Natural Theology, Revisited Sunday, May 26, 2019 Alex Henderson

What is natural theology?

Why natural theology matters

Natural theology is ancient

Postmodern view towards natural theology

How science impacted natural theology

How evolution impacted natural theology

How evolution impacted arguments for God “Evolution as a historical process is established as thoroughly and completely as science can establish facts of the past witnessed by no human eyes. At present, an informed and reasonable person can hardly doubt the validity of the evolution theory, in the sense that evolution occurred.” -Theodosius Dobzhansky, Genetics and the Origin of Species, 1951

God of the Gaps

Wider argument for design “...the universe is constructed in such a marvellous way to be finely tuned for the existence of life -- and not just life but the existence of anything. Had the initial conditions of the universe been a little different the universe would have collapsed before stars could have formed... We wouldn't have had planets or rocks let alone people. So why is it that we live in a world that is so rich with life and so many other structures when it seems far more likely that left to chance there would have been nothing? In a sense it is the old philosophical question: 'why is there something rather than nothing?” - J. Wentzel Van Huyssteen

Against the wider argument for design “...there are many universes, co-existing like bubbles of foam, in a 'multi-verse'... The laws and constants of any one universe, such as our observable universe, are by laws. The multi- verse as a whole has a plethora of alternative sets of by-laws.” – Martin Rees “The multiverse, for all that it is extravagant, is simple.” - Dawkins

More discussion on wider argument “Like the theologians’ God, these laws enjoy an abstract, timeless existence, and are capable of bringing the world into being from nothing.” – Paul Davies “Sometimes I think we should just be honest, and just say, ‘It’s my life’s work to try to answer that question — but I don’t know.’” – University of Toronto physicist, Renée Hložek

In summary… Looking origins science; design is reasonable It makes sense, does not make certainty Must ‘tip-the-balance’ Take into consideration many other things History, heart, shared experience Be open and explore possibilities