Theology and Science

Während auf Deutsch mit „Implizites Wissen“ ein einziges Werk Polanyis vollständig erschienen ist, und Polanyi daran anschließend hauptsächlich lerntheoretisch rezipiert wurde, haben seine Arbeiten in Originalsprache von Anfang an reiche Wirkung in dem Gespräch zwischen Naturwissenschaft und Theologie entfaltet. Um das deutsche Rezeptionsdefizit zu kompensieren, wird in dem Artikel zunächst eine biographische Skizze geboten, bevor eine Erläuterung seiner wissenschaftsphilosophischen Kerngedanken im Kontext seines Gesamtwerkes erfolgt.

This was a talk at "Theology in Mathematics?" (Kraków, Poland, June 8-10, 2014).
Abstract: A deep conviction of the majority of mathematicians on the brink of the 20th century was that mathematics is or at least must be infallible, consistent, rigorous, certain, necessary and universal, as well as free and applicable to the world without restriction. This common belief needs to be explained. This very conviction or belief was responsible for a heated argument provoked by set-theoretic paradoxes which were interpreted as an indication of the foundational crisis of mathematics (Grundlagenkrise der Mathematik). The crisis caused the emergence of diverse programs for the foundations of mathematics. Those programs gave birth, on the one hand, to the contemporary philosophy of mathematics and, on the other, to the formation of a new research field within mathematics: mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics. This paper proposes the hypothesis that mathematics, seen from the foundationalist perspective, served at the time as a substitute for theology. According to this approach, philosophy of mathematics mediates an impact between theology and mathematics. To confirm this hypothesis I consider the prehistory of such an absolutist account of mathematics and pay a special attention to theological and quasi-theological ideas of the key figures of the three main foundationalist programs (logicism, intuitionism and formalism).

It is hard to think of an area of Christian theology that provides more scope for interdisciplinary conversation than the doctrine of creation. This doctrine not only invites reflection on an intellectual concept: it calls for contemplation of the endlessly complex, dynamic, and fascinating world that human being inhabit. But the possibilities for wide-ranging discussion are such that scholars sometimes end up talking past one another. Productive conversation requires mutual understanding of insights across disciplinary boundaries. Knowing Creation offers an essential resource for helping scholars from a range of fields to appreciate one another's concerns and perspectives. In so doing, it offers an important step forward in establishing a mutually-enriching dialogue that addresses, amongst others, the following key questions:

- Who is the God who creates?
- Why does God create?
- What is "creation"?
- What does it mean to recognize that a theology of creation speaks of a natural world that is subject to the observation of the natural sciences? What does it mean to talk about both a "natural" order and a "created" order?
- What are the major tensions that have arisen between the natural sciences and Christian thinking historically, and why? How can we move beyond such tensions to a positive and constructive conversation, while also avoiding facile notions such as a "god of the gaps"?
- Is it feasible for a natural scientist to maintain a belief in God's continuing creative activity?
- In what ways might a naturalistic understanding of the natural world be said to be limited?
- How can biblical studies, theology, philosophy, history, and science talk better together about these questions?

At a time when the doctrine of creation - and even a mention of "creation" - has been disparaged due to its supposed associations with anti-scientific dogma, and theological offerings sometimes risk appearing a little more than reactionary exercises in naive apologetics, ill-informed by science or distinctly wary of engagement with it, it is more important than ever to offer a cross-disciplinary resource that can voice a positive account of a Christian theology of creation, and do so as a genuinely broad-ranging conversation about science and faith.

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.

The fourth edition of The Christian Theological Tradition provides students with essential theological knowledge of key persons and events of the Bible and the Christian faith, and of Christianity’s multifaceted encounter with Western culture.

