Genesis from a Darwinian Perspective is my most popular paper. What it reveals led me to research and write a handful of papers on Genesis, all from a Darwinian perspective. They are on my main page. 

Here is what Genesis contains:

"At issue is an interpretation, or rather a doctrine which, although known, was taught under the seal of mystery; of a science no less fixed in form than in principles…If we are to believe Maimonides—who, although a stranger to the Kabbalah, could not deny its existence—the first half, entitled ‘The Story of Genesis,’ taught the science of nature…"

Adolphe Franck, The Kabbalah, The Religious Philosophy of the Hebrews
(Bell Publishing, New York 1940) page 16

The "science of nature." See it for yourself.

"The response of the survivors of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah to forced population transfer and its multicultural context is a collection of religious texts promoting a homogeneous population with a strong kinship system and a vibrant and exclusive monoculture under monotheism. The biblical authors knew then, the way evolutionary biologists know now, that some cultures are more adaptive than others. They understood that they would have to adapt to the conditions imposed by the Assyrian conquest to survive. If they were to survive as a people, all their people would have to share the same adaptive behaviors. So they religiously outlawed maladaptive behaviors among their own people and removed less adaptive disciplines and the foreigners practicing them in the land they wished to reclaim. Throughout the Bible, the people of Israel and Judah are directed by God to religiously preserve their human family and religiously reject foreign rule, foreign gods, and the “multiculturalism” imposed upon the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians."

In 2024, Western civilization is awash in a flood of immigrants while the global media vilifies nations and peoples who resist the orchestrated invasions.

The prophetic nature of Niche Theory, Population Transfer and the Origin of the Anti-Semitic Cycle, published in 2007 (editor Kevin Lamb), is readily apparent.
Posted on academia.edu July 14, 2014

""I identified a select number of Muslim authors notable for their recent publications and media interventions on Islam and science. After assimilating their works, I embarked on a series of travels to different countries in the Middle East, where I have conducted interviews with them in order to reconstruct, in a highly readable form, their main ideas on Islam and science as well as their positions on specific sensitive issues taken up by past and present colleagues and adversaries. (...) While working on this book I regarded myself as an explorer and a mediator. Hopefully I could convey at least an idea of the complexity and diversity of the ideas at stake. (...) The dialogues offered here as well as the introductory remarks and afterthoughts will achieve their aim if they provide their readers with a general survey of the debate, a sense of its scope and a glimpse at its complex conceptual knots and ambitious agenda. It is my hope the readers will be enticed into reading the work of these six authors and others and, ultimately, to join the debate itself either as newcomers or with their specific expertise."

From the Introduction

"Muslims as well a as believers in all religions have always grappled with how to religiously understand and explain developments in society. In more recent times, the many interpretations that exist regarding almost all issues in human life display a plurality of opinions on the true meaning of Islam. Islam and the Quest for Modern Science is an excellent introduction to questions that, from a Muslim and confessional position, can be understood either as a challenge, a threat or a possibility. Muslim approaches, confessional or not, toward modern science are undoubtedly diverse, and how to Islamically understand modern science is a key topic at the core of today¹s discussion on the function of Islam. Therefore, this book is an important contribution that not only fills a gap in the study of Islam, but also portrays a discourse that touches upon fundamental questions in the production of Islamic theologies and the understanding of Islam among Muslims in general."

From the Foreword by Leif Stenberg."

This paper presents a philosophical argument for divine providence by Aquinas. I suggest that upon returning to Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics to prepare his commentaries on these texts, Aquinas recognized that his stock argument from natural teleology to divine providence (the fifth way and its versions) needed to be filled out. Arguments from natural teleology can prove that God’s
providence extends to what happens for the most part, but they cannot show that God’s providence also includes what happens for the least part. In order to prove the latter, Aquinas claims that one must argue from a higher science, which he then does with all characteristic clarity. This paper presents this argument, discusses what this means for his previous arguments from teleology, and discusses the argument’s relevance to the contemporary discussion about creation and evolution.

Transhumanists have asserted that religious people would both oppose life extension and allowing people with extended lives to die. In this paper, coming from a Roman Catholic perspective, I refute four myths associated with these claims: that the Church opposes life extension both materially and conceptually, that it opposes human genetic manipulation, and opposes allowing people to die. I then propose that there are four real tensions that are much more significant: that material immortality is highly improbable, that injustice and inequality are major concerns, that transhuman omnipotence is impossible, and that utopianism is extremely dangerous.

