This study describes the origin, development and crisis of the German nineteenth-century project of theology as science. It shows the groundbreaking historical work of the two major theological schools in nineteenth century Germany, the Tübingen School and the Ritschl School, as part of a broader theological and intellectual agenda.

This paper explores the program of theology of science proposed by renowned Polish physicist and philosopher, Michael Heller, with a particular focus on its ontological dimensions through the lens of Trinitarian theology. Firstly, an overview of the status and current discussions of theology of science is presented. Next, drawing on Heller's key texts the Trinitarian doctrine is used to enhance the intelligibility of the Universe, wherein the dynamic interplay of unity, diversity, and relationality is mirrored (...) in the structure of physical reality itself. Most importantly, however, we examine how Heller's theological perspective thus equipped provides justification for the specificity of the method of science itself, thereby revealing new dimensions of relations between science and theology. Through critical engagement with Heller's thought, this paper seeks ultimately to illuminate the profound implications of a Trinitarian perspective in his theology of science, shedding light on the interconnectedness of Christian doctrine and ontology in shaping our understanding of the universe and its underlying structure. (shrink)

The role and attitude of the faculty members, who is one of the pillars of the education system, is important in making the evaluation of distance education, which began to be implemented quickly and suddenly with the pandemic process. For this purpose, the effects of the use of distance education in higher religious education were examined from the perspective of the faculty members. 134 faculty members working in faculty of theology/Islamic sciences participated in the research. In the research, the (...) descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The data of the study was collected with a survey form consisting of 40 items in the five-point Likert type as well as demographic information. The analysis were made with SPSS 26 program using frequency (f), percentage (%) and mean (x̄) calculations from descriptive statistical methods. The findings in the dimensions of technology use and the role of the distance education support unit, preparation for lessons and motivation, teaching process and general evaluation of the method are presented in tables and interpreted. As a result, it was revealed that the anxiety and worry in the first stage decreased in the faculty members, they could adapt themselves to the distance education method sufficiently, but they were not satisfied with the efficiency of the courses, the attendance rates of the students, the assessment and evaluation methods used. The integration of distance education, which was found to be quite inadequate especially in achievements of applied courses, could not be fully achieved in the theology/Islamic sciences faculty programme. It can be said that the negative attitude towards distance education, which is evaluated as in the position of supporting traditional education, may change with the improvement works to be carried out. (shrink)

This essay introduces this special issue on virtue ethics in relation to military AI. It describes the current situation of military AI ethics as following that of AI ethics in general, caught between consequentialism and deontology. Virtue ethics serves as an alternative that can address some of the weaknesses of these dominant forms of ethics. The essay describes how the articles in the issue exemplify the value of virtue-related approaches for these questions, before ending with thoughts for further research.

The classic study, which establishes a sound theological base for the future of philosophical science.

Introduction: towards a dialogue of the theological and the computational -- What is digital theology? -- Why explore digital theology? -- How to research digital theology? -- What might the future of digital theology look like? -- Conclusion.

Discussion on the methodological status of theology is an attempt to answer whether theology can be considered a science, i.e., a source of knowledge. This debate has resulted in the formulation of three main positions. The first position argues that theology does not qualify as a science due to its failure to meet the strict criteria of demarcation. The second position asserts that theology is indeed a science, similar to any other discipline, and (...) this perspective is endorsed by theologians themselves. The third position treats theology as a science, but one of a unique nature (_sui generis_). Furthermore, an idea has emerged suggesting that theology could be regarded as a formal science. Several arguments support this notion, including the operational rather than eidetic nature of the terms of theological discourse, the employment of assumptions and the drawing of conclusions within theology, the exclusive focus on textual analysis, and the application of a coherence theory of truth. This paper engages in a discussion with the presented arguments and endeavours to demonstrate their incorrectness. The purpose of positioning theology among the formal sciences is to defend its scientific status against scholars who hold atheistic or anti-theological world views. However, this “defence” comes at a high price, as it entails depriving theology of its fundamental aim, which is to formulate statements about reality. (shrink)