Historically arranged, the textbook addresses major theological themes such as revelation, God, Jesus Christ, Creation, salvation, and the church. The textbook deals with the entire Christian tradition from an orientation that is both Catholic and ecumenical, with the fourth edition including expanded coverage of modern Protestant Christianity. The Christian Theological Tradition has been thoroughly revised and updated with nine new or rewritten chapters, including:

• A new section on the reception of the Second Vatican Council, including the pontificate of Pope Francis
• A new treatment of contemporary developments in liberation and environmental theology
• A new examination of the relationship between science and Christianity
• An entirely rewritten treatment of Islam that focuses on the ways in which the Christian tradition has historically understood and responded to Islam
• A new discussion of the “New Atheism,” with theological responses to this influential movement.
• New textboxes on aspects of religious life, such as liturgy, prayer, art, moral teaching, and social institutions, appropriate to given chapters.

With the assistance of images and maps, key words, and recommended reading, this textbook outlines the methods for Christian theology and demonstrates the relevance of the Christian theological tradition for our contemporary world.

This is an ideal resource for students of theology, biblical studies, or religious studies, and anyone wanting an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the Christian theological tradition.

The theories of Darwinian evolution and Intelligent Design appear to be locked in an intractable debate, partly because they offer rival scientific explanations for the phenomenon of descent with modification in biology. This paper analyses the dispute in two ways: firstly, it seeks to clarify the exact nature of the logical flaw that has been alleged to lie at the heart of Intelligent Design theory. Secondly, it proposes that, in spite of this error, the Intelligent Design theory advocated by Michael Behe takes at least one significant step in the right direction. Although Behe’s suggestion is promising, it is shown to be not nearly radical enough.

In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton’s methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical methodology which encompasses procedures to minimize inductive risk during the process of theory formation and which, thereby, surpasses a standard hypothetico-deductive methodological setting. Accordingly, it will be highlighted that the so-called ‘Newtonian Revolution’ was not restricted to the empirical and theoretical dimensions of science, but applied equally to the methodological dimension of science. Furthermore, it will be documented that Newton’s methodology was far from static and that it developed alongside with his scientific work. Attention will be paid not only to the successes of Newton’s innovative methodology, but equally to its tensions and limitations. Based on a thorough study of Newton’s extant manuscripts, this monograph will address and contextualize, inter alia, Newton’s causal realism, his views on action at a distance and space and time, the status of efficient causation in the Principia, the different phases of his methodology, his treatment of force and the constituents of the physico-mathematical models in the context of Book I of the Principia, the analytic part of the argument for universal gravitation, the meaning and significance of his regulae philosophandi, the methodological differences between his mechanical and optical work, and, finally, the the interplay between Newton’s theology and his natural philosophy.

William Dilthey differentiated between the method for social science and natural science as understanding (verstehen) versus explanation (erklaren). Understanding implied a participatory first-person perspective rooted in life experiences whereas scientific explanation was assumed to be an impersonal third-person perspective seeped in causal determinism. Others sought common ground in methodology. In hermeneutics, the science of interpretation, DagfinnFøllesdal and Chrysostomos Mantzavinos advocated applying the hypothetico-deductive method to meaningful texts and E. D. Hirsch combined subjectiveunderstanding and interpretation with the discipline of objective testing and critique to validate (or invalidate) interpretive hypotheses. However, very few theologians have followed their lead. Why is this the case?
    My application of the hypothetico-deductive method differs from Føllesdal, Mantzavinos and Hirsch for their process remains within the chosen text to ascertain the best interpretation by fit. This leads to a “vicious hermeneutical circle” for any plausible interpretative hypothesis is inductively constructed from the text details, thus testing that hypothesis by the same text falls into the trap of  bias confirmation. If the biblical canon is accepted as a comprehensive, coherent and ultimately a noncontradictory corpus for orthodoxy, testing an interpretive hypothesis of one part by relevant texts from the rest of the canon allows for a valid external  norm that escapes the self-referential trap. Testing by falsification would increase the rigor of the  process.

Augustine is considered a leading figure in the history of the book of nature. But what exactly did he say about it? This article examines all the metaphors with which Augustine refers, or seems to refer, to the visible world as a divine book. It is found that four of the often-cited passages have a different meaning, but two of them refer to the material creation as a book. The article further explores how the idea of God’s two books—nature and Scripture—influences Augustine’s literal interpretation of Genesis and his Trinitarian theology. Finally, it argues that the ultimate foundation for the Augustinian book of nature should be sought in his theology of the Word.

