The Theological Significance of the History of Science

John Templeton and the Promotion of Science and Religion

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8202500
AutoresPeter N Jordan (0000-0002-6665-2859), Peter Jordan (0000-0002-0514-6477, University of Oxford, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume91
Fascículo3
Páginas542-560
Data de publicação2023-12-30
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfae021
OpenAlexW4392757401
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas17

This article examines the rationale behind philanthropist John Templeton’s investment in the field of science and religion. His support stems in part from the conviction that historical developments in science are finally leading us to the right understanding of God’s relationship to the created order. The older, mechanical picture of nature that science purportedly gave us implies that God is distant from nature, whereas more recent discoveries are revealing nature’s complexity, elusiveness, intangibility, unpredictability, and creativity and imply God’s intimate presence to, and involvement in, nature. This newer theological picture is consistent with a theological tradition to which Templeton had been exposed since childhood. Believing that science is finally uncovering theological truths about God and God’s relationship to the world, Templeton sought to shape science and (especially) religion so that comparable breakthroughs might continue to flow in the future

Epistemology · Political science · Promotion (chess) · Sociology · Theology · Evolution and Science Education · Law · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Religious studies