Theology versus Science
Introduction
The relationship between theology and science has a complicated and very vast history that dates back four to five hundred years ago. The debate between the two has been the relationship that exists between revelation and reason. Many philosophical, scientific and philosophical arguments have suggested that theology and science are conflicting.
Theology
Theology has been said to be the study of God and his relationship to the humans and to the universe at large. Every person whether the know it or not have their own theology which is their view of God. The view may be indifferent, bad or good. Theology is not necessarily a record of facts that are firmly established. Theologians from Christians come up with theories based on the Bible teachings. Theology utilizes the information that has been provided by God to try and explore the information that God has not availed. Theology has been divided into six categories which are Bibliology, Christology, Anthropology, Soteriology and Eschatology.
The category of bibliology studies the aspects related to the Bible itself. It evaluates the revelation and the inspiration of the Bible scriptures. It seeks to answer the questions that are associated with the authority and authenticity of the Bible. Bibliology concerns itself with the integrity of the Bible and seeks to know whether the writings on the Bible are the final revelation of God to man.
Anthropology concentrates with the study of man in both his original form and after he has fallen. It starts with man’s creation and the concept of sin. This brings up the idea that the primary humans Adam and Eve sinned and that the sin was passed to each and every individual. Anthropology focuses on how humanity became reconciled with God its creator and the significance of the activities in to God.
Soteriology deals with the deliverance or man’s salvation. It is focused on the death of Christ. It also deals with evaluation of the Holy Spirit and its role in the life of a believer after they have converted into Christianity. Soteriology is also concerned with the meaning of being saved through faith by the grace of God. It describes the meaning of sanctification and also justification.
Eschatology is a study the deals with end of times for the world. This category insists on how salvation of man while on earth will play a major part on their final days. It also concentrates on the long awaited come back of Christ. Eschatology also discusses the final judgment, the issues of resurrection as well as hell and heaven.
Christology aims at understanding Jesus Christ. It is true that Christ is part and parcel of theology mostly because Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son and that He is one of the Holy Trinity along with God the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Christology explains the personality of Christ and answers the questions of how divinity relates to humanity.
Description of Science
The word science is derived from the Latin language in which its original for is the word “scientia” which in Latin means knowledge. Science is hence defined as the knowledge that is acquired through practice or study. Science utilizes experimental and observation to explain the natural phenomena. Essentially, science has its basis in almost all developments experienced in the world. It is due to study of science that the human race has stepped to another level of development in the areas of medicine, technology, research and many other fields. It is due to this reason that science has received preference over the rest of the subjects in the academic curriculum and has been in integrated with education. For a good illustration of what science entails and the areas covered, we must resort to explain the three major branches of science which include Physical science, Earth science and Life science.
Physical science is described as the science that studies non living substance. The following are some sciences that are under the branch. Chemistry which is the study on substance and its relation to energy. Under the study, issues relating the form, structure, chemical and physical attributes of matter are dealt with. Subcategories of physical science include biochemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, nuclear chemistry and many others. Physics is a natural science under physical science that deals with force and energy. Even though physics touches on the properties of substance, the concept of time and motion in the space is focused upon here. Basically, most of the other groups of sciences follow the physics laws.
Life science is known as the study of living organisms. The subjects under this category further diversify to focus on functions of the internal body, the structure of body tissues and cells. The above study is carried out in the following sub branches which include, Biology a study the deals with living organisms and examines the various areas associated with aspects of function and structures of morphology, organs, taxonomy and several others. Zoology and Botany are sub branches of life science that respectively study animals and plants. They both deal with the structure and form of the species. Genetics is another sub branch that studies the living organisms’ genetic makeup. Lastly is Ecology and this deals with the connection between living organisms and how they interact in their environment.
Earth science just as the name suggests, is the science that studies the scientific nature of the earth. This science comprises of other categories under it which includes paleontology, geomorphology, geology and seismology.
Types of interactions between science and theology
The types of interactions that subsist between theology and science can be categorized by the use of the following topologies the first one being conflict which states that the two disciplines are incompatible and contract each other. The second is independence which states that both disciplines treat each other as separate fields of enquiry. Dialogue is third topology and it suggests that science and theology have things they can say to each other concerning the issues in which there is an overlap of interest. The last topology is integration which aims to bring unity into both sides and put the theology and science in a similar discourse.