Viewing the imago Dei as an act of God’s historical election whereby the human lineage is functionally designated as priests of creation, I propose that the neurobiological capacities for mirroring and mental simulation—if and when such capacities are clearly shown to exist within humans—can be viewed as key substantive preconditions that are required for any beings who would be called and elected to fulfill the vocation of the imago Dei. In this way the capacity for mirroring and neuro-simulation would be necessary requirements for election as the imago Dei but not sufficient in and of themselves to establish their possessor as the imago Dei. It is God’s election alone that establishes human beings as God’s living reflections and imitators, but without certain capacities (such as the ability to mirror and/or simulate the minds of others) the calling of the imago Dei could not be fulfilled.

In der Beziehung von Glaube und Theologie sind drei Ebenen bzw. drei konzentrische Kreise zu unterscheiden: zuerst die Ebene des Glaubens, der Glaubenspraxis, in der sich der Glaube selbst äußert und handelt. Dann die Ebene der kirchlichen Theologie, welche die gelebte Glaubenspraxis konkreter Glaubensgemeinschaften reflektiert. Und letztlich die akademische Theologie, welche die christliche Perspektive im wissenschaftlichen Wahrheitsdiskurs repräsentiert.

Traditionnellement la théologie s'est intéressé essentiellement à la vie humaine dans prendre vraiment en compte le nature. La compréhension scientifique de la nature implique la nécessité de développer une théologie qui soit en phase avec cette compréhension.

We are all haunted by histories. They shape our presuppositions and ballast our judgments. In terms of science and religion this means most of us walk about haunted by rumors of a long war. However, there is no such thing as the “history of the conflict of science and Christianity,” and this is a book about it. In the last half of the twentieth century a sea change in the history of science and religion occurred, revealing not only that the perception of protracted warfare between religion and science was a curious set of mythologies that had been combined together into a sort of supermyth in need of debunking. It was also seen that this collective mythology arose in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by historians involved in many sides of the debates over Darwin’s discoveries, and from there latched onto the public imagination at large. Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes takes the reader on a journey showing how these myths were constructed, collected together, and eventually debunked. Join us for a story of flat earths and fake footnotes, to uncover the strange tale of how the conflict of science and Christianity was written into history.

"Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes offers a comprehensive and compelling demolition of the tired myth of an enduring conflict between science and religion. Peterson not only exposes the historical bankruptcy of this familiar story, but also shows how it became a foundational narrative for Western modernity and why it persists. Beautifully written
and impeccably researched, this book deserves a wide readership."

-Peter Harrison, Former Andreas-Idreos Chair of Science and Religion, Oxford University, Current Australian Laureate Fellow and Author of The Territories of Science and Religion


"Peterson shows himself a gifted storyteller as well as scholar, combining true accounts of famous events (which prove no less interesting than the legends that have grown up around them and in some cases have replaced them) with the story of how those events were overlaid and refashioned into the myth so many treat as common
knowledge today: the untrue history of the war between religion and science. In an era full of so much untruth, Peterson's book is a breath of fresh air."

--James F. McGrath Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature, Butler University and Author of Science Fiction Theology.


"This work on the historiography of science and Christianity is
must-reading for high schoolers and college students, along with their parents and professors, and will, if heeded, change the way future generations will see the world. It

It is not easy to debunk a history that never happened, but Peterson has done precisely that, and achieved it admirably. The history of science is littered with stellar figures of immense importance, erudite thinking, and deeply Christian convictions. A new generation of Christians needs to be reacquainted with these scientific saints and Peterson's
work is a sure guide to this task."

--Myk Habets, Senior Lecturer in Theology, Laidlaw College, New Zealand. Author of Theology in Transposition: A Constructive Appraisal of T.F. Torrance


"Peterson is seeking to wake us from our dogmatic slumbers. Historians of
science, scholars of religion, and theologians often plough separate furrows, paying little attention to each other's work. But in Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes, Peterson has brought them all into conversation, condensing a truly vast amount of scholarship. He has shown, moreover, that scholars ignore each other at their own peril. Despite over
a hundred years of scholarship debunking the so-called 'conflict thesis,' the idea thatscience and religion are at war, perceptions of conflict persist. The only way forward from our scholarly impasse is to combine these fields of scholarship to paint a more comprehensive picture of what is going on. Impeccably researched and thoroughly readable, Peterson offers the reader a tour de force of the best research in the history
of science, religion, and theology."

