Victoria Popoola

Natural Theology is a branch of theology based on reason and ordinary experience that explains God’s rational as a part of the physical world deals with describing nature and the existence of God lacking special or supposed supernatural revelation

In about BC, Marcus Terentius Varro established a distinction of three kinds of theology Civil – “the people” asking how God relates to daily life and the state Natural – philosophers asking for the nature of God or gods Mystical – poets crafting mythology

Natural Theology was formulated at a time where people preferred Deism. Deism is basically a theistic position based upon the preference of natural reason over sacred revelation Only “chosen people” experienced divine revelations High Middle Ages Made fixed part of Roman Catholic dogma in 1870 Not intended to replace faith or grace of God revealed in Christ Opportunity to establish certain truth by means common to all

Thomas Aquinas Adopted Aristotle’s beliefs First great proponent of Natural Theology Synthesized Greek philosophy and the Gospel Laid groundwork for “natural law” defined theology as a "science" in the Aristotelian sense, that is, a definable body of knowledge with its own sources, principles, methods, and content; beyond the truths derived from the study of Scripture there was another body of compatible truths based upon the application of reason to the created world

William Paley Made Natural Theology best known to Englishmen in the 1800s How life works? Used a mechanical analogy of the world, comparing it to a watch Design qua purpose – purpose behind the design Describes intricacies of human eye, the lacteal systems in mammals design of a bird's wing

Charles Darwin Occupied Paley’s room at Cambridge University 1838 –1859 Natural Selection “On the Origin of Species” Major conflict Explaining adaptation

David Hume 18 th century philosopher Criticized Paley in "Dialogues concerning Natural Religion“ Argued that God of theism could not be “THE Designer” Said designer would be capable of making mistakes and have successes Explains imperfections Or theory of team of gods/goddesses

Science demonstrates dynamics of nature 20 th century, Natural Theology out of favor Metaphysics Theory of Evolution widely accepted Second half of 20 th century, Metaphysics and Natural Theology Return Practiced with a degree of diversity and confidence unprecedented since the late Middle Ages

Natural Theology - deals with describing nature and the existence of God lacking special or supposed supernatural revelation. High Middle Ages, 1870 Advocates Thomas Aquinas, William Paley Opponents Charles Darwin, David Hume Natural theology, more evolved today

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