a new theology

Contact us: Click to email

A prolegomenon to a scientific theology

' . . . theory is the most practical thing conceivable . . . ' Ludwig Boltzmann quoted in Cercignani (2006): Ludwig Boltzmann page 188

A scientific revolution becomes necessary when the gap between experience and understanding becomes intolerably great.

We have seen two major revolutions in our understanding of our world. The first a long time ago, divided reality into an invisible immaterial heaven and the visible material world that we inhabit. Richard Kraut: Plato (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

The greatest revolution in modern history was the introduction of the theory of evolution principally attributed to Charles Darwin. Drawing on paleoontological discoveries and the experience of plant and animal breeders Darwin replaced creation stories, which saw the source of the world as the carefully planned work of an ancient creator, with a long slow process of evolution which suggests that the world creates itself.

The purpose of this site is to reveal a new vision of the human world, a new theology. Theology is the study of creation. Creation is what is, so theology is the theory of everything that is. It is the traditional theory of everything and the oldest science. Archaeological evidence reveals that people had theological ideas more than 100 000 years ago. Theology - Wikipedia

Much traditional theology is based on ancient texts like the Bible. These texts are believed to have been inspired or dictated by mythological beings and to represent in some way a true account of our human place inthe world. Alexander Jones (ed) (1966): The Jerusalem Bible

Traditional theologies based on mythology are no longer seen to be scientific in the modern sense of the word. Darwin's story of creation, based on contemporary experience and the discoveries of paleoontologists and anthropologists, provides a new way for us to understand ourselves. We are the product of a vast cosmic process that has taken 14 billion years to create its present state. From a practical and spiritual point of view, this story is far more useful and exciting than its predecessors. Fortun & Bernstein (1998): Muddling Through: Pursuing Science and Truths in the Twenty-First Century

Many of the ancient creators are modelled on ancient warriors, warlords, kings, queens and emperors. They date from days when a wealthy and powerful elite controlled the lives of the vast majority of the people who were taxed to maintain the luxury and magnificence of their rulers. The ruling powers often used theological stories as a means to control their subjects.

The most powerful theological institution in the modern world is the Catholic Church, a direct descendent of the Roman Empire. The myths upon which this Church is based are no longer a satisfactory foundation for human religious feeling because they contradict so much of what we know about our own history and the history of the universe. Robert Crotty (2017): How Roman Christianity Defeated Its Early Competitors

Here, therefore, I assume that the universe we inhabit is the ultimate reality and that it is the divine source of all life. Unlike ancient gods, it is both divine and visible, so that that every human experience is an experience of God.

Given this assumption, theology can become a science in the modern sense. Natural theology (think natural science) may consider every thought, feeling, action or event in the whole Universe as revelation from and of God. The data for natural theology are everything that happens, a vast treasury that outweighs countless ancient texts. Bernard Lonergan (1992): Insight: A Study of Human Understanding

Like the other sciences, theology must sift through its databases seeking connections between different phenomena. These connections are expressed as models. Newton started the trend when he found a simple formula to model the complex motions of the planets and their satellites. Here we develop and study a new model of God. Cohen & Smith (2002) (Editors): The Cambridge Companion to Newton

The traditional model of God, perfected by Thomas Aquinas, envisages a being utterly unlike our world. The most important feature of the new theological model is that it seems to be consistent both with the world of experience and modern science and with the ancient model of God. This model allows is to say that the Universe is divine, that is, God is observable, no longer invisible. Aquinas, Summa: I, 2, 3: Does God exist?, Aquinas I, 2, 3 (Latin):

The new model of God adds weight to the assumption that God and the Universe are identical. By exploring the Universe we explore God and may learn something about managing a secure and pleasant human presence on Earth. Unlike the rather capricious personalities of the ancient Gods, the Universe has a fixed nature which may be exploited to develop ever more complex and beautiful ways of life. Jack Miles (1996): God: A Biography

Very little has changed in Christian theology since Thomas Aquinas developed the 'standard model' of God more than seven hundred years ago. The Summa is the inspiration and starting point for this work. Very little of what Aquinas wrote needs to be changed. It simply needs to be adjusted to reflect the position taken here, that we are not outside God, but inside. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas: Opera Omnia (Latin)

(revised Saturday 14 September 2024)

Copyright:

You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.