--James C. Ungureanu, honorary research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland and in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Author of Science, Religion, and the Protestant Tradition: Retracing the Origins of Conflict


"Those who set the historiographical terms of debate frame the narrative involving the alleged conflict of Christian faith and science. Derrick Peterson's learned interdisciplinary study tracing the formation and deconstruction of the erroneous though ever-popular warfare thesis carefully sets the stage for future constructive work recounting
the complex developments of scientific history involving Christianity. Flat
Earths and Fake Footnotes provides the kind of critical analysis and creative catalyst so greatly needed today if we are to build nuanced understanding and trust between the scientific and faith communities for the sake of human flourishing."

--Paul Louis Metzger, Multnomah University & Seminary, Author of The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: The Sacred
and the Secular Through the Theology of Karl Barth

"Why won't this stubborn pseudohistory die? To the rescue comes Peterson, a historian extraordinaire with many stories to tell. Exuding a palpable glee, he quests to debunk the grand pseudohistorical myths of conflict. His book about books leads the reader in an adventure across centuries. Hacking through the webs of false references and out-right fabrications, the payoff is a glimpse of what really happened.
The truth is far more hopeful than the fiction. Rather than inevitable conflict, the true arc of science and religion might be dialogue, maybe even friendship. May this book
get the wide readership it deserves."

--S. Joshua Swamidass, M.D., Ph.D., Author of The Genealogical Adam and Eve


"Peterson offers us more than simply another genealogy debunking the warfare thesis. Rather, Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes offers us a deeply learned and absorbing meta-genealogy: a story of why and how the historiography that manufactured the myth of faith/science
conflict came to be superseded by the alternative and debunking historiography that we find today. The result is among the clearest and most bracing articulations I've read on the complex historical interplay between religion and science. Peterson's narrative
corrects our retellings of that interplay in the past. But more than that, Flat Earths challenges us to make explicit our present interests in such retellings and encourages us to imagine what sort of future for science and religion we are projecting with our historiographies. A remarkable first book by a formidable young scholar."

--Sameer Yadav, Author of The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God: Toward a Theological Empiricism


"In this remarkable volume, Peterson collates and contributes to a quiet revolution in the world of scholarship that is just now being disseminated to the masses. In your hands lies not just a book but the intersection of more scholarly threads than I thought possible in a single volume. Like a relentless detective, Peterson removes the dramatic
curtain that has been put over our collective consciousness for so very long, and what remains is a tale of mere mortals, behaving very much as they do today. None will leave without enduring the slow dissipation of myths that we didn't know we believed.
The cosmos that remains is, of course, so much more interesting and grand. This should serve as the definitive nail in the coffin of the warfare thesis for a generation to come. Even more than that, and especially delightful, it is a model of intellectual curiosity--of what scholarship ought to be."

--Joseph Minich The Davenant Institute

"Peterson's detailed and well-researched description and argument ought to dispel any notion that the earliest 'scientists' were hindered by religion in their pursuit of understanding the natural world. A must read."

--Mike L. Gurney, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, Multnomah University


"Peterson's book is another nail in the coffin of the Warfare Thesis and takes a different tack and gives an interesting and illuminatingly different perspective than the standard fair. Highly recommended."

-Michael Roberts. Retired Anglican priest and Historian of geology and Genesis. Author of Evangelicals and Science


"As a *very* hopeful agnostic, I have a keen interest on the relationship between science and faith. This book is probably the most delightful exploration of this history that I have ever read. In an erudite yet entertaining manner, Peterson explores this history in a way that undoubtedly makes the case that the enmity between science and religion, although undoubtedly present, has been rather exaggerated. Peterson acts as an ideal ambassador between these two disciplines. ... Using the obligated--yet fully felt--remark, I must say: Highly recommended."

