History of Christianity and Science

$199.00

This course will introduce you to the vast and variegated ways in which the natural sciences and Christianity have interacted in Western history. It covers the entire period from antiquity up to the recent present. (See the “Preview” tab above for a list of topics covered.) As a Greystone Theological Institute course, you will not only become versed in the main landmarks and debates within this history, but also gain proficiency in interpreting the primary source texts which scholars use to write it. Of equal importance to learning the facts of these historical cases is learning how to interpret the sources which are used to generate such “facts”. This is a skill essential to genuinely learn from past actors and events (rather than merely reinforce preconceived notions), but also to refute interpretations motivated by anti-Christian bias or lazy Christians unwilling to exert the intellectual effort demanded by complex real-world problems.

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This course will introduce you to the vast and variegated ways in which the natural sciences and Christianity have interacted in Western history. It covers the entire period from antiquity up to the recent present. (See the “Preview” tab above for a list of topics covered.) As a Greystone Theological Institute course, you will not only become versed in the main landmarks and debates within this history, but also gain proficiency in interpreting the primary source texts which scholars use to write it. Of equal importance to learning the facts of these historical cases is learning how to interpret the sources which are used to generate such “facts”. This is a skill essential to genuinely learn from past actors and events (rather than merely reinforce preconceived notions), but also to refute interpretations motivated by anti-Christian bias or lazy Christians unwilling to exert the intellectual effort demanded by complex real-world problems.

This course will introduce you to the vast and variegated ways in which the natural sciences and Christianity have interacted in Western history. It covers the entire period from antiquity up to the recent present. (See the “Preview” tab above for a list of topics covered.) As a Greystone Theological Institute course, you will not only become versed in the main landmarks and debates within this history, but also gain proficiency in interpreting the primary source texts which scholars use to write it. Of equal importance to learning the facts of these historical cases is learning how to interpret the sources which are used to generate such “facts”. This is a skill essential to genuinely learn from past actors and events (rather than merely reinforce preconceived notions), but also to refute interpretations motivated by anti-Christian bias or lazy Christians unwilling to exert the intellectual effort demanded by complex real-world problems.

Lectures

Full Course | 19 hours

1. Introduction: ‘Science and Religion’, History and Context
1.1 ‘Science and Religion’: Ian Barbour’s Four Views
1.2 ‘Science and Religion’: Beyond Barbour
1.3 The Invention of the ‘Conflict Thesis’

2. Christianity and Science as Christianity and Culture
2.1 A Contemporary Question with a Long History
2.2 Moses and Israel on the Border of Canaan
2.3 Contemporary Interpretations of Genesis 1

3. Early Church Interactions with Natural Philosophy
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Augustine, Neoplatonism, and Free Will
3.3 Hypatia of Alexandria

4. Aristotle and the Church in the Middle Ages
4.1 Aristotle’s Long Journey into the European Universities
4.2 Thomas Aquinas
4.3 The Condemnations of 1277

5. Galileo and the Church
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Galileo’s Life and Work
5.3 Galileo’s Trials and Stories About Them

6. The Scientific Revolution in Christian Context
6.1 Some Historiographical Qualifications
6.2 ‘Causes’ of the Scientific Revolution
6.3 Christian Theology and the Scientific Revolution

7. Kepler, Newton, and Leibniz
7.1 Johannes Kepler
7.2 Isaac Newton
7.3 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

8. Natural Theology
8.1 Introduction: The Biblical Motivation
8.2 Early Examples
8.3 A Central Doctrine
8.4 Why Natural Theology?

9. Earth Sciences
9.1 The Birthplace of a Discipline
9.2 The Former World of Fossils and Extinction
9.3 Flood Geology

10. Darwin and His Reception-Part 1
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Charles Darwin and His Theory of Transmutation
10.3 T. H. Huxley, "Darwin’s Bulldog"

11. Darwin and His Reception-Part 2
11.1 Christian Scientists Who Supported Darwin
11.2 Charles Hodge on Darwin
11.3 B. B. Warfield on Darwin

12. Physiology of the Soul
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Albrecht von Haller
12.3 John C. Eccles

13. Modern Physics and Cosmology
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Modern Physics
13.3 Modern Cosmology

14. Christians at Court
14.1 The Scopes Trial (1925)
14.2 Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) and McLean v. Arkansas (1981-1982)
14.3 Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005)