Can theology be a science? An epistemological reflection

Authors

  • Gabriel Andrade Ajman University (United Arab Emirates).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.12.16612

Keywords:

theology, science, faith, reason, evidence

Abstract

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.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Gabriel Andrade, Ajman University (United Arab Emirates).

PhD on Human Sciences. He is Assistant Professor at College of Medicine at Ajman University (United Arab Emirates). His main area of research is Ethics and Psychology in a medical context, as well as the analysis of cultural phenomena from a psychological and philosophical perspective. He is the author La Bilblia ¡vaya timo! (2018), El islam ¡vaya timo! (2016), and La teología ¡vaya timo! (2014), all published by Laetoli. 

References

Adams, M. M. (1992). Fides quaerens intellectum: St. Anselm’s method in philosophical theology. Faith and Philosophy, 9(4), 409–435. https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil19929434

Adams, R. M. (1979). Moral arguments for theistic belief. In C. F. Delaney (Ed.), Rationality and religious belief (pp. 116–140). University of Notre Dame Press.

Bebbington, D. (2011). The Texas sharpshooter fallacy. Think, 10(27), 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1477175610000412

Betty, L. S., & Cordell, B. (1987). God and modern science: New life for the teleological argument. International Philosophical Quarterly, 27(4), 409–435.

Craig, W. L. (2003). Design and the anthropic fine-tuning of the Universe. In N. A. Manson (Ed.), God and design: The teleological argument and modern science (pp. 170–192). Routledge.

Craig, W. L., & Moreland, J. P. (Eds.). (2012). The Blackwell companion to natural theology (Vol. 49). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444308334

Dawkins, R. (1996). The blind watchmaker: Why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design. W. W. Norton & Company.

Dawkins, R. (2016). The god delusion. Random House.

Edwards, D., Ashmore, M., & Potter, J. (1995). Death and furniture: The rhetoric, politics and theology of bottom line arguments against relativism. History of the Human Sciences, 8(2), 25–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/095269519500800202

Flew, A. (2000). Theology and falsification. Philosophy Now, 29. https://philosophynow.org/issues/29/Theology_and_Falsification_A_Golden_Jubilee_Celebration

Gould, S. J. (1999). Rocks of ages: Science and religion in the fullness of life. Ballantine.

Henderson, D. E. (2008). Implementing methodological secularism: The teaching and practice of science in contentious times. In A. Keysar & B. A. Kosmin (Eds.), Secularism & science in the 21st century (pp. 105–116). Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture.

Hintikka, J. (1981). Kant on existence, predication, and the ontological argument. Dialectica, 35(1), 127–146.

Huttinga, W. (2014). ‘Marie Antoinette’or Mystical Depth? Herman Bavinck on Theology as Queen of the Sciences. In J. Eglinton & G. Harinck (Eds.), Neo-Calvinism and the French revolution (pp. 143–154). Bloomsbury T&T Clark. http://doi.org/10.5040/9780567662415.0014

Koons, R. C. (1997). A new look at the cosmological argument. American Philosophical Quarterly, 34(2), 193–211.

Mackie, J. L. (1955). Evil and omnipotence. Mind, 64(254), 200–212. https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/LXIV.254.200

Malcolm, N. (1960). Anselm’s ontological arguments. The Philosophical Review, 69(1), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.2307/2182266

McGrath, A. E. (2011). Surprised by meaning: Science, faith, and how we make sense of things. Westminster John Knox Press.

Nielsen, K. (1967). Wittgensteinian fideism. Philosophy, 42(161), 191–209. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031819100001285

Oppy, G. (2010). Uncaused beginnings. Faith and Philosophy, 27(1), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil20102714

Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. Penguin.

Pruss, A. R. (1998). The Hume-Edwards principle and the cosmological argument. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 43(3), 149–165.

Rowe, W. L. (1979). The problem of evil and some varieties of atheism. American Philosophical Quarterly, 16(4), 335–341.

Solon, T. P. M., & Wertz, S. K. (1969). Hume’s argument from evil. The Personalist, 50(3), 383–392. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0114.1969.tb08798.x

Thagard, P. (2010). The brain and the meaning of life. Princeton University Press.

Torrance, T. F. (1972). Newton, Einstein and scientific theology. Religious Studies, 8(3), 233–250. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500005904

Trivers, R. L. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 46(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/406755

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2022-02-02

How to Cite

Andrade, G. (2022). Can theology be a science? An epistemological reflection. Metode Science Studies Journal, (12), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.12.16612
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1779
  • PDF
    91
  • (Español)
    3

Issue

Section

Documentary texts

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.