--Oné R. Pagán, PhD, Professor of Biology, West Chester University.
Author of 'The First Brain', 'Strange Survivors', and 'Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins'.

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.

Some pretty important people believe we will soon upload our minds into robots or virtual reality and then live forever. This is a book about that idea and, more importantly, about how it operates in our scientific, religious, and media cultures. There are chapters about the influence of Apocalyptic AI in academic robotics, the virtual world of Second Life, and political/moral life (including theology, law, robot rights, & empathy).

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.

Does Jesus save the Neanderthals? Do the Neanderthals need saving? Are they worth saving? And what about other non-human animals? What theological sense can be made of the boundaries of human nature when considered in light of contemporary evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology? This article explores how theologians can begin to approach such questions by looking at four key areas where theological anthropology, evolutionary biology, and paleoanthropology intersect—1) human nature, 2) human uniqueness, 3) the imago Dei, and 4) the incarnation.

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.

Au dire de Jean-Paul II, les chrétiens sont porteurs d’une « diaconie » de la vérité. Cela pose la question de savoir si la Parole dont vit la foi est pertinente pour la discussion dans l’espace public. Nous nous poserons deux questions : la théologie est-elle une science, au sens où nous définissons aujourd’hui ces dernières ? Nos « sciences », au sens usuel, sont-elles encore au service de la vérité ?

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.

A cosmologia é a ciência que investiga a origem, a estrutura e a dinâmica do universo. A cosmologia moderna surgiu como área da física no início do século XX. Em 1915, Einstein publicou sua Teoria da Relatividade Geral (TRG), de acordo com a qual o espaço-tempo é um
continuumquadridimensional não-euclidiano, isto é: o universo de Einstein é curvo ou possui curvaturas locais. Tais curvaturas são os campos gravitacionais que as concentrações de massa-energia criam em sua vizinhança. Em 1917, um novo trabalho de Einstein foi publicado
,defendendo a possibilidade de estudarmos o universo como um objeto” geométrico único, passível de ser abordado em sua totalidade. Nascia, então, a cosmologia enquanto ciência.

Urmăresc în materialul de față, câteva chestiuni-limită din câmpul cercetării științifice, care în ultimele decenii au generat dezbateri aprinse, menționând poziții care sugerează că ele ar ascunde discontinuități de fond, ce fragmentează tabloul științific al lumii, descrierea micro- și macro-cosmosului, abordarea lumi vii și a omul. În legătură cu acestea, propun câteva înțelesuri provenite din reflecția teologiei ortodoxe, care aduc în discuție legătura dintre cunoașterea științifică și viața omului.

Modern mathematics has been shaped by the process of secularization of science. Yet even some present-day mathematicians use religious terms behind the (mathematical) scenes. How essential this is remains debatable. Before modernity, everything, including mathematics, was perceived from a religious perspective. Deeper connections existed for Pythagoreans, and nowadays there is a revival of Pythagoreanism. Mathematics was used by medieval theologians, and even the founders of modern science, for instance, Newton, Leibniz, Boole, Cantor, referred to religion. From the present perspective, those theological aspects seem mostly irrelevant. The concept of actual infinity had a fundamentally religious meaning before the nineteenth century. Now, only a few see mathematical infinity as a notion common to mathematics and theology. Religious origins of some mathematical concepts can be detected, for example, Indian origins of zero, possible Christian sources of the initiation of the algebraic approach, the creative function of naming applied to infinite entities. On the other hand, mathematical illustrations of theological concepts are possible, even though genuine mathematical models do not seem to be essential or testable. Generally, religious needs and motivations played a role in the development of mathematics, and mathematical metaphors helped theologians. To perceive this connection as relevant now requires sensitivity to the realm of the religious.

The penultimate version of  the chapter to appear in:    Sriraman, Bharat (ed) Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Mathematical Practice. Springer, Cham, 2022.
Already available online at DOI  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19071-2_77-2

Conference paper
Anthropology at the Crossroads: The Contribution of Panayiotis Nellas.
The Science and Orthodox Christianity Relationship: Past-Present-Future.
Institute of Historical Research.
National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens
29 November - 1 December 2018.

