Can Science and Theology Share a Common Vision of Nature, Life, and Personhood? - Index

Many would say that science and theology are like oil and water; perpetually incompatible. Historically there have certainly been many points of conflict. But neither science or theology are static - both are evolving (to use a contentious word!) and so the relationship between them will inevitably evolve too.

In these lectures I review how scientific discoveries over the last few hundred years have led us to revise how we view nature, life, and personhood, and left us with conceptions which are largely unrecognizable to theology, or even incompatible with its teachings. Examples are: humans are merely animals, or robots carrying out the bidding of their genes.

I then explore two ideas. Firstly, that some of the most theologically problematic conceptions of nature, life, and personhood, are oversimplifications that persist because they are easy to teach and grasp, but are no longer the current 'scientific' view. And secondly, that science seems to be evolving in a direction that will require it to revise these conceptions again, in ways that will actually be more compatible with theology.