McLeish, Thomas Charles orcid.org/0000-0002-2025-0299 (2020) Beyond the ‘Book of Nature’ to Science as Second Person Narrative: From Methodological Naturalism to Teleological Transcendence. In: Fuller, Michael, Evers, D, Runehov, A, Saether, K W and Michollet, B, (eds.) Issues in Science and Theology: Nature – and Beyond. Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology . Springer , Cham , pp. 131-142.
Abstract
The metaphor of nature as a book, and its reading, has arisen in many forms in theological discussions of natural philosophy from ancient to modern periods. It is far less fixed in form than often assumed, however, but rejects cultural contextual shape. It is also too often recruited without challenge, although the implied analogies of authorship, narrative shape, and hermeneutic contain many pitfalls. I explore four flaws in the ‘Book of Nature’ narrative, finding that they are connected with two related and troublesome tensions – that of ‘methodological naturalism’ within a theistic framework, and the redundancy of ‘natural theology’ in its nineteenth century form. Approaching a theology of science from the perspective of the Wisdom tradition offers a fresh conception of who does the writing, and reading, of nature’s living book.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Keywords: | Theology of Science,Wisdom tradition,God’s two Books,Book of Job,Methodological naturalism,Second- person narratives,Teleology of Science |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2020 10:40 |
Last Modified: | 23 Dec 2024 00:05 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Springer |
Series Name: | Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:162202 |