No God, No Science: Theology, Cosmology, Biology presents a work of philosophical theology that retrieves the Christian doctrine of creation from the distortions imposed upon it by positivist science and the Darwinian tradition of evolutionary biology. Argues that the doctrine of creation is integral to the intelligibility of the world Brings the metaphysics of the Christian doctrine of creation to bear on the nature of science Offers a provocative analysis of the theoretical and historical relationship (...) between theology, metaphysics, and science Presents an original critique and interpretation of the philosophical meaning of Darwinian biology. (shrink)

The cognitive science of religion sets out a naturalistic account of religion, in which religious phenomena are grounded in evolved cognitive and moral intuitions. This has important implications for understanding religious systems and the practice of theology. Religions, it is argued, are moral worldviews; theology, rather than a rational justification/explication of the truth of a religion, is an elaboration and/or defense a particular moral worldview, which itself is a particular construction of evolved cognitive and moral intuitions. The (...) philosophical, social, and moral implications of this, which are far reaching, will be explored. (shrink)

Science and religion are incommensurable: one cannot use centimeters to measure volume. Science's proper cognate is theology. Science and theology are human activities that are basically conceptual (partly fallible) frameworks for explaining experience. Religion and technology, by contrast, involve and control or limit human practice and experience: they involve “sensate” reality—people and things. The study of the interaction of these four terms (or any two) must use the terms more precisely.Science as practiced today has (...) become scientism, another theology. Technology is, without any doubt, the world's most powerful and fastest growing religion.Minor squabbles among theologies, including science, must continue, but it is the tensions between technology and the established religions that will define this century. Battles on three fronts are already clear: the environment, globalization, and economic gaps. But whole–person healing, the replacement for high–tech reductionist modern medicine, is the most significant, because it will undermine science, which has hitched its wagon to this falling star.The end of fundamental science is upon us, because it has been so successful. Science will be increasingly applications–driven, and it will be judged by results. Here, it has met its nemesis in wholeperson healing that incorporates integrative medicine. Scientists must now reconsider their role in society. It will not be easy to accept a humbler position. Moreover, the vague allusions to spirituality by scientists need a more authentic commitment to praxis in lifestyle. (shrink)

Neil Messer brings together a range of theoretical and practical questions raised by current research on the human brain: questions about both the 'ethics of neuroscience' and the 'neuroscience of ethics'. While some of these are familiar to theologians, others have been more or less ignored hitherto, and the field of neuroethics as a whole has received little theological attention. Drawing on both theological ethics and the science-and-theology field, Messer discusses cognitive-scientific and neuroscientific studies of religion, arguing that (...) they do not give grounds to dismiss theological perspectives on the human self. He examines a representative range of topics across the whole field of neuroethics, including consciousness, the self and the value of human life; the neuroscience of morality; determinism, freewill and moral responsibility; and the ethics of cognitive enhancement. (shrink)

Comparison of the concepts of creation from chaos and creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) leads me to reject the latter for several reasons: it is not the biblical concept, and it presents serious conceptual, scientific, and theological problems. Chaos theology is outlined under the headings creation from chaos; chaos and contingency; chaos, evil, and creativity; chaos and incarnation; chaos and eschatology. It is shown to be well suited for the science‐theology dialogue by some examples of (...) its application to aspects of cosmic and biological evolution: initial mystery, separation and ordering; chaos and entropy; contingency and fine‐tuning of the universe; purpose and progressiveness in evolution; and complexity theory and chaos events. (shrink)

Many dubious disciplines have been removed from academic institutions, but theology is not one of them, as it is still taught in respectable universities. This article argues that theology does not deserve that special treatment. Theology has long pretended to be a science, but it can never be, because ultimately, theology is grounded on faith and authority, two tenets that run counter to the scientific method. Natural theology appeals to evidence and reason, but it (...) also fails in its endeavor. More recent theologians admit that their discipline is not science per se, but still consider it legitimate in its quest for meaning. There are also reasons to doubt this claim, as there is no need to appeal to the supernatural to find meaning. (shrink)

