Michael Heller’s Theology of Science in a Trinitarian Perspective: Ontological Aspects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2024.017Keywords
theology of science, ontology, relation, Trinity, method of scienceAbstract
This paper explores the program of theology of science proposed by renowned Polish physicist and philosopher, Michael Heller, with a particular focus on its ontological dimensions through the lens of Trinitarian theology. Firstly, an overview of the status and current discussions of theology of science is presented. Next, drawing on Heller's key texts the Trinitarian doctrine is used to enhance the intelligibility of the Universe, wherein the dynamic interplay of unity, diversity, and relationality is mirrored in the structure of physical reality itself. Most importantly, however, we examine how Heller's theological perspective thus equipped provides justification for the specificity of the method of science itself, thereby revealing new dimensions of relations between science and theology. Through critical engagement with Heller's thought, this paper seeks ultimately to illuminate the profound implications of a Trinitarian perspective in his theology of science, shedding light on the interconnectedness of Christian doctrine and ontology in shaping our understanding of the universe and its underlying structure.
References
Aquinas, Saint Thomas. 1993. Light of Faith: The Compendium of Theology. Reprint edition. Manchester, N.H: Sophia Institute Press.
Barbour, Ian G. 1974. Myths, Models and Paradigms: Nature of Scientific and Religious Language. London: SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd.
Barbour, Ian G. 1997. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
Barbour, Ian G. 2016. Mity. Modele. Paradygmaty. Studium porównawcze nauk przyrodniczych i religii. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Byrne, Peter. 1995. “Theology and Scientific Understanding.” In Companion Encyclopedia of Theology, edited by Peter Byrne and Leslie Houlden. London and New York: Routledge.
Dadaczyński, Jerzy. 2015. „O niektórych (możliwych) obszarach badań teologii nauki.” In Teologia nauki, edited by Janusz Mączka and Piotr Urbańczyk, 75–95. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
de Cusa, Nicolas. 1970. “De Pace Fidei.” In Nicolai de Cusa Opera Omnia, edited by Ramond Klibansky and Bascour Hildebrand. Vol. 7. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag.
Edwards, Denis. 1999. The God of Evolution: A Trinitarian Theology. Paulist Press.
Einstein, Albert. 1936. “Physics and Reality.” Journal of the Franklin Institute 221(3): 349–82. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0016-0032(36)91047-5.
Evers, Dirk. 2017. “Creation and Contingency.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.35.
Greshake, Gisbert. 1996. “Trinität als Inbegriff des christlichen Glaubens.” In Christlicher Glaube in der Begegnung mit dem Islam, edited by Andreas Bsteh, 327–42. Mödling: Verlag St. Gabriel.
Greshake, Gisbert. 1997. Der dreieine Gott: Eine trinitarische Theologie. Freiburg im Breisgau Basel Wien: Herder.
Grygiel, Wojciech P. 2018. “In What Sense Can the Scientifically Driven Theology Be Considered as a Continuation of the Doctrinal Tradition?” Theological Research. The Journal of Systematic Theology 6: 31–52.
Grygiel, Wojciech P. 2022. “A Critical Analysis of the Philosophical Motivations and Development of the Concept of the Field of Rationality as a Representation of the Fundamental Ontology of the Physical Reality.” Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce) 72: 87–108.
Heller, Michał. 1992a. Nowa fizyka i nowa teologia. Tarnów: Biblos.
Heller, Michał. 1992b. “Program teologii nauki.” In Nowa fizyka i nowa teologia, edited by Michał Heller, 116–18. Tarnów: Biblos.
Heller, Michał. 1996a. The New Physics and a New Theology. Vatican: Vatican Observatory.
Heller, Michał. 1996b. “A Program for Theology of Science.” Studies in Science and Theology 4: 41–4.
Heller, Michał. 1997. Uchwycić przemijanie. Kraków: Wydawnictwo ZNAK.
