Big Questions
- How does theology effectively contribute in an increasingly scientific and high-tech world?
- What progress could be accelerated by combining the greatest theological insights with the practical tools of the sciences?
- How can we use the findings of the psychological and behavioral sciences as tools in theological inquiry?
- How do we reduce the entry cost for theologians to incorporate relevant sciences into their work?
Focus
Advancing scholarship and field-building toward “theology that makes a difference.”
Why “Sciences-Integrated Theology”?
Theology is critical to framing and orienting human thriving, but how does theology best contribute in an increasingly scientific and high-tech world? The problems we encounter are complex and often unanticipated by previous generations of theological thinkers. Progress requires tried-and-true theological wisdom thoughtfully engaging discoveries from the sciences. New fields of study are needed at the interface of traditional areas of theology and contemporary scientific fields, and these will often require new collaborations. Strategic efforts are needed to develop relationships, trust, and mutually developed new methods of inquiry, scholarship, and contribution.
To accelerate progress, theological inquiry should use all of the relevant intellectual resources available, perhaps especially findings, theories, and methods from the sciences.
What is Sciences-Integrated Theology?
Sciences-Integrated Theology is a portfolio of projects and programs designed to develop the talent pool of sciences-informed theologians and theologically-informed scientists and get them working on integrative projects. But it’s not only about the people. It’s also about the ideas. In some cases, new intellectual frameworks will help guide this integration. Theological inquiry will benefit from a greater range of scholarly tools and will, in turn, stimulate new areas of scientific research.
The aim of this initiative is not to create a new scientific sub-discipline within theology, but to see the sciences become common tools for doing theology broadly. Nevertheless, it may be tactical to demonstrate the utility of sciences-integrated theology through the development of specific emphases that may be regarded as subfields.
Within Sciences-Integrated Theology we design projects to:
- Deepen the talent pool and increase the number of scholars equipped to do sciences-integrated theology.
- Demonstrate the utility of sciences-integrated theology.
- Develop field-building activities.
Featured project | TheoPsych
What new insights concerning human nature may be discovered when theology and psychological science are brought together?
Integrating psychological science into philosophical and theological discussions on persons and personhood is a bold move, yet it is a timely one. As philosophers and theologians, the project challenged us to open ourselves to potential contributions of psychology to systematic theology and philosophical anthropology… The project was a true eye-opener and put us on track towards attaining a level of competency in select areas of psychology. Collaboration with experts in the field of psychology provided us with tremendously insightful comments on our own work and convinced us that regular cross-disciplinary conversations and exchange are key towards integration. Looking forward to the future, the award made it possible to start building an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars with the shared purpose of integrating philosophical and theological insights from theological personalism with various psychological schools.
– Scott Harrower, Juan Franck, & Ryan Peterson
Working with multiple disciplines requires intentional focus, language, and framing. The TheoPsych project strategically serves theologians by framing psychological science findings and theories in ways that readily relate to theological inquiry. (Note: This project is now available in the form of online courses, where you can engage with material that was once only available to our cohort participants!)
TheoPsych is a portfolio of activities with two parts.
- The first part provides in-depth residential training and opportunities for research grant funding to a selected group of theology faculty from around the world.
- The second part will provide online resources and networking opportunities generated by the training program.
In this way, we focus both on developing ongoing relationships with theologians seeking to integrate psychological science to theological inquiry within academia, and provide tools more broadly to interested believers, ministry leaders, pastors, and theologians.
TheoPsych is focused on the theme of “On Human Natures” and can be thought of in three categories.
- The Created and Fallen Image of God – introducing psychological science topics pertaining to evolutionary psychology, human uniqueness, parenting, attachment, and developmental systems, as these relate to theological questions such as what it means to be imago Dei or to inherit a sin nature.
- Completely Human, Completely Divine – exploring the Incarnation and the Trinity by appealing to psychological science, including questions such as why Jesus was Homo sapiens instead of Homo erectus and why it matters, learning from a divine human about how to be human, how the incarnation bridges conceptual gaps, and how could one be completely human but completely sinless.
- Restoring Human Nature – discussing psychological research concerning free will and moral responsibility; confession, repentance, and forgiveness; character strengths and virtues development; forming new habits; renewal of the conscious and non-conscious mind; gratitude and grace
Our Goal
500 years after the start of the scientific revolution (1543) theologians use the sciences as tools for doing theology that matters.
Our aim is that by 2043 it is common for theology, particularly Christian theology, to accurately and constructively incorporate findings and theories from the sciences, especially the human sciences.[1]
Measuring Success
A good initiative needs to know when it is successful. What would it mean for the Sciences-Integrated Theology initiative to be declared a success and, hence, no longer needed?
- One-fourth of the articles published in the top 20 theology journals cite publications that were published in a science-discipline journal and/or were first-authored by scholars whose terminal degree or primary disciplinary affiliation is in a science field.
- One-tenth of the articles published in the top 20 theology journals are authored or co-authored by scholars whose terminal degree or primary disciplinary affiliation is in a science field.
- One-fifth of the presentations at American Academy of Religion annual meetings include in their abstracts or titles reference to a scientific theory, finding, or scholar.
- Four of the top 20 theology schools in the world consider science degrees as acceptable undergraduate preparation for their post-graduate degree programs.
Contribute to Sciences-Integrated Theology
Our vision is big. Our hope is, whenever strategic and practical, to work with others to make this work happen.
Explore where you might fit by contacting us today.
[1] For this description “human sciences” is shorthand for the scientific branches of anthropology (biological, cognitive, evolutionary, physical), archaeology, cognitive sciences, economics, medicine, political science, psychology, and sociology; and the human-behavioral foci of the biological sciences (e.g., genetics, neuroscience). Scientific, here, means those areas of basic and applied intellectual inquiry that primarily center on the testing of causal and explanatory claims using quantifiable empirical evidence and provide explanations in terms of creaturely mechanisms. Creaturely mechanisms are the contingent, causal mechanisms that operate upon created aspects of the universe, not the necessary or un-created aspects.