In my old manuscript “Formal Theology” that now is out as a preprint I show that science and theology can be founded upon the same set of basic assumptions. I now follow up this idea with the thought that Formal Theology may be used to ground also a religion. “Religion“, in this regard, as related to beliefs. I’m not going into any details, neither concerning the original manuscript, nor this new idea. The important thing, I think, (...) is to explore if this kind of “religion”, in any way, can be accommodated with “ordinary” religions. I leave more rigorous work to myself or to others for the future. (shrink)

This chapter demonstrates the significance of the biological sciences in natural theology. It does so by considering three major topics: the argument from design, the problem of evil, and the place of humans in the cosmic scheme of things. In the light of modern biology, specifically modern Darwinian evolutionary theory, there is little support for definitive proofs of the nature and existence of the Christian God. However, notwithstanding arguments to the contrary, there is nothing in modern Darwinian evolutionary theory (...) that makes impossible a belief in a traditional form of Christianity. (shrink)

This article provides a brief background of how Comparative Theology is understood today, to point out features of how it is practiced that are responsive to issues peculiar to contemporary Catholicism, and to suggest how a version of CT might be developed that is more consistent with Islamic traditions of thought on related issues. In order to accomplish this last goal, a brief introduction to the traditional “Islamic sciences” is provided. It will be suggested that an Islamic Comparative (...) class='Hi'>Theology (ICT) can be understood as a multidisciplinary field that draws on several Islamic sciences, as well as research in religious studies. I argue in favor of a blurring of the distinction between Comparative Religion and Comparative Theology, and point out that relevant discussions are to be found across a variety of traditional Islamic sciences, but that it would be advantageous to collect these discussions together and to augment them with information gleaned from both secular and Islamic approaches to the teachings of Muslim thinkers about theological issues, broadly understood, in comparison with what is found in non-Islamic traditions in such a manner to enrich our own understandings of the issues and those with whom we engage in dialogue. (shrink)

Science-engaged theology has emerged as a new way of conducting research within the vast field of science and religion, with the aim of, at least in one way of understanding it today, solving theological puzzles. In this article we suggest that an analysis of the diversity of approaches in which thirteenth-century philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas engaged theological questions with the best knowledge of the natural world available at the time allows twenty-first century science-engaged theologians to (...) move forward the discussion about the different ways of engaging theology with the contemporary natural sciences. (shrink)

St. Thomas Aquinas envisaged theology to be a kind of scientia which was considered as a kind of first cause science. However, science of that time is different from “modern” science. Recently, a theory of scientific study is developed, which outlines science by a theory and some models similar to knowledge in physics. According to this theory, sciences organize their knowledge consisting of theories, models and experiments interacting with physical situations. Perhaps, it is possible to (...) organize knowledge of Christian theology in a similar way as science (from the perspective of Christian belief). Doing this requires extensive and deep knowledge of both science and Christian theology. This paper only attempts to sketch such a theology, which is coined scientia theology to distinguish it from the existing scientific theology of McGrath. Our theology consists of a theory that is outlined here, several historical event models as well as various experiments that provide us with observations supporting the related models and principles. The theory of our theology interacts with the models which may retrodict or are supported by observations from the experiments that interact with the physical situations. (shrink)

The paper is a critical notice of Margaret Osler, "Divine Will and the Mechanical Philosophy". Criticism focuses on Osler's claim that theological voluntarism and intellectualism and associated ideas about the necessity of physical laws and the certainty of scientific beliefs provide an underlying framework for understanding Gassendi's and Descartes's natural philosophies.

L'article-recension s'efforce de mettre en lumière certains problèmes méthodologiques qui invalident le livre de Catherine LaCugna : God For Us. The Trinity and Christian Life . La doctrine de la Trinité qu'elle y présente, en effet, oscille entre modalisme et arianisme à cause de sa méthode historiciste. Son refus de la doctrine thomiste l'a contrainte à faire du Dieu in se un appendice théologique.

