12&13 Science and Orthodox Theology

Articles:

1. Patristic Views on the Nature and Status of Scientific Knowledge
   Author: Jean-Claude Larchet Show more...

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   The Fathers have a variable approach to science. Science is often respected in its own method and in the knowledge that comes from it. Medical science, for example, was recognized very early in its autonomy. A Father like St Gregory of Nyssa, in the fourth century, had no difficulty in recognizing Hippocratic-Galenic medicine despite its pagan origin. For his part, St Gregory Palamas, in the fourteenth century, does not hesitate to affirm: ‘In matters of physiology, there is no dogma’, a liberal position, but only in appearance, because there is in the background the idea that scientific knowledge is relative and should be relativized as a mode of knowledge. If some Fathers admit the possibility, up to a certain point, of the use of reason (St Maximus the Confessor) or of logical reasoning (St Gregory Palamas) in the theological field, it is however commonly accepted that science remains limited to a knowledge of appearances only. This does not contradict the conception that current science has. On one hand, it defines itself as the study of phenomena (τα φαινόμενα, that is to say what appears to the senses or to the instruments of observation and measurement) and of their laws. On the other hand, the neo-Kantian conception of modern science, considers that the scientist knows reality only as it appears to him or her and as he or she theorizes it by reason. Then, science is not able to claim that knowledge, always relative, coincides with reality as it is in itself, the essence of being remaining forever inaccessible to this type of approach. From this point of view, some Fathers stress that the true knowledge of the nature of things is that of their logoi (St Maximus the Confessor), which is only possible by the intellect (νοῦς) in its contemplative function (θεωρία), which presupposes a whole spiritual preparation (ἄσκησις). Compared to this form of superior knowledge, scientific-type knowledge is, in the eyes of some Fathers (Isaac the Syrian) only a degenerate form of knowledge, implemented by fallen man as an ersatz to true spiritual knowledge, which he has lost and cannot easily recover.

2. The Dialogue between Orthodox Theology and Science as Explication of the Human Condition
   Author: Alexei Nesteruk Show more...

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   The paper discusses the philosophical sense of the dialogue between science and theology. It starts with the recognition that the foundation of both science and theology originates in human beings, having an ambiguous position in the universe that cannot be explicated on metaphysical grounds but can be interpreted theologically. The dialogue between science and theology demonstrates that the difference in hermeneutics of representation of the world in the phenomenality of objects and the inaugural events of human life and religious experience pertains to the basic characteristic of the human condition and that the intended overcoming of this difference under the guise of the ‘dialogue’ represents, in fact, an exis- tentially untenable enterprise. The paradoxical position of humanity in the world (being an object in the world and subject for the world) is treated as being the cause in the split between science and theology. Since, according to modern philosophy, no reconciliation between two opposites in the hermeneutics of the subject is possible, the whole issue of the facticity of human subjectivity as the sense-bestow- ing centre of being acquires theological dimensions, requiring new developments in both theology and philosophy. The intended overcoming of the unknowability of man by himself, tacitly attempted through the ‘reconciliation’ of science and theology (guided by a purpose to ground man in some metaphysical substance), is not ontologically achievable, but demonstrates the working of formal purposefulness (in the sense of Kant). Then the dialogue between theology and science can be considered a teleological activity representing an open-ended hermeneutics of the human condition.

3. Actor-Network Theory and Byzantine Philosophy
   Author: Georgi Kapriev Show more...

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   The text offers a detailed reflection on the results of almost 20 years of work focusing on the paradigm of Actor-Network-Theory (ANT), including the application of concepts and methods inherent in Byzantine philosophy. The motivation for such reflection is based on the opportunity to expand and systematize latest research insights on the same topic by Ivan Chalakov and Stoyan Tanev. The starting point is the attempt to unfold the sociological explanations of phenomena such as endurance, resistance and innovation, which are difficult to explain through the paradigms of classical sociology. The suggestedanalysis adopts concepts such as essence-power-energy, hexis, perichōrēsis, hypostasis, prosōpon andbody, to refine some of the positions characteristic of the ANT paradigm and propose new ones that allow to problematize the principle of symmetry, the understating of initiative, essence and the figure of the actor. The developed point of view is demonstrated by analyzing some of the paradoxes inherent in the understanding of the human hypostasis and the questions emerging from the theoretical prescriptions of transhumanism.

4. The Cosmos in the Bible and science
   Author: Georgios J. Gounaris Show more...

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   In this article I present the Biblical description of the Creation of the Cosmos in parallel with the descrip- tion of contemporary science. The first part deals with the events that started the whole Universe. These are the events that took place during the first day of the Bible and the night that followed it. The first day begins with darkness, which is subsequently dissolved by a bright light that initially shines like in a hot summer noon. In the sequel, this light evolves and eventually disappears through an impressive evening, after about twenty million years. Then comes the first night that ends after about nine billion years, with the emergence of the primitive Earth. The second part of Creation describes how an earth observer would have viewed the formation of the Earth and its waters and the appearance of the living beings and man. The second to the sixth days appear to be merely long periods of time. They do not have a day-night structure like the first day.