Heller, Michał. 2003a. “A Program for Theology of Science.” In Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion, edited by Michał Heller, 29–32. Philadelphia – London: Templeton Foundation Press.
Heller, Michał, ed. 2003b. “Science and Faith in Interaction.” In Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion, 153–161. Philadelphia–London: Templeton Foundation Press.
Heller, Michał. 2003c. Chaos, “Probability and the Compressibility of the World.” In Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion, edited by Michał Heller, 127–143. Philadelphia–London: Templeton Foundation Press.
Heller, Michał. 2003d. “Scientific Rationality and Christian Logos.” In Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion, edited by Michał Heller, 47–57. Philadelphia–London: Templeton Foundation Press.
Heller, Michał. 2003e. “Generalizations: From Quantum Mechanics to God.” In Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion, edited by Michał Heller, 100–26. Philadelphia–London: Templeton Foundation Press.
Heller, Michał. 2006. “Czy świat jest matematyczny?” In Filozofia i wszechświat, edited by Michał Heller, 48–57. Kraków: Universitas.
Heller, Michał. 2013. Philosophy of Chance: A Cosmic Fugue with a Prelude and a Coda. Translated by Rafal Smietana. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Heller, Michał. 2014. “The Field of Rationality and the Category Theory.” In Mathematical Structures of the Universe, edited by Michał Eckstein, Michał Heller, and Sebastian J. Szybka, 441–57. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Heller, Michał. 2015. „Wstęp do teologii nauki.” In Teologia nauki, edited by Janusz Mączka and Piotr Urbańczyk, 13–22. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Heller, Michał. 2019a. Nauka i teologia: niekoniecznie tylko na jednej planecie. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Heller, Michał. 2019b. “How Is Philosophy in Science Possible?” Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce) 66: 231–49.
Heller, Michał. 2021. Bóg i geometria: Gdy przestrzeń była Bogiem. 1st edition. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Jaeger, Lydia. 2010. “The Contingency of Laws of Nature in Science and Theology.” Foundations of Physics 40(9): 1611–24. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10701-010-9470-y.
Jaeger, Lydia. 2018. “The Contingency of Creation and Modern Science.” Theology and Science 16 (1): 62–78. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2017.1413813.
Jaki, Stanley L. 1979. Origin of Science and the Science of Its Origin. First Edition. South Bend, Ind: Regnery Gateway.
Jaki, Stanley L. 1990. Savior of Science. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press Ltd. Kasper, Walter. 1970. The God of Jesus Christ. New York: Paulist Press.
Kehl, Medard. 2006. Und Gott sah, dass es gut war: Eine Theologie der Schöpfung. 2nd ed. Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder.
Knauer, Peter. 1986. Unseren Glauben Verstehen. Würzburg: Echter.
Küng, Hans, and Heinrich von Stietencron. 1999. Christentum Und Weltreligionen. Hinduismus. München–Zürich: Pieper.
Ladyman, James, Don Ross, David Spurrett, and John Collier. 2009. Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized. 1st edition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
Ligomenides, Panos A. 2010. “Scientific Knowledge as a Bridge to the Mind of God.” In The Trinity and an Entangled World: Relationality in Physical Science and Theology, edited by John Polkinghorne, 227. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Macek, Wiesław M. 2010. Teologia nauki według księdza Michała Hellera. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego.
Mączka, Janusz, and Piotr Urbańczyk, eds. 2015. Teologia nauki. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Maurer, Armand Augustine. 1982. Medieval Philosophy. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies.
Maziarka, Tomasz. 2016. „W stronę teologii nauki – na kanwie myśli ks. prof. Michała Hellera.” Tarnowskie Studia Teologiczne 35(1): 7–18. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/tst.1711.
