A Natural History of Natural Theology

A Natural History of Natural Theology PDF

Author: Helen De Cruz

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2024-06-11

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0262552450

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An examination of the cognitive foundations of intuitions about the existence and attributes of God. Questions about the existence and attributes of God form the subject matter of natural theology, which seeks to gain knowledge of the divine by relying on reason and experience of the world. Arguments in natural theology rely largely on intuitions and inferences that seem natural to us, occurring spontaneously—at the sight of a beautiful landscape, perhaps, or in wonderment at the complexity of the cosmos—even to a nonphilosopher. In this book, Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt examine the cognitive origins of arguments in natural theology. They find that although natural theological arguments can be very sophisticated, they are rooted in everyday intuitions about purpose, causation, agency, and morality. Using evidence and theories from disciplines including the cognitive science of religion, evolutionary ethics, evolutionary aesthetics, and the cognitive science of testimony, they show that these intuitions emerge early in development and are a stable part of human cognition. De Cruz and De Smedt analyze the cognitive underpinnings of five well-known arguments for the existence of God: the argument from design, the cosmological argument, the moral argument, the argument from beauty, and the argument from miracles. Finally, they consider whether the cognitive origins of these natural theological arguments should affect their rationality.

The Natural Theology of Natural Beauty (Classic Reprint)

The Natural Theology of Natural Beauty (Classic Reprint) PDF

Author: Richard St. John Tyrwhitt

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-01-20

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9780483469983

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Excerpt from The Natural Theology of Natural Beauty BY the title of this book the author wishes to assert that there is an argument derivable from the appearances of external Nature, parallel with that from internal structure or mechanism set forth by Paley. Both point to a benevolent Creator: the latter showing that His purposes are favourable to our natural life; the former indicating His further purpose of exalting our thoughts or spiritual life. We find the world adapted to our life and comfort, and have a right to infer that a Living Creatorl made it, and means us well in it. Then we find that, while providing for our physical life, Nature or the external world appeals through our senses to our thoughts and emotions. Our inference is, that that also is a portion of His contrivance for us, by which He means to affect our thoughts con cerning Him, or, in other words, to appeal to us. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Creation's Beauty as Revelation

Creation's Beauty as Revelation PDF

Author: L. Clifton Edwards

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2014-03-05

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1630873667

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With an interdisciplinary approach, Edwards utilizes literature, aesthetics, world religions, and continental philosophy as avenues into the theology of natural beauty. This is an epistemological look at our aesthetically charged knowing of God through nature. Emphasizing our embodied experience of the world, Edwards examines the phenomenon of perceptual beauty, while questioning traditional notions of God's metaphysical "beauty." Drawing upon Michael Polanyi's philosophy of science, Edwards explores the human aesthetic and religious interface with the natural world. This philosophical approach is then linked to the poetic: Polanyi's "tacit knowledge" and Jean-Luc Marion's "saturated phenomena" give support to Wordsworth's "pregnant vision" of the natural world. This approach culminates in a re-envisaging of John Ruskin's typology of natural beauty: Ruskin's vision of the world can be adapted toward an understanding of natural revelation. Edwards brings this Romantic theology back across the Atlantic in dialogue with American nature writers and the uniquely American experience of wilderness and "frontier."

The Open Secret

The Open Secret PDF

Author: Alister E. McGrath

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-09-23

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1444358065

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Natural theology, in the view of many, is in crisis. In this long-awaited book, Alister McGrath sets out a new vision for natural theology, re-establishing its legitimacy and utility. A timely and innovative resource on natural theology: the exploration of knowledge of God as it is observed through nature Written by internationally regarded theologian and author of numerous bestselling books, Alister McGrath Develops an intellectually rigorous vision of natural theology as a point of convergence between the Christian faith, the arts and literature, and the natural sciences, opening up important possibilities for dialogue and cross-fertilization Treats natural theology as a cultural phenomenon, broader than Christianity itself yet always possessing a distinctively Christian embodiment Explores topics including beauty, goodness, truth, and the theological imagination; how investigating nature gives rise to both theological and scientific theories; the idea of a distinctively Christian approach to nature; and how natural theology can function as a bridge between Christianity and other faiths

The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology

The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology PDF

Author: Russell Re Manning

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2013-01-17

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 0191611719

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The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology is the first collection to consider the full breadth of natural theology from both historical and contemporary perspectives and to bring together leading scholars to offer accessible high-level accounts of the major themes. The volume embodies and develops the recent revival of interest in natural theology as a topic of serious critical engagement. Frequently misunderstood or polemicized, natural theology is an under-studied yet persistent and pervasive presence throughout the history of thought about ultimate reality - from the classical Greek theology of the philosophers to twenty-first-century debates in science and religion. Of interest to students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this authoritative handbook draws on the very best of contemporary scholarship to present a critical overview of the subject area. Thirty-eight new essays trace the transformations of natural theology in different historical and religious contexts, the place of natural theology in different philosophical traditions and diverse scientific disciplines, and the various cultural and aesthetic approaches to natural theology to reveal a rich seam of multi-faceted theological reflection rooted in human nature and the environments within which we find ourselves.