The ability of studying the world has only been as a result of a Maker who set up the laws of nature. Modern scientist do not comprehend that the earlier scientist believed they could be able to study the world because they believed that nature follows the laws that were established by the Maker of the world. An astronomy founder Johannes Kepler once said that scientists were thinking God’s thoughts after God. Many science founders such as Pascal, Galileo, Mendel, Newton, Maxwell, Bacon, Linnaeus, Kelvin and Kepler were Bible believers and Christians. Most philosophers and historians have established that the continuation of modern science has its basis on a biblical worldly view.
Christians think science has been taken over by people who have selfish worldview and have prioritized gaining the knowledge about the worldly things. In the biblical outlook of the world, scientific discoveries would be explained following the scriptures in the Bible and if the findings are in a contradiction with the Bible, they are automatically rejected. The same thing happens in the naturalistic science where a finding that has no naturalistic explanations is automatically rejected.
Evolution and creation are words that are used in many separate ways. Evolution is used to explain natural processes that have formed man from molecules over many billion years. Creation describes the mystic acts of God in creating the universe and the things in it in six days. The Bible which is God’s witness reveals the history of universe a perception that is usually referred to as the young earth creationism. Explanation of the information in the Bible acts as a foundation for world views on creation.
Some of the contradictions between theology and science on evolution
Operational science is an approach that utilizes testable, observable, falsifiable and repeatable experimentation to understand the common behavior of nature. This kind of science is the one that helps us to explain how DNA codes in our cells work. Operation science has helped the human race to cure diseases, build satellites, make man to land on the moon and produce items that are useful for human survival. Christian theologians believe that God created the universe that utilizes natural laws that drive the universe. Explaining how these law work calls for scientific thinking. Some events are beyond natural laws and Christians call these happenings miracles but the naturalistic science has to get a way of explaining how these things happen. Scientists mostly try to give an explanation for the miracles found in the Bible as just natural occurrences but as regards to Christians, this is undermining the authority and power of God and His scriptures.
Scientist have tried to explain where man originated from using such theories that suggest the man originated from apes that had lived on earth several million years ago through combination of genetic and environmental factors that has resulted to the variety of species seen today. This theory of the origin of man by Charles Darwin has continued with some modifications and revisions on the earlier as the theory was considered incorrect. Another theory for evolution was called the Natural Selection. This theory explains that member who is fittest survive to continue with the genetic formation and weakest members die off and thus eliminated because they cannot keep up with the completion. The theory is referred to as “elimination of the weakest” or “survival for the fittest”. Speciation is the third theory that suggest that mutation occurs within members of the same species to a point where there is no longer ability to breed with members of their species. This results to a community that has been isolated reproductively and which is not able to breed within the former community. This means that there is isolation of the genes from the new community from the previous population.
These theories have been very strongly opposed by theology which remains firm with the scriptures of the Bible. Theology dictates that man could only have been created by God and no evolution has taken place in man as he was created in the icon and likeliness of God and the image of God is not subject to evolution. Theology puts it that God created Adam and Eve as the first human beings and put them in the garden of Aden. They then gave birth to the human race of up to date. Human beings have continued to multiply as God had asked them to do and no change in their form or image has been altered. These two theories of science and theology are very different and there is no way the two of them will come to a consensus if both maintain at their stands and this will always be in contradiction.
The differences between Theologian and Scientist in relation to God and the world
Theology and science act within dissimilar bounds and on different capacities. There is a great difference between creatures and God. The Holy Fathers who talked from experience gave teachings that created things have no likeness even though God created them and are depended on God. The meaning of this is that the truth about universe’s nature and the truth about God cannot be identified with each other even though the universe is depended on God. This fact sets it very clear that it is not possible to identify Theology and Science.
The scientist and the theologian have different types of knowledge. The scientist studies created thing while the theologian knows God. Because the scientist studies the world using scientific methods, scientists have knowledge about God that the theologians the beholder of God have. However the theologian may have acquired knowledge about science and as a result become a scientist but not through God’s vision. In the same manner, a scientist can acquire knowledge about God through God’s vision but not by using his science.
There are very clear boundaries between science and theology as it is made clear by missions and works of the theologians and the scientists. The two remain genuine when they are working only within their boundaries but the moment they get out of them and get into each other’s field without setting the rules, their work becomes outrageous. In conclusion, the scientist through science cannot become a theologian nor can a theologian through theology become a scientist.
Work cited
Ferngren, G. (2002). Science & Religion. Baltimore.
Scheitle, C. P. (2011). U.S. College students' perception of religion and. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , 175-186.
Turner, F. (1997). Conflict between Science and Religion. Newyork.
