Towards a Theology of Science

Alan Belk is a Ph.D. candidate in the Philosophy Department at the
University of Guelph.

This short book originated in one of a series of four public lectures on
science and religion given at St Paul’s University, Ottawa, in 2000.
Donald J. Lococo, then a professor in the Christianity and Culture
program at the University of St Michael’s College in Toronto, urges
the consideration of a theology of science to repair the separation of
the logos of science (with its underlying metaphysic of agnosticism)
from the logos of theology (with its underlying metaphysic of faith and
revelation). This separation has been intensified, Lococo believes, by
the pernicious effects of postmodernism on theology.

The author’s search for a compatibility between science and theology
is admirable, but there are two major impediments. For Lococo, theology
is Roman Catholic theology. This limits his appeal because such a
theology includes an authoritative doctrinal interpretation of matters
of scripture. It is also problematic because theological authority can
claim jurisdiction over science, as it has done in the past (for
example, Galileo, Copernicus, and evolutionary theory were not
immediately embraced by the Roman Catholic Church) and thus constrain
both scientific activity and our acceptance of science. In conclusion,
it’s not clear if Lococo intends a theology of science to be a
synthesis of the two or a subsumption of science to theology.