The Ambivalence of Scientific Naturalism: A Response to Mark Harris

Responding to Mark Harris, I reflect on his tantalizing question whether the provision of naturalistic explanations for biblical miracles renders the narratives more, or less, credible. I address his “reversal,” in which professional scientists now feature among defenders of a literalistic reading,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Otros títulos:MODERN SCIENCE AND BIBLICAL MIRACLES: THE BOYLE LECTURE 2018
Autor principal: Brooke, John Hedley 1944- (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
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Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell [2018]
En: Zygon
Año: 2018, Volumen: 53, Número: 4, Páginas: 1051-1056
(Cadenas de) Palabra clave estándar:B Bibel / Hermenéutica / Milagro / Explicación / Naturalismo (Filosofía) / Ciencias naturales
Clasificaciones IxTheo:AB Filosofía de la religión
HA Biblia
VA Filosofía
Otras palabras clave:B Resurrection
B catastrophism
B Geology
B Miracles
B Biblical Studies
B Naturalism
B Natural Theology
B Secularism
Acceso en línea: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Descripción
Sumario:Responding to Mark Harris, I reflect on his tantalizing question whether the provision of naturalistic explanations for biblical miracles renders the narratives more, or less, credible. I address his “reversal,” in which professional scientists now feature among defenders of a literalistic reading, while professional biblical scholars are often skeptical. I suggest this underlines the ambivalence of scientific naturalism from the standpoint of Christian theology. Historical examples are adduced to show that, until the mid-nineteenth century, naturalistic and theistic explanations were commonly regarded as complementary. Accordingly, the primacy often accorded to scientific progress in accounts of secularization is questionable. Two concluding questions are raised. If a methodological naturalism inheres in biblical scholarship, as in the sciences, how do biblical scholars decide whether the historical trajectories they construct for the composition of biblical texts are destructive or affirmative of faith? Second, when the miracle is the Resurrection of the dead Christ, does not the scientific impossibility of this foundational event remain sacrosanct?
ISSN:1467-9744
Reference:Kritik von "Apocalypses Now (2018)"
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12463