How Does the Incarnation Integrate Science & Theology | Kevin Vanhoozer
Channel: Henry Center
Date: 2018-08-08

Lecture Title - T. F. Torrance’s Kataphysical Poetics: How the Incarnation Relates Science to Theology

For T.F. Torrance, theological and scientific inquiry stand or fall together. Whereas Western scientists and theologians, ancient and modern, too often depend on universal methods and criteria, Torrance’s fundamental axiom is to think everything, from amoebas to the Alpha and Omega, in ways appropriate to their respective natures. Scientific theology thus begins with incarnation—the self-communication of God in space-time—also the controlling center for the doctrine of creation, insofar as “all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16). Viewing creation through the lens of Christology allows Torrance to integrate theology and science, and to argue that theology contributes something to our knowledge of the natural world hidden from the natural sciences, namely, its contingent order, triadic relationality, and proleptic conditioning by redemption.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer (PhD University of Cambridge) is Research Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine (Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), and Hearers and Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine (Lexham Press, 2019).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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