Murphy, Nancey. 1993. Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning. First Edition. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Nicolaidis, Argyris. 2010. “Relational Nature.” In The Trinity and an Entangled World: Relationality in Physical Science and Theology, edited by John Polkinghorne, 93–106. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Pannenberg, Wolfhart. 1991. Systematische Theologie. Vol. 2. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Peacocke, Arthur R. 1993. Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming – Natural, Divine and Human. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Peacocke, Arthur R. 2004. “Articulating God’s Presence in and to the World Unveiled by the Sciences.” In In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God’s Presence in a Scientific World, edited by Philip Clayton and Arthur R. Peacocke, 137–54. Grand Rapids, MI – Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Pedersen, Olaf. 2007. Two Books: Historial Notes on Some Interactions Between Natural Science and Theology, edited by George V. Coyne S.J and Sierotowicz Tadeusz. 1st edition. Vatican: Vatican Observatory.
Polkinghorne, John. 1998. Science and Theology: An Introduction. London–Minneapolis: SPCK, Fortress Press.
Polkinghorne, John. 2004. Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality. First Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Polkinghorne, John. 2007a. Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Polkinghorne, John. 2007b. Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion. First Edition. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press.
Polkinghorne, John. 2010a. “The Demise of Democritus.” In The Trinity and an Entangled World: Relationality in Physical Science and Theology, edited by John Polkinghorne, 1–14. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Polkinghorne, John, ed. 2010b. The Trinity and an Entangled World: Relationality in Physical Science and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 2004. Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Russell, Robert J. 2000. “Quantum Physics in Philosophical and Theological Perspective.” In Physics, Philosophy, and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding, edited by Robert John Russell, William R. Stoeger, and George V.
Coyne, 343–74. Vatican City State: University of Notre Dame Press.
Simmons, Ernest L. 2014. The Entangled Trinity: Quantum Physics and Theology. Fortress Press. Minneapolis, Minn: 1517 Media.
Walker, Ralph C.S. 2016. “Contingency.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1st ed. London: Routledge. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780415249126-N008-1.
Ware, Kallistos. 2010. “The Holy Trinity: Model for Personhood-in-Relation.” In The Trinity and an Entangled World: Relationality in Physical Science and Theology, edited by John Polkinghorne, 107–29. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Wegter-McNelly, Kirk. 2011. The Entangled God: Divine Relationality and Quantum Physics: 15. 1st edition. London: Routledge.
Wolde, Ellen Van. 2009. “Why the Verb אדב Does Not Mean ‘to Create’ in Genesis 1.1-2.4a.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 34(1): 3–23.
Woźniak, Robert J. 2015. „Modele z nauk ścisłych we współczesnej teologii trynitarnej.” In Teologia nauki, edited by Janusz Mączka and Piotr Urbańczyk, 377–407. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Życiński, Józef. 1987. „Filozoficzne aspekty matematyczności przyrody.” In Filozofować w kontekście nauki, edited by Michał Heller, Alicja Michalik, and Józef Życiński, 170–85. Kraków: Polskie Towarzystwo Teologiczne.
Życiński, Józef. 2014. Transcendencja i naturalizm. 1st edition. Kraków: Copernicus Center Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Wojciech Piotr Grygiel, Krystian Kałuża
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
CC BY ND 4.0. The Creator/Contributor is the Licensor, who grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work on the fields indicated in the License Agreement.
- The Licensor grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work/related rights item specified in § 1 within the following fields: a) recording of Work/related rights item; b) reproduction (multiplication) of Work/related rights item in print and digital technology (e-book, audiobook); c) placing the copies of the multiplied Work/related rights item on the market; d) entering the Work/related rights item to computer memory; e) distribution of the work in electronic version in the open access form on the basis of Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 3.0) via the digital platform of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Press and file repository of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
- Usage of the recorded Work by the Licensee within the above fields is not restricted by time, numbers or territory.
- The Licensor grants the license for the Work/related rights item to the Licensee free of charge and for an unspecified period of time.
FULL TEXT License Agreement
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 120
Number of citations: 0