SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.22 issue2 author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


Old Testament Essays

On-line version ISSN 2312-3621
Print version ISSN 1010-9919

Old testam. essays vol.22 n.2 Pretoria  2009

 

Creating science and theology through a cultural lens

 

 

Hendrik Viviers

University of Johannesburg

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

Creating science and theology from a cultural perspective is not a choice but a constraint. Our human capacity to symbolise, to create symbolic worlds within which we live always remains within the ambit of culture. The two dominant cultural discourses of science and theology both endeavour to explain reality, albeit in different ways. Both inform the way in which we construe our world, hence the motivation for the complementing perspectives of the reli-gion:science debate. If, for whatever reason, science does not comment on the meaning of life, it loses its status as "omniscience". If theology inclines to a kind of fictional supernaturalism, a faith experience of a culturally unmediated "more", it likewise becomes questionable. Science does not know all, and neither does theology know "more" than what culture/nature provides.


 

 

“Full text available only in PDF format”

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, K. A History of God: From Abraham to the Present - the 4000-year Quest for God. London: Heinemann, 1993.         [ Links ]

Barrett, J. L. Why Would Anyone Believe in God. Cognitive Science of Religion Series. Walnut Creek: AltaMira, 2004.         [ Links ]

_____. "Is the spell really broken? Bio-psychological Explanations of Religion and Theistic Belief." Theology and Science 5/1(2007): 57- 72.         [ Links ]

Boyer, P. Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. New York: Basic Books, 2001.         [ Links ]

Braun, W. "Religion". Pages 3-18 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Clasquin-Johnson, M. "Theoception: the perception of god as a basis for belief." Pages 267-280 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Craffert, P. F. "Religious experiences and/as (alternate) states of consciousness from a biopsychosocial perspective." Pages 53-97 in Brain, mind and soul: unifying the human self. South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 9. Edited by c. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2002.         [ Links ]

Dawkins, R. The God Delusion. London: Bantam Press, 2006.         [ Links ]

Durand, F. "The courage to face empirical reality: a biological perspective." Pages 53-81 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Du Toit, C. W. Viewed from the shoulders of God: themes in science and theology. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2007.         [ Links ]

_____. "Is religion grounded in evolution? A critical look at some models." Pages 1-33 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Fish, S. Doing what comes naturally: Change, Rhetoric, and the Practice of Theory in Literary and Legal Studies. Durham: Duke University Press, 1989.         [ Links ]

Gregersen, N. H. "God: the creator of creativity". Pages 25-56 in Evolution and creativity: a new dialogue between faith and knowledge. South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 7. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2000.         [ Links ]

Guthrie, S. E. Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.         [ Links ]

_____. "Projection." Pages 225-238 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Krüger, K. "Arché: evolution and mysticism." Pages 247-265 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Lease, G. "Ideology." Pages 438-447 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Lincoln, B. "Culture." Pages 409-422 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Mack, B. L. "Social formation." Pages 283-296 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Malul, M. Knowledge, Control and Sex: Studies in Biblical Thought, Culture and Worldview. Tel Aviv: Archeological Center Publication, 2002.         [ Links ]

McCutcheon, R. T. "Myth." Pages 190-208 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Murphy, T. "Discourse." Pages 396-408 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Paden, W. E. "World." Pages 334-347 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Pals, D. L. "Intellect." Pages 155-167 in Guide to the Study of Religion. Edited by W. Braun & R. T. McCutcheon. London: Cassel, 2000.         [ Links ]

Pyysiäinnen, I. How Religion Works: Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion. Cognition and Culture Book Series. Volume 1. Leiden: Brill, 2001.         [ Links ]

Spangenberg, I. "Yahwism, Judaism and Christianity: religions do evolve!" Pages 119-143 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Van den Heever, G. A. "Expressing the ineffable: experiencing from within and describing from the outside." Pages 29-53 in Research, identity and rationalism: thinking about theological research in Africa. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2002.         [ Links ]

Van den Heever, J. "Creationism in the colonies: science, religion and the legacy of apartheid in South Africa." Pages 145-163 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Van Huyssteen, J. W. Alone in the world? Human uniqueness in science and theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.         [ Links ]

_____. "Theology, science and human nature." The Princeton Seminary Bulletin (2007): 201-221.         [ Links ]

Vorster, J. "Rhetorical versus evolutionary origins of early Christianity." Pages 213-245 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

Wolpert, L. "The relationship between science and religion." Pages 35-51 in The evolutionary roots of religion: cultivate, mutate or eliminate? South African Science and Religion Forum. Volume 13. Edited by C. W. Du Toit. Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa, 2009.         [ Links ]

 

 

Correspondence:
Hendrik Viviers
Department of Biblical and Religious Studies
University of Johannesburg
PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006
E-mail: hviviers@ui.ac.za

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License