Science & Theology: Methodological Naturalism and Monotheistic Worldview

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract
The issue of this article is to introduce the general field of science and religion and explain its importance. For this purpose, after defining the desired meanings for "science", "religion" and "theology", we address the question "Why does theology relate to science?". After that, we will describe the various stages that non-sensory knowledge will enter into the process of scientific theorizing, and in this section, we will refer to some of the accepted theses of the philosophy of science of the second half of the 20th century. Then, we will define naturalism and show its place as one of the irreplaceable foundations of the modern experimental science, and we will depict the theological consequences of its acceptance. Finally, looking at the contrast of naturalism with theism on the one hand and the falseness of naturalism on the other hand, we will establish the necessity of a monotheistic worldview in the process of understanding nature.
Keywords
Monotheism
Science and Religion
Modern Science
Islamic Philosophy

Subjects

  1.  
  2. Barbour, I. (1990). Religion in an Age of Science. Harper Collins.
  3. Behe, M. J. (2004). Irreducible Complexity: Obstacle to Darwinian Evolution. In W. Dembski, & M. Ruse, Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Bird, A. (1998). Philosophy of science. New York: Routledge.
  5. Bogen, J. (2014). Theory and Observation in Science. In E. Zalta, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp.https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/science-theory-observation/). Berkeley: Stanford University Press.
  6. Campbell, K. (2005). Naturalism. In D. Borchert, Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 6, Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
  7. Carnap, R. (1931). Die physikalische Sprache als Universalsprache der Wissenschaft. Erkenntnis, 432-465.
  8. De Cruz, H. (2022). Religion and Science. In E. N. Zalta, & U. Nodelman, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp.https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2022/entries/religion-science/). Stanford University Press.
  9. de Vries, P. (1986). Naturalism in the Natural Sciences: A Christian Perspective. Christian Scholar’s Review, 388-396.
  10. Duhem, P. (1954). The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  11. Galparsoro, J. I., & Cordero, A. (2013). Introduction: Naturalism and Philosophy. In J. I. Galparsoro, & A. Cordero, Reflections on Naturalism, Rotterdam: Springer Science & Business Media.
  12. Göcke, B. P. (2017). Concepts of God and Models of the God-world relation. Philosophy Compass, e12402.
  13. Halvorson, H. (2016). Why Methodological Naturalism? In J. Clark, The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism, Oxford: Blackwell.
  14. Hanson, N. R. (1985). Patterns of Discovery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  15. Harrison, P. (2015). The territories of science and religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  16. Haught, J. (2004). Darwin, Design, and Divine Providence. In M. Ruse, & W. Dembski, Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  17. Hick, J. (2010). Between faith and doubt: Dialogues on religion and reason.
  18. Jacobs, J. (2002). Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/naturali/
  19. Kim, J. (2003). The American Origins of Philosophical Naturalism. Journal of Philosophical Research, 83-98.
  20. Mahner, M. (2012). The role of metaphysical naturalism in science. Science & Education, 1437-1459.
  21. Mayr, E. (2001). What evolution is (Science Masters Series). Basic books.
  22. McMullin, E. (2001). Plantinga’s Defense of Special Creation. In R. Penoock, Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives. London: Bradford Book.
  23. Menuge, A. (2004). Who is Afraid of ID? In M. Ruse, & W. Dembski, Debating design: from Darwin to DNA, New York: Cambridge University Press.
  24. Morris, S. C. (2003). The paradoxes of evolution: inevitable humans in a lonely universe? In N. Manson, God and Design: The teleological argument and modern science, London: Routledge.
  25. Murphy, N. (2001). Phillip Johnson On Trial: A Critique Of His Critique Of Darwin. In R. Penoock, Intelligent Design Creationism And Its Critics, London: A Bradford Book.
  26. Pennock, R. (1999). Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  27. Pennock, R., & Ruse, M. (2009). But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question In The Creation/evolution Controversy. Prometheus Books.
  28. Popper, K. (1979). Objective knowledge: An evolutionary approach. Oxford: Clarendon press.
  29. Popper, K. (2014). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. New York: Routledge.
  30. Ruse, M. (2001). Methodological Naturalism Under Attack. In R. Pennock, Intelligent design creationism and its critics: Philosophical, theological, and scientific perspectives, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
  31. Ruse, M. (2008). Charles Darwin.
  32. Scott, E. (1993). Darwin Prosecuted. Creation/Evolution.
  33. Sherman, S. (2023, March 21). Religious Studies vs. Theology. Retrieved from GCU: https://www.gcu.edu/blog/theology-ministry/religious-studies-vs-theology
  34. Smith, J. Z. (1998). Religion, religions, religious. In M. C. Taylor, Critical Terms for Religious Studies, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  35. Smith, S. R. (2013). Naturalism and our knowledge of reality: testing religious truth-claims. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
  36. Sober, E. (2010). Darwin and Naturalism. In E. Sober, Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards? Philosophical Essays on Darwin’s Theory. Amherst: Prometheus Books.
  37. Sober, E. (2011). Why Metodological Naturalism? In M. Aulette, & R. Martinez, Fact and Theories: A Critical Appraisal 150 Years after The Origin of Species, Rome: Gregorian Biblical Press.
  38. Stanford, K. (2023). Underdetermination of Scientific Theory. In E. Zalta, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp.https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2023/entries/scientific-underdetermination/). Berkeley: Stanford University Press.
  39. Tylor, E. B. (1877). Primitive Culture: Researches Into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Languages, Art and Customs. Vol.1, Holt.