In 1921 the Association for Anthroposophic College Studies was founded, and courses and conferences began to be given in Dornach and a number of large cities throughout Europe. This Berlin Course drew more than a thousand participants. The goal was 'to give an impression of the possible incentives anthroposophy could offer various scientific fields.' Each day began with a lecture by Steiner, followed by presentations from other lecturers, artistic events, panel discussions, and more. The lectures included Anthroposophy and Natural (...) class='Hi'>Science; The Organizations of Humans and of Animals; Anthroposophy and Philosophy; Anthroposophy and Education; Anthroposophy and Social Science; Anthroposophy and Theology; and Anthroposophy and Theory of Language. (shrink)

One of the most common contemporary approaches for developing an ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) involves elaborating guiding principles. This essay explores the limitations of this approach, using the history of bioethics as a comparative case. The examples of bioethics and recent AI ethics suggest that principles are difficult to implement in everyday practice, fail to direct individual action, and can frequently result in a pure proceduralism. The essay encourages an additional attention to virtue, which forms the dispositions of actors, (...) directs them to valued ends, and encourages right action in particular situation to complement principles. Practices and professions like medicine or warfighting that already have rich traditions of reflection on virtue ethics will be especially fruitful fields for developing an AI ethics of virtue. (shrink)

In this text, I explore the intertwined relationship between philosophy of science and theology, and the challenges they both encounter in the academic realm. While theology is struggling to maintain its relevance, philosophy of science has gained recognition and offers valuable insights to theologians. I argue that theologians can benefit from engaging with the content and methods of specific sciences, and philosophers of science can help affirm the methodological legitimacy of theology. However, it is (...) important to note that science itself is facing its own set of problems. There is a decline in interest and job satisfaction among scientists, a growing gap between science and the humanities, a crisis of conceptual understanding, and a perceived lack of meaning and purpose. In this context, I propose that theology and philosophy can play a crucial role in addressing these issues. In particular, theology can offer a supportive environment for discussing meaning, values, and the ultimate questions of human existence. Philosophy, on the other hand, can help bridge the gap between science and the humanities, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and a more holistic understanding of our world. (shrink)

Contents I Introduction II Subalternation and Theology III Theology and Dogmatic Declarations IV The Mixed Principles of Theology V Virtual Revelation: The Unity of Theology VI Theology as a Natural Science VII Theology’s Certitude VIII Conclusion Notes Bibliography All the contents are fully attributable to the author, Doctor Victor Salas. Should you wish to get this text republished, get in touch with the author or the editorial committee of the Studia Poinsotiana. Insofar as (...) possible, we will be happy to broker your contact. (shrink)

This excellent outline of evolutionary hypotheses is compromised by severe reductionism. Other writings succeed in granting theism ontological significance without compromising rigor. The discussion of counterintuitiveness neglects coherence in memory. Bearing in mind our severely limited working memory capacity, susceptibility to religious mythologies may comprise an adaptive heuristic approach to summarizing the contingencies of the most far-reaching of life's problems.

Autor kritički propituje uvjete i mogućnosti dijaloga između prirodnih znanosti i teologije stvaranja na primjeru dogmatičara Alexandrea Ganoczya. Ganoczy se služi responzorijskom metodom: razvija teologiju stvaranja »od dolje«, konstituirajući zajedničke »platforme« dijaloga gradeći na principu komplementarnosti uz pomoć analogije, te otkrivajući sličnost u načinu izražavanja prirodnih znanosti i teologije . Kao posebna tematska područja teološke refleksije rezultata prirodnih znanosti obrađuju se: samoorganizacija materije i creatio continua; prostorno vremenski kontinuum i vječnost; mozak, duh i Duh Božji; kreativnost i stvaranje te pitanje (...) zla i grijeh.The author analyzes critically the conditions and possibilities of dialogue between natural sciences and theology of creation of the dogmatist Alexandre Ganoczy. Ganoczy uses responsorial method: he develops theology of creation “from below”, constituting common “platforms” of dialogue and building on the principle of complementarity using analogy and discovering similarities in the manner of expression of both natural sciences and theology .The following areas of theological reflection on the results of natural sciences are subject to analysis: selforganization of matter and creatio continua; space-time continuum and eternity; brain, spirit and the Spirit of God; creativity and creation and the question of evil and sin.However, although Ganoczy manages to show that common platforms are much more then modest conclusion that science and theology are not contradictory, in certain topics the dialogue seems to be too associative and the discourse superficial, so that the whole project gains partly essayistic significance. (shrink)