5. Quantum Physics and Christian Faith
   Author: John Breck Show more...

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   “Traditional” or “Orthodox” Christianity is founded on the conviction that God exists in the paradoxical state of “infinitely distant” yet “closer to us than our own heart.” That state is characterized by “superim- posed” and “entangled” conditions that involve antinomies: God as both One and Three; Christ as both God and man; the Church as a fallen earthly institution and as a source of divine grace and life, etc. This article demonstrates the analogous relationships that exist between such elements of Christian faith and the domain of quantum mechanics. The presence and activity of God are seen in a new perspective, shaped by recent scientific discoveries concerning the microcosm. The world of the “very small” holds the key to a perception of God that reveals both His continuing creative work and His ineffable mystery.

6. Exploring Analogy of Debates to Approach the Encounter between Orthodox Theology and Quantum Physics
   Author: Stoyan Tanev Show more...

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   This article adopts the Analogical Comparative Theological Approach (ACTA) to explore the encounter between Orthodox theology and quantum physics. The ACTA approach integrates the intuitions of the an- alogical isomorphism and comparative theology methods by focusing on issues that are of high relevance for both theology and physics. The specific issues addressed here are the ones emerging within the context of two important debates: a) between St Gregory Palamas and Barlaam the Calabrian in the fourteenth century, and b) between Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr in the twentieth century. The first debate refers to some of the key aspects of Orthodox theology and spirituality. The second debate is related to the never-ending challenges of the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the nature of physical reality. The analysis suggests that the controversial issues in the two debates are deeply rooted in disagreements about the nature of knowledge, the interplay between epistemological and ontologi- cal issues, the challenges of applying logical arguments, the role of apophaticism, the challenges of knowing and the ways these challenges affect the interpretation and sharing of human experience. The discussion of the role of apophaticism is of particular interest since it shows a common need of going beyond representation, assertion and negation by focusing on the epistemological conditions of knowledge emerging through union and participation. This need is more sharply expressed in Orthodox theology where the apophatic does not emerge as a comment on representation, but as an opportunity for participation. The fundamental presupposition of the article is that one can learn a lot about theology and quantum physics by adopting the ACTA exploratory lens to examine the potential similitudes between the ways theologians and physicists debate about their ways of knowing and the challenges of articulating their personal experience with reality. One of the key benefits of the suggested approach is its ability to examine similitudes between two so different domains of human experience – one based on Divinely revealed knowledge, the other on the proactive and dialogical human engagement with the deepest layers of physical nature. The study does not pretend to be conclusive. It should be considered as part of an ongoing reflection on the value of exploring the encounter between theology and physics.

7. Logic of Mystery: Reading Wittgenstein in parallel to Orthodox theology and quantum theory
   Author: Tim Labron Show more...

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   Theology and philosophy are predominately found within an analytical context, that is, a context within which a ‘rigorous’ system of thought is built from one element to another element. In parallel fashion, the same can be said regarding classical physics and its mechanical casual movement from one point to another point. Yet there are voices stepping out of these systems and moving towards a more ‘living’ thought. The move toward the ‘living’ can be found in post-classical physics with the inclusion of the observer, but long before this shift in physics there is the long standing Orthodox theology, and in between there are well known yet often misunderstood philosophers, such as Ludwig Wittgenstein. These ‘living’ voices want to draw us away from inert abstract systems back to ourselves and thereby back to humanity.

8. Psychoanalysis And Eschatology
   Author: Nikolaos Loudovikos Show more...

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   After the arrival of psychoanalysis, nothing has remained untouched by it, and this is even more the case if we add Freud’s meta-psychological ambitions, which sought to explain even more broadly the phenomena present in the individual soul, such as culture, religion, art, etc. Theology in particular felt directly threatened by Freud’s militant atheism. Despite this fact, however, I would still hazard saying that at the deeper level of ontological presuppositions and consequences, psychoanalysis has yet to receive proper theological treatment or be given sufficient interpretation.

   
   

9. Theology and the Discovery of the Unconscious: Preliminary Remarks
   Author: Nikolaos Loudovikos Show more...

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   The most recent relevant discussion seems to involve, perhaps unavoidably, a theological account of the Unconscious, which lies behind almost all concepts on the adoption of which concepts psychoanalysis depends. In the present paper I will limit myself to studying some important books that show the current status of relevant research, and then I will attempt to offer some more, though still preliminary, theological remarks.

10. Ways of Comprehending
    Author: ATHANASIOS S. FOKAS Show more...

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    This paper is the Prologue of the forthcoming book Ways of Comprehending, by A.S. Fokas (World Scientific, 2022): This book is dedicated to my three children and to all young people in the hope that it will offer them the happiness and personal fulfilment that follows from acquiring an understanding of the origin of their thoughts, feelings, and actions.

11. Evolution, Genetics, and Nature: Implications for Orthodox
    Author: Gayle E. Woloschak Show more...

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    In the science-religion community much effort is placed on doing ‘evolution apologetics — i.e., defending evolution against creationism or intelligent design or some other form of fundamentalist perspective on human origins. This article will not engage in the usual apologetics as that has been done elsewhere (1–3) in depth.1 Instead, this work will attempt to discuss evolution from the perspective of the implica- tions it has for how we think about humanity now and in the future.