Understanding the Universe as a task for Theology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/rct.i107.66334Keywords:
cosmology, theology, Lemaître, end of the universe,, understandingAbstract
The usual Thomistic reading of the relationship between the natural sciences and theology speaks of the integrity and autonomy of nature and its science through the distinction between primary and secondary causality. Here theological reflection is not directly affected by the different scientific theories about the beginning and the end of the universe, as famously expounded by Abbé Lemaître. I will try to outline some attempts to go beyond the Thomistic distinction, addressing the question of the end of the universe (the temporal question) and its purpose (the question. theological and moral), coherentist proposals of recent scientists-theologians, highlighting some difficulties in their positions. Then, we will move on to epistemological considerations on explanation, interpretation, and understanding in the natural and human sciences, highlighting theology as a science of lived faith. The main element of this experience is the stupor at the immensity of the universe, the enigma of a God who hides and reveals Himself there. This experience can only end in a doxology.
References
AIKMAN, Duncan, Lemaître Follows Two Paths to Truth. New York Times Feb 19. 1933.
BENZ, Arnold O. “Meaningless Space?: Astrophysics and Theology”. In Mark K. George, Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati, eds. Religious representation in place: exploring meaningful spaces at the intersection of the humanities and sciences. New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2014, p. 23-34.
BOLLINI, Claudio R. Evolución del Cosmos ¿aniquilación o plenitud? Buenos Aires: Editorial Epifanía, 2009.
BOLLINI, C. El desafío de la entropía a la teología. Revista Teología, 47 (101), p. 69-90, 2010.
BOLLINI, Claudio (2013). La Teología ante la Física Moderna: Cuestiones Fundamentales para un Diálogo Posible. Revista Teología • Tomo L • Nº 112, p. 169-202, Diciembre, 2013.
BRAVO GAETE, Moisés; ARMSTRONG COX, Sergio. Fin del universo y esperanza cristiana. Veritas, n. 42, p. 185-205, 2019.
CARROLL, William. “Tomás de Aquino y el Big Bang, Hacia el origen del universo”. Revista Humanitas. No. 24, Primavera, 2001.
ELLIS, Goerge F. R.; Nancey Murphy. The Moral Nature of the Universe. Theology, Cosmology, and Ethics. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. 1996.
FRANK, Adam e Marcelo Gleiser. “The Story of Our Universe May Be Starting to Unravel”. New York Times, September 02, 2023. Disponible en https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/opinion/cosmology-crisis-webb-telescope.html. Acceso 05/09/2023.
GONTCHO, Satya, Jean-Baptiste K. Eluo, and Paul Gabor. "Resurfaced 1964 VRT video interview of Georges Lemaître." arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.07198. To be published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2023.
GRIMM, Stephen M. How Understanding People Differs from Understanding the Natural World. Philosophical Issues, 26, Knowledge and Mind, p. 209-225, 2016. doi: 10.1111/phis.12068, 209-225.
KIM, Junghyung. Six Different Theological Responses to the Scientific Prediction of the Decaying Universe, Theology and Science, 17:2, p. 273-286, 2019 doi: 10.1080/14746700.2019.1596361
LAMBERT, Dominique. Ciências e teologia; figuras de um diálogo. São Paulo: Ed. Loyola, 2002.
MORITZ, B.M. Georges Lemaitre – The Big Bang Cosmology and its Metaphysical Implications (II), 2018. Disponible en
https://sciencemeetsfaith.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/georges-lemaitre-the-big-bang-cosmology-and-its-metaphysical-implications-ii/ Acceso en 03 julio 2023.
O'CALLAGHAN, Paul y SANGUINETI, Juan José. (2016). Escatología teológica y destino físico del universo. En Diccionario Interdisciplinar Austral, editado por Claudia E. Vanney, Ignacio Silva y Juan F. Franck. Disponible en http://dia.austral.edu.ar/Escatología_teológica_y_destino_físico_del_universo. Acceso en 03 julio 2023.
O’REILLY, Francisco. Fin y Finalidad. Dos miradas sobre el fin del mundo. Studium. Filosofía y Teología. Vol. XXIII, 46, p. 259-281, 2020.
POLKINGHORNE, John. El Dios de la Esperanza y el Fin del Mundo. Buenos Aires: Ed. Epifania, 2005.
RICOEUR, Paul. Teoria da Interpretação. O Discurso e o excesso de significação. Lisboa: Ed. 70, 1987.
STUEBER, Karsten. (2012). Understanding Versus Explanation?: How to Think about the Distinction Between the Natural and Human Sciences. Inquiry 55, p. 17–32, 2012.
TAMBOR, Pawel. Georges Lemaître: Two Paths to Truth, Theology and Science, 21.2, p. 245-260, 2023, doi: 10.1080/14746700.2023.2188371.
TILLEY, Terrence W. (2019). Religious understanding and cultured practices. In Stephen R. Grimm, org., Varieties of Understanding: New Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 253-273.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Revista de Cultura Teológica
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Os autores concedem à revista todos os direitos autorais referentes aos trabalhos publicados. Os conceitos emitidos em artigos assinados são de absoluta e exclusiva responsabilidade de seus autores.