Further reading

Books

Axelrod, Robert, The Evolution of Cooperation, Basic Books, Revised Edition 2006 'The Evolution of Cooperation provides valuable insights into the age-old question of whether unforced cooperation is ever possible. Widely praised and much-discussed, this classic book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoists-whether superpowers, businesses, or individuals-when there is no central authority to police their actions. The problem of cooperation is central to many different fields. Robert Axelrod recounts the famous computer tournaments in which the “cooperative” program Tit for Tat recorded its stunning victories, explains its application to a broad spectrum of subjects, and suggests how readers can both apply cooperative principles to their own lives and teach cooperative principles to others.' 
Amazon
  back

Cercignani (2006), Carlo, Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms, Oxford University Press, USA 2006 'Cercignani provides a stimulating biography of a great scientist. Boltzmann's greatness is difficult to state, but the fact that the author is still actively engaged in research into some of the finer, as yet unresolved issues provoked by Boltzmann's work is a measure of just how far ahead of his time Boltzmann was. It is also tragic to read of Boltzmann's persecution by his contemporaries, the energeticists, who regarded atoms as a convenient hypothesis, but not as having a definite existence. Boltzmann felt that atoms were real and this motivated much of his research. How Boltzmann would have laughed if he could have seen present-day scanning tunnelling microscopy images, which resolve the atomic structure at surfaces! If only all scientists would learn from Boltzmann's life story that it is bad for science to persecute someone whose views you do not share but cannot disprove. One surprising fact I learned from this book was how research into thermodynamics and statistical mechanics led to the beginnings of quantum theory (such as Planck's distribution law, and Einstein's theory of specific heat). Lecture notes by Boltzmann also seem to have influenced Einstein's construction of special relativity. Cercignani's familiarity with Boltzmann's work at the research level will probably set this above other biographies of Boltzmann for a very long time to come.' Dr David J Bottomley  
Amazon
  back

Cohen (2002), I Bernard, and George E Smith (Editors), The Cambridge Companion to Newton, Cambridge University Press 2002 Book Description: ' Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists of all time, a thinker of extraordinary range and creativity who has left enduring legacies in mathematics and the natural sciences. In this volume a team of distinguished contributors examines the principal aspects of Newton's thought. They include not only his approach to space, time, mechanics, and universal gravity in Principia and his research in optics and mathematics, but also his lesser known clandestine investigations into alchemy, theology, and prophecy. ' 
Amazon
  back

Crotty (2017), Robert, The Christian Survivor: How Roman Christianity Defeated Its Early Competitors, Springer 2017 ' The book puts the current interest in historical Jesus research into a proper historical context, highlighting Gnosticism’s lasting influence on early Christianity and making the provocative claim that nearly all Christian Churches are in some way descended from Roman Christianity. Breaking with the accepted wisdom of Christianity’s origins, the revised history it puts forward challenges the assumptions of Church and secular historians, biblical critics and general readers alike, with profound repercussions for scholarship, belief and practice..' 
Amazon
  back

Fortun (1998), Mike, and Herbert J Bernstein, Muddling Through: Pursuing Science and Truths in the Twenty-First Century, Counterpoint 1998 Jacket: ' Messy. Clumsy. Volatile. Exciting. These words are not often associated with the science, which for most people still connote exactitude, elegance, reliability and a rather plodding certainty. But the real story is something quite different. The sciences are less about the ability to know and to control than they are about the unleashing of new forces, new capacities for changing the world. The sciences as practised exist not in some pristine world of "objectivity," but in what Mike Fortnum and Herbert Bernstein call "the Muddled Middle". This book explores the way science makes sense of the world and how the world makes sense of science. It is also about politics and culture—how these forces shape the sciences and are shaped by them in return.' 
Amazon
  back

Hawking (1975), Steven W, and G F R Ellis, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Cambridge UP 1975 Preface: Einstein's General Theory of Relativity . . . leads to two remarkable predictions about the universe: first that the final fate of massive stars is to collapse behind an event horizon to form a 'black hole' which will contain a singularity; and secondly that there is a singularity in our past which constitutes, in some sense, a beginning to our universe. Our discussion is principally aimed at developing these two results.' 
Amazon
  back

Jones (1966), Alexander (ed), The Jerusalem Bible, Darton Longman and Todd 1966 Editor's Foreword: '. . . The Bible . . . is of its nature a written charter guaranteed (as Christians believe) by the Spirit of God, crystallised in antiquity, never to be changed . . . . This present volume is the English equivalent of [La Bible de Jerusalem] . . . an entirely faithful version of the ancient texts which, in doubtful points, preserves the text established and (for the most part) the interpretation adopted by the French scholars in the light of the most recent researches in the fields of history, archaeology and literary criticism.' (v-vi) 
Amazon
  back

Kuhn (1996), Thomas S, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, U of Chicago Press 1962, 1970, 1996 Introduction: 'a new theory, however special its range of application, is seldom just an increment to what is already known. Its assimilation requires the reconstruction of prior theory and the re-evaluation of prior fact, an intrinsically revolutionary process that is seldom completed by a single man, and never overnight.' [p 7]  
Amazon
  back

Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '. . . Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding' 
Amazon
  back

Lonergan (1992), Bernard J F, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '. . . Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding' 
Amazon
  back

Miles (1996), Jack, God: A Biography, Vintage Books 1996 Jacket: 'Jack Miles's remarkable work examines the hero of the Old Testament . . . from his first appearance as Creator to his last as Ancient of Days. . . . We see God torn by conflicting urges. To his own sorrow, he is by turns destructive and creative, vain and modest, subtle and naive, ruthless and tender, lawful and lawless, powerful yet powerless, omniscient and blind.' 
Amazon
  back

Links

Aquinas I, 2, 3 (Latin), Summa: I 2 3: An Deus sit., 'Respondeo dicendum quod Deum esse quinque viis probari potest. Prima autem et manifestior via est, quae sumitur ex parte motus. Certum est enim, et sensu constat, aliqua moveri in hoc mundo. Omne autem quod movetur, ab alio movetur. Nihil enim movetur, nisi secundum quod est in potentia ad illud ad quod movetur, movet autem aliquid secundum quod est actu. Movere enim nihil aliud est quam educere aliquid de potentia in actum, de potentia autem non potest aliquid reduci in actum, nisi per aliquod ens in actu, sicut calidum in actu, ut ignis, facit lignum, quod est calidum in potentia, esse actu calidum, et per hoc movet et alterat ipsum. Non autem est possibile ut idem sit simul in actu et potentia secundum idem, sed solum secundum diversa, quod enim est calidum in actu, non potest simul esse calidum in potentia, sed est simul frigidum in potentia. Impossibile est ergo quod, secundum idem et eodem modo, aliquid sit movens et motum, vel quod moveat seipsum. Omne ergo quod movetur, oportet ab alio moveri. Si ergo id a quo movetur, moveatur, oportet et ipsum ab alio moveri et illud ab alio. Hic autem non est procedere in infinitum, quia sic non esset aliquod primum movens; et per consequens nec aliquod aliud movens, quia moventia secunda non movent nisi per hoc quod sunt mota a primo movente, sicut baculus non movet nisi per hoc quod est motus a manu. Ergo necesse est devenire ad aliquod primum movens, quod a nullo movetur, et hoc omnes intelligunt Deum.' back

Aquinas, Summa, II I, 3, 8, Does man's human in the vision of the divine essence?, 'Final and perfect happiness can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence. To make this clear, two points must be observed. First, that man is not perfectly happy, so long as something remains for him to desire and seek: secondly, that the perfection of any power is determined by the nature of its object.' back

Aquinas, Summa: I, 2, 3, Does God exist?, 'I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. . . . ' back

Richard Kraut (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), Plato, ' Plato (429–347 B.C.E.) is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy. . . . Few other authors in the history of philosophy approximate him in depth and range: perhaps only Aristotle (who studied with him), Aquinas, and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank.' back

Theology - Wikipedia, Theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Theology is the systematic and rational study of concepts of God and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university, seminary or school of divinity. . . . 'During the High Middle Ages, theology was therefore the ultimate subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences" and serving as the capstone to the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including Philosophy) existed primarily to help with theological thought.' back

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas: The medieval theological classic online : 'Because the doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but also to instruct beginners (according to the Apostle: As unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat -- 1 Cor. 3:1-2), we purpose in this book to treat of whatever belongs to the Christian religion, in such a way as may tend to the instruction of beginners. We have considered that students in this doctrine have not seldom been hampered by what they have found written by other authors, partly on account of the multiplication of useless questions, articles, and arguments, partly also because those things that are needful for them to know are not taught according to the order of the subject matter, but according as the plan of the book might require, or the occasion of the argument offer, partly, too, because frequent repetition brought weariness and confusion to the minds of readers.' back

Thomas Aquinas, Opera Omnia, The complete works of one of the most important writers in the Christian tradition. [© 2019 Fundación Tomás de Aquino Iura omnia asservantur OCLC nr. 49644264] back

Thomas Aquinas - Wikipedia, Thomas Aquinas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Thomas Aquinas, OP (1225 – 7 March 1274) . . . was an Italian Dominican friar and priest and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the "Doctor Angelicus" and "Doctor Communis". . . . He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or opposition of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory. Unlike many currents in the Church of the time. Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle — whom he referred to as "the Philosopher" — and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.' back

www.theologyco.com is maintained by The Theology Company Proprietary Limited ACN 097 887 075 ABN 74 097 887 075 Copyright 2000-2024 © Jeffrey Nicholls

https://www.anewtheology.net is maintained by The Theology Company Proprietary Limited ACN 097 887 075 ABN 74 097 887 075 Copyright 2000-2024 © Jeffrey Nicholls