Theology : Systematic Theology / Dogmatics: Theology

Recent books about the relationship between science and theology have generally taken one of two positions. Some argue that the differences between the two disciplines are irreconcilable, and there can be no constructive conversation between the two. Others argue that there should be a genuine rapprochement between the two since they are both truth-seeking disciplines.Richard Coleman disagrees with both approaches, and argues that theology and science are sibling rivals competing for the attention of truth seekers. In Competing Truths he contends that, in the Renaissance, theology lost its place as "queen of the sciences" thanks to the combative nature of its "sibling," science. Although science did not reign in the same way as theology did-mainly because science itself was displaced by philosophy-it sought to answer the same questions that theology did. This book places the conversation between theology and science in its broadest possible context, pushing both scientists and theologians past the paradigms of comparison and contrast, opposition and competition. Coleman recommends that both siblings use the model of narrative truth to connect the word-truth of theology with the fact-like statements of science, since narrative truth has the potential to connect decisive events in a way that teases out their significance and meaning. Coleman's helpful historical surveys and his constructive arguments will galvanize scientists and theologians to challenge each other, while still seeking truth in their own particular traditions.Richard J. Coleman is a minister in the United Church of Christ, a participant in the pastor-theologian program sponsored by the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton, and the author of Issues of Theological Conflict. He lives in Pembroke, Massachusetts.

Six leading American and European scholars here rethink the relationship of theology and science under the growing challenge of today's cultural pluralism. Responding to books by the first generation of thinkers in the field, this volume is unique for the way it goes beyond the current, stereotyped methods for relating theology and science, offering instead six alternative models that also take seriously the current cultural shift away from modern thought forms. Contributors: Willem B. Drees, Niels Henrik Gregersen, Eberhard Herrmann, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, Kees van Kooten Niekerk, and Fraser Watts.

This book surveys the key developments in the natural sciences over the past 450 years and discusses all the main associated theological questions. It provides an outline of the present science and theology discourse and suggests how a scientific description of the world may be placed within a broad Christian context. Modern science has developed in three broad phases- the Scientific Revolution; the rise of geology and Darwin's theory of evolution; and the natural sciences of the 20th century. The first two phases are described through the work of leading scientific figures, from Copernicus to Newton and from Linnaeus to Darwin. The scene is thus set for a review of the lively science-theology discourse of the past half-century.

Can a neuroscientist help a theologian interpret a medieval mystical text? Can a historian of religion help an anthropologist understand the effects of social cooperation on human evolution? Can a legal scholar and a theologian help each other think about how fear of God relates to respect for the law? In this volume leading scholars in ethics, theology, and social science sum up three years of study and conversation regarding the value of interdisciplinary theological inquiry. This is an essential and challenging collection for all who set out to think, write, teach, and preach theologically in the contemporary world.

This imaginative study rethinks the nature of theology and its rolein universities. The author sketches out a fascinating project using examplesfrom US and UK institutions, whereby theology becomes atransformative force within universities. Imagines what a Christian university, in which all disciplineshave been theologized, would look like. Feeds into discussions about the religious identity ofdenominationally-linked colleges and universities. Forms part of a wider attempt to imagine a vital public rolefor theology that enables it to serve both the Church and the widercommunity.