What should be the relationship between theology, science, and philosophy? What does the Bible say about science and philosophy, and what role(s) should science and philosophy play in doing theology in the modern era? Base your answer on the textbook readings, lecture videos, and any other relevant sources that might aid class discussion.
Response
The Enlightenment initiated a controversy regarding the relationship between theology, science, and philosophy that revolutionized Christian thought. To determine the proper relationship between the three disciplines, a brief history of modern Western thought is necessary to provide a context for the answer. Regarding science, Galileo’s heliocentric universe, Newton’s laws of nature, and Darwin’s evolutionary theory struck at the heart of traditional church doctrines regarding the earth, supernatural events, and creation. Regarding philosophy, the obsession with certainty led to an epistemological revolution where Descartes’ rationalism doubted all but what could be proved by evidence or logic. Alternatively, Locke’s empiricism limited knowledge to sense experience, which led to Hume’s theory of causation and the conclusion that the only certain knowledge is analytic. Kant’s response used empiricism to identify synthetic knowledge and the rationalistic operation of the mind to render knowledge a priori, but killed metaphysics, since the ability to know anything (e.g. God) first required sense experience. Since the knowledge of God as a metaphysical reality could not meet the epistemological standards of the Enlightenment, true knowledge of God was purportedly untenable.
The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction
The crisis of Modernism forced Christianity to address the relationship between theology, science, and philosophy. In response, Roger Olsen provides three potential relationships between the three disciplines: the fundamentalist, the accomodationist, and the correlationist.[1] The first category assumes that no relationship to theology exists unless it aligns with a traditional, orthodox Christian perspective. The second category assumes a dualistic relationship that separates theology from science and philosophy. The third category suggests an integration of the disciplines. Specifically, an integration of certain scientific facts into Christian theology without necessarily accepting the scientific conclusions. The integrationist category more closely aligns with Scripture than the first two. Luke states in Acts 17:24-25, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth…gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (emphasis added). Although the integrationist approach has much to offer, if God is the creator and sustainer of everything, then theology, science, and philosophy should have a relationship that transcends mere correlation and exists in a symbiotic relationship.
To determine the nature of the symbiotic relationship between the disciplines, it is necessary to investigate what the Bible says about science and philosophy. First, the Bible is not a science book. John Walton explains that post-Enlightenment thinkers often desire to investigate the Bible for concepts such as “material structure and natural causality.”[2] However, teaching science to the people of the Ancient Near East, who had a pre-scientific worldview, was not the purpose of Scripture. Accordingly, attempting to force Scripture to address scientific statements misses the point. Second, the Bible is not a philosophy book. The Apostle Paul quotes a pagan philosopher, likely the Stoic poet Aratus of Soli, in Acts 17:28. However, Paul’s use of philosophy was to address the Athenian people within a worldview they understood, not to teach philosophy. In other words, the purpose of Scripture is to reveal the truth of God, truth that transcends science and philosophy. Finally, regarding the role that science and philosophy should play in doing theology in the modern era, Cornelius Van Til suggests using these disciplines just as Solomon used the pagan Phoenician people to build the temple, “He used the Phoenicians as his servants, not as his architects.”[3] The value of modern science and philosophy is acknowledged, but the role that science and philosophy should play in doing theology is as its servants, not its architects. In sum, within a symbiotic relationship, science and philosophy should inform theology, not interpret theology.
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[1] Roger E. Olson, The Journey of Modern Theology (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2013), 43–44.
[2] John H. Walton, The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 83.
[3] Cornelius Van Til, Christian-Theistic Evidences (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1978), 82.
Bibliography
- Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2013.
- Van Til, Cornelius. Christian-Theistic Evidences. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1978.
- Walton, John H. The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis. Edited by Terry Muck. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.
