Wisdom

A Voice for Theology at the Boundary with Science?

Abstract

Those engaged in the contemporary debates between science and religion have begun to speak of a ‘new consonance’ between the two disciplines, in place of the enmity of past generations. This consonance seems to mean finding ‘correspondence’ or connections between the natural world as portrayed by science and that portrayed in the-ology. However, the relationship between them is not always clear. While for some the ideal of consonance seems to mean harmony and full accord, for others it is theology constrained by scientific research. Both interpretations, however, have a tendency to weaken the role of theology in the dialogue process. In other words theology becomes simply that which is responsive to science. Peters notes that there are a few writers prepared to put theology in what he terms the ‘leadership role’ following a search for consonance, describing such leadership as ‘a courageous move’. Yet none seems to have given theology the opportunity to speak first, to ask science to respond to its concerns and epistemology.