Theologians often reflect on the ethical uses and impacts of artificial intelligence, but when it comes to artificial intelligence techniques themselves, some have questioned whether much exists to discuss in the first place. If the significance of computational operations is attributed rather than intrinsic, what are we to say about them? Ancient thinkers—namely Augustine of Hippo (lived 354–430)—break the impasse, enabling us to draw forth the moral and metaphysical significance of current developments like the “deep neural networks” that are responsible for some of the most remarkable achievements of the past few years. First, Augustine’s theology of the natural world’s rationes seminales makes sense of neural networks’ success by explaining the world as a kaleidoscopic refraction of divine Wisdom rather than as a collection of discrete objects standing in crisp relations. Second, his account of interpretive judgment as a moral act bound up with love reveals how our training and use of AI relates to the Christian’s assimilation to Wisdom. The contingent meaning of the neural network reveals AI’s potential either for standing between us and the world or in some sense facilitating a Christian’s regathering of the created echoes of divine Wisdom throughout his or her journey into the Trinity.

Many different aspects of science intersect with Christian spirituality.  Some of these points of intersection are apparent in astronomy, cosmology, quantum physics, genetics, neuroscience, organic evolution, chemical evolution, technological advances, and environmental science.  The purpose of this paper is to examine what the relationship between organic evolution and Christian spirituality.  It is important to note that Christian spirituality has varying significances throughout Christendom.  For the purpose of this paper I will treat Christian spirituality as the study of the experience of Christian faith and discipleship.  This definition will be helpful because it is specific enough to make direct correlations with how one can understand science from a Christian spiritual (faith) perspective.

The paper analyzes Karl Popper’s and John Eccles’ account of mind-matter interaction and compares their use of the concept of downward causation with other more recent accounts of it, especially those of Nancey Murphy and George Ellis. The argument includes John Polkinghorne’s take on Divine action, as it provides an interesting version of downward mind/matter-interaction. It will be argued that while downward causation is a speculative concept, it nevertheless remains the best approximation to a scientific perspective on mind/matter interaction that we can obtain. As a result, Popper’s and Eccles’
account seems to be more interesting in these regards than usually assumed, and should not continue to be overlooked in the debate.

S’interroger sur le rôle que jouent les convictions religieuses dans la discussion épistémologique contemporaine, paraît à première vue une démarche surprenante, en décalage avec les canons habituels de l’enquête académique. L’absence de renvois explicites au divin est souvent considérée comme faisant partie intégrante de la démarche scientifique moderne, de sorte que l’on parle de l’athéisme méthodologique des sciences de la nature. De même, les débats contemporains en philosophie ne font guère intervenir — au moins en surface — les convictions que les uns et les autres adoptent en matière de religion. La tradition laïque de la société française exclut en particulier la théologie des disciplines académiques abordées dans l’espace public universitaire. Le présent travail ose braver l’interdit qui pèse encore trop souvent sur les recherches interdisciplinaires et qui tend à rejeter la religion hors du champ de l’enquête intellectuelle. Au centre de l’étude se trouve le rôle que peuvent jouer les convictions religieuses dans les approches qu’adoptent aujourd’hui les épistémologues pour rendre compte de l’ordre naturel, et en particulier du concept scientifique de loi : dans quelle mesure les options religieuses d’un penseur influencent-elles les choix qu’il fait quand il élabore sa conception de l’ordre cosmique ?

In the first part of this paper I argue that even if at first Alvin Plantinga’s reasons for allowing special divine action seem similar to those of Thomas Aquinas, particularly in De Potentia Dei for allowing miracles, the difference in their metaphysical language makes Aquinas’ account less prone to the objections raised against Plantinga’s. In the second part I argue that Plantinga errs when recurring to quantum mechanics for allowing special divine action, making God to be a cause among causes. Thomas Aquinas, by speaking of primary and secondary causality when referring to God’s activity, avoids taking this step, evading the conclusion that God could be seen as a cause among causes. Aquinas, however, maintains in a statement which goes beyond Plantinga’s, that God’s providence requires the universe to be indeterministic because this indeterministic feature makes the universe more perfect.

Modern conversations between the natural sciences and theology on the human
soul have not so far engaged extensively with relevant debates in the early church.
Contemporary neuroscience tends to operate within a monistic paradigm, often
referred to as ‘physicalism’, that understands human mental activity entirely in
naturalistic terms. While there is ongoing scientific debate about the degree
to which human consciousness can be reduced entirely to biology, physicalism
is often cited as making traditional religious belief in the soul obsolete, or at
least modifying it significantly. The Apollinarian question of whether Jesus has
a soul therefore reappears. This article considers the contemporary relevance
of the Apollinarian controversy, suggesting that fourth-century insights possess
key points of contact with the modern non-reductive physicalist position and thus
raising important considerations for the science–theology conversation on the
soul.