This article explores the cognitive science of religion to discover the challenges and implications for theology by providing a critical evaluation through the lenses of philosophy, evolutionary biology and neuroscience. Four positive implications of the cognitive science of religion are identified. Firstly, the cognitive science of religion can function as a strong hermeneutics of suspicion through which theologians can criticise dogmatic and authoritative religions and theologies. Secondly, the cognitive science of religion invites scholars of religion (...) and theology to consider the evolutionary view of survival. Thirdly, the discipline's counter-intuitive concept of God could provide the basic material for theology. Finally, the folk psychology this field depends on can be harmonised with theological emphasis on the weak. Despite these positive comments, it is nevertheless clear that a constructive encounter between the cognitive science of religion and theology should follow a careful critique of the former. Thus, I criticise that the cognitive science of religion is excessively dependent on evolutionary psychology and overemphasises a reductionist explanation of religion as merely a by-product of evolutionary adaptation whilst this study almost precludes any non-reductionistic model of mind such as 'connectionism' and 'enactionism' as well as any holistic interpretation of religion and theology. Finally, I conclude that theology of nature is a proper method for establishing a relationship between the cognitive science of religion and theology.CONTRIBUTION: The article explores a critical accommodation of and response to the cognitive science of religion which has challenged religion and theology. It can not only expand transdisciplinarity of theological discourse, but also enrich the discourse of science and religion. (shrink)

Scientific knowledge is often categorized as experimental or theoretical. There is, however, a third layer where philosophy of science and science proper overlap, the realm of metatheoretic shaping principles. For example, we assume that the causal regularities observed today will also hold tomorrow. Researchers are thereby relying on two metaphysical doctrines: the uniformity of nature and mechanistic causation. There are also the “explanatory virtues” of simplicity, testability, internal and external coherence, fruitfulness, and wide scope. My first goal is (...) to categorize these principles and show how they’ve operated in the history of science. Particular attention will be paid to their suspension and rejection, even of widely held principles. My second goal is to consider how certain shaping principles impinge on open theology. Of particular interest will be naturalism (both metaphysical and methodological), reductionism, and realism. Surprisingly, differences within the open theology camp are more relevant to these issues than open theism itself. (shrink)

This paper explores the relationship between analytic theology and science-engaged theology through a historical lens, connecting contemporary disagreements between analytic metaphysicians and philosophers of science to a disagreement about philosophical method between Carnap and Quine. After discussing philosophical issues of meaning and verification in early positivism, the paper goes on to suggest that the analytic-synthetic distinction underlying much work in analytic theology is difficult to maintain when engaging with empirical methods of knowledge production such as (...) science. To move forward, then, analytic theologians who wish to pursue science-engaged theology need a constructive methodology that embraces a blurring of the analytic-synthetic distinction. A rough sketch of one such research program, analytic-synthetic science-engaged theology, is offered as a potential ASSET for systematic theologians who wish to engage with natural and human sciences. (shrink)

Starting from the traditional approaches to teaching science and religion we discuss modern pedagogical methods based on inquiry. We explore whether and how the teaching methods specific to each discipline may benefit in the teaching of the other.

This book is a collection of Shahid Murtada Mutahhari’s essential papers on philosophy, theology, ‘irfan (Islamic mysticism), usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence) and morality. The six parts together serve as both a comprehensive survey of the fundamentals of different branches of Islamic studies and a general guide to understanding the basic teachings of Islam.