Σκοπός της συγκεκριμένης εργασίας είναι να δείξει τη θεωρία της εξέλιξης του Δαρβίνου και τις αντιδράσεις από τη θρησκευτική κοινότητα. Κατά τον 17ο αιώνα οι διανοούμενοι της εποχής εισάγουν την φυσική θεολογία. Η μελέτη της φύσης και η κατανόηση της οδηγούσαν στην φανέρωση του Θεού, συνδέοντας την επιστήμη με τη θρησκεία. Κεντρική ιδέα της φυσικής θεολογίας ήταν ο σκόπιμος σχεδιασμός, όπου σύμφωνα με αυτόν εξηγούταν όλα τα ερωτήματα για την καταγωγή και την εξέλιξη των όντων. Η ύπαρξη του Θεού ήταν φανερή μέσα από την φύση και ο επιστήμονας αποδεχόταν ως πραγματικότητα ότι ήταν εντός αυτού του πλαισίου και κατανοητό από την κοινή λογική. Η θρησκεία απέρριπτε όσες θεωρίες διατύπωναν οργανικές μεταμορφώσεις καθώς αντίβαινε στα κεντρικά θεμέλια του δόγματος της και στις Γραφές. Παρόλα αυτά αναγκάστηκε να αναθεωρήσει ή και να συμβιβαστεί με τα νέα επιστημονικά δεδομένα μετά τις γεωλογικές εξελίξεις που αμφισβητούσαν την αυθεντία των Γραφών. Ο Δαρβίνος ενημερωμένος από τις επιστημονικές εξελίξεις διατυπώνει την θεωρία της εξέλιξης των Ειδών μέσω του Μηχανισμού της Φυσικής Επιλογής. Η θεωρία αυτή αναστάτωσε τόσο την επιστημονική όσο και τη θρησκευτική κοινότητα. Υποστηρικτές της νέας θεωρία αμφισβήτησαν κεντρικές αξίες της θρησκείας, ενώ πολλοί θρησκευτικοί εκπρόσωπο πήραν σαφή εχθρική στάση. Η αμφισβήτηση της καταγωγής του ανθρώπου, η ύπαρξη νοητικών ικανοτήτων και ηθικών αξιών στους ανθρώπους και στα ζώα και ο ρόλος του Θεού στη δημιουργία υπήρξαν θέματα προστριβής. Ωστόσο, όπως θα δούμε δεν ήταν καθολική η άρνηση της θρησκευτικής κοινότητας προς τη νέα θεωρία, καθώς πολλοί κληρικοί και θρησκευόμενη ήταν πιο διαλλακτικοί.

The empirical study of the universe in the 20th and 21st centuries has revealed key areas of both consonance and dissonance between core concepts in scientific understandings of cosmology and central affirmations of classic Christian theology. The discovery of the Big Bang in the mid-20th century has suggested that the universe is not infinitely old and that both space and time had a distinct beginning. More recent developments related to the Borde–Guth–Vilenkin (BGV) theorem have shown that even if the universe did not begin in the type of singularity that Standard Big Bang theory predicts, it still must have had a beginning. These findings in cosmology related to the beginning of the universe are highly consonant with traditional Christian theological affirmations of creatio ex nihilo. Another area of consonance between Christian theology and the natural sciences is the shared belief that this cosmos is ideally suited for life. Cosmologists in the late 20th and early 21st centuries discovered that the values of the physical constants, fundamental laws, and initial conditions of the cosmos are such that the slightest variation from their actual values would result in a universe entirely inhospitable to life. In this manner, the structure of the universe appears to be balanced on a razor’s edge for the existence of intelligent life. While these areas of consonance have been the focus of much fruitful dialogue between Christian theology and the natural sciences, one area of dissonance between cosmology and Christianity is with regard to the ultimate fate of the cosmos. While scientific understandings of cosmology predict that the cosmos will wind down allowing no possible future for life, Christian eschatology affirms that the entire physical cosmos will be renewed and transformed in a way that is prefigured by the physical resurrection of Jesus.

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.