Panentheism and Natural Science: A Good Match?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Panentheism and Natural Science: A Good Match?

AU - Drees, W.B.

PY - 2017/11/26

Y1 - 2017/11/26

N2 - Is panentheism a metaphysical and religious understanding of the divine and of the world that aligns better with science than classical theism? In order to address this question, I’ll present brief descriptions of theism, pantheism, and panentheism, and of religious visions as integrating models of the world and models for the world. In this respect, science has its limitations. The conclusion that I will argue for is that naturalistic varieties of theism, pantheism, and panentheism do equally well with respect to the natural sciences, and hence that there is no argument from science that favors a panentheistic metaphysics. There may be philosophical or religious arguments that make one prefer one position over another. Science can be involved in the choice for one interpretation of a religious-metaphysical view such as panentheism. Thus, sciencemight play a role in the development of positions, once chosen, and hence in intra-religious competition, even though it cannot be decisive on fundamental choices in metaphysics.

AB - Is panentheism a metaphysical and religious understanding of the divine and of the world that aligns better with science than classical theism? In order to address this question, I’ll present brief descriptions of theism, pantheism, and panentheism, and of religious visions as integrating models of the world and models for the world. In this respect, science has its limitations. The conclusion that I will argue for is that naturalistic varieties of theism, pantheism, and panentheism do equally well with respect to the natural sciences, and hence that there is no argument from science that favors a panentheistic metaphysics. There may be philosophical or religious arguments that make one prefer one position over another. Science can be involved in the choice for one interpretation of a religious-metaphysical view such as panentheism. Thus, sciencemight play a role in the development of positions, once chosen, and hence in intra-religious competition, even though it cannot be decisive on fundamental choices in metaphysics.

KW - agnosticism

KW - limits of science

KW - naturalism

KW - panentheism

KW - science

KW - theism

U2 - 10.1111/zygo.12377

DO - 10.1111/zygo.12377

M3 - Article

VL - 52

SP - 1060

EP - 1079

JO - Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science

JF - Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science

SN - 0591-2385

IS - 4

ER -