Theology involves inquiry into God's nature, God's purposes, and whether certain experiences or pronouncements come From God. These inquiries are metaphysical, part of theology's concern with the veridicality of signs and realities that are independent from humans. Several research programs concerned with the relation between theology and science aim to secure theology's intellectual standing as a metaphysical discipline by showing that it satisfies criteria that make modern science reputable, on the grounds that modern (...) class='Hi'>science embodies contemporary canons of respectability for metaphysical disciplines. But, no matter the ways in which theology qua metaphysics is shown to resemble modern science, these research programs seem destined for failure. For, given the currently dominant approaches to understanding modern scientific epistemology, theological reasoning is crucially dissimilar to modern scientific reasoning in that it treats the existence of God as a certainty immune to refutation. Barring the development of an epistemology of modern science that is amenable to theology, theology as metaphysics is intellectually disreputable. (shrink)

The common focus of these essays is the debate on the nature of science - often referred to by contemporaries as 'natural knowledge' - in Britain during the first half of the 19th century. A study of these debates allow us to see how British science of this period began to cast loose some of its earlier theological supports, but still relied on a moral framework to affirm its distinctive method, ethos and cultural value.

After a few general observations on scientific activity, the author briefly comments on different versions of naturalism. Subsequently, he suggests that the birth of evolutionary biology and its successive developments may show how the natural world comes to be differently conceived as scientific advancements are accomplished. Then the main thesis is outlined by introducing the principles of a heuristic science-based naturalism not conclusively defining the real and the knowable. From the epistemological perspective, heuristic naturalism is meant to be framed (...) in critical realism, whereas from the ontological standpoint it may be framed in emergent monism, given that the latter can also underpin recent trends in investigation addressing human specificity. Finally, attention is turned to some implications of heuristically guided scientific activity with regard to the issues of divine action and of imago Dei. (shrink)

Claude Tresmontant (1925-1997) était professeur de philosophie médiévale et d'histoire des sciences à la Sorbonne. Ce livre présente ses thèses en insistant sur l'articulation entre les sciences et la question de l'existence de Dieu. La rationalité de la théologie chrétienne est soutenue. Ses travaux aboutissent à démontrer l'existence de Dieu et soulèvent l'alternative suivante : admettre l'existence du Créateur ou la refuser tout en continuant d'être les héritiers du matérialisme qui fit florès jusqu'aux réductionnistes contemporains. La finalité de l'évolution n'étant (...) autre que l'union de la nature humaine créée à la nature divine incréée, union dont le Christ incarne le Premier-Né. Les sciences donneraient alors accès à la Création en cours d'évolution, tandis que la Bible contiendrait le secret de l'information essentielle sur son avenir. 'Emounah' en hébreu, 'certitude de la vérité', la foi reviendrait ainsi à un acte rationnel, et non à une croyance purement affective"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

On the basis of both philosophical arguments and the theological perspectives of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a critique of two beliefs that are common within the mainstream science–theology dialogue is outlined. These relate to critical realism in understanding language usage and to naturalistic perspectives in relation to divine action. While the naturalistic perspectives on the history of the cosmos that are predominant within the dialogue are seen as generally acceptable from an Orthodox perspective, it is argued that they require (...) theological expansion. This expansion suggests an understanding other than the “causal joint” model commonly adopted in relation to “special” divine action. This alternative model renders the distinction between “special” and “general” divine action redundant, and is based on what has been called a “teleological-Christological” understanding of the cosmos, rooted in the fourth gospel's notion of the divine Logos. The relevance of this critique to scholars outside of the Orthodox community is urged. (shrink)

The object of Theological Ethics as presented by Hans Ulrich is immediately the content of the experience of God; reflectively it is God himself turned towards us; doubly reflected on, it is the inversion of our understanding of the good or conversion. The concept of an object may be traced to the discussion of the sciences from Schleiermacher to Barth. Three questions are put to it: (i) Does it assimilate the study too much to descriptive reason, as opposed to practical (...) reason? (ii) Does it narrow the study's range of interests so as to exclude the created world? (iii) Does it result in an idealised `creaturely man', wholly determined by his end and dissociated from the empirical man who may confront us as a neighbour? (shrink)