THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDINGS: RESPONSE TO HEFNER, WICKEN, EAVES, AND TIPLER

Wolfhart Pannenberg; Wolfhart Pannenberg

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.1989.tb01113.x

Research Articles
THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDINGS: RESPONSE TO HEFNER, WICKEN, EAVES, AND TIPLER

Abstract

Abstract. Philip Hefner's focus on contingency and field as the guiding concepts in my thinking and his characterization of my theological enterprise as a Lakatosian research program are appropriate and helpful. I welcome Jeffrey Wicken's holistic approach to the emergence of life. Theology can appropriate the language of self‐organizing systems exploiting the thermodynamic flow of energy degradation for interpreting organic life as a creation of the Spirit of God. However, I cannot sympathize with Lindon Eaves's equation of “hard science” with a reductionism which raises the double helix to the status of icon; the “meaning” of DNA derives from its place in the total phenomenon of life—not the reverse. Frank Tipler's cosmology raises the prospect of a rapprochement between physics and theology in the area of eschatology. A Christian cosmology, however, would require at least three modifications: contingency in the history of creation; the uniqueness of Jesus' resurrection; and the relation of these to the problem of evil.

Keywords

eschatology and the Omega Point, double helix, self‐organizing systems, contingency and field, Lakatosian research program, thermodynamics

How to Cite

Pannenberg, W., (1989) “THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDINGS: RESPONSE TO HEFNER, WICKEN, EAVES, AND TIPLER”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24(2), 255–271. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.1989.tb01113.x

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References

Berkson, William1974. Fields of Force: The Development of a Worldview from Faraday to Einstein. London : Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Craig, William Lane1987. Feature book review of Barrow and Tipler's The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. International Philosophical Quarterly 27 (December):437–47.

Eaves, Lindon1989. “Spirit, Method, and Content in Science and Religion: The Theological Perspective of a Geneticist. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24 (June):185–215.

Hefner, Philip1989. “The Role of Science in Pannenberg's Theological Thinking. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24 (June): 135–51.

Hesse, Mary B.1988. “Physics, Philosophy, and Myth .” In Physics, Philosophy, and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding, ed. Robert J.Russellet al., 185–202. Notre Dame , Ind. : Univ. of Notre Dame Press.

McMullin, Ernan1981. “How Should Cosmology Relate to Theology? ” In The Sciences and Theology in the Twentieth Century, ed. Arthur R.Peacocke, 17–57. Notre Dame , Ind. : Univ. of Notre Dame Press.

Murphy, Nancey1988A Lakatosian Reconstruction of Pannenberg's Program: Responses to Sponheim, van Huyssteen, and Eaves . Paper presented at the Second Pannenberg Symposium, Chicago Center for Religion and Science , Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, November 15, 1988.

Pannenberg, Wolfhart1981Theological Questions to Scientists. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 16 (March):65–77.

Russell, Robert J.1988. “Contingency in Physics and Cosmology: A Critique of the Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg.”: Zygon Journal of Religion and Science 23 (March):23–43.

Sußmann, G.1980. “Geist und Materie .” In Gott, Geist, Materie: Theologie und Naturwis‐senschaft im Gesprach, ed. HermannDietzfelbinger and L.Mohaupt, 14–31. Hamburg : Lutherisches Verlagshaus.

Tipler, Frank J.1989. “The Omega Point as Eschaton: Answers to Pannenberg's Questions for Scientists.”Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24 (June):217–53.

Wicken, Jeffrey S.1988Theology and Science in the Evolving Cosmos: A Need for Dialogue.”: Zygon Journal of Religion and Science 23 (March):45–55.

Wicken, Jeffrey S.1989Toward an Evolutionary Ecology of Meaning. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 24 (June): 153–84.

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Wolfhart Pannenberg (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)

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Volume 24 • Issue 2 • June 1989

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Pages	255–271

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Published	1989-06-02

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.1989.tb01113.x

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