Rational Scientific Theories from Theism

Approaches to Theistic Science

In these sections, various recent ideas from Physics, Biology, Psychology and Theology are presented that are connected in some way with Theistic Science.  These ideas in no way justify or prove the possibility or the content of theistic science, but, in various ways, provide some of the preliminary concepts and groundwork for the understanding of how science can be organised within theism.

The most important idea from Physics is that of disposition: of propensity or potentiality. This is because part of Theistic Science is a new account of substance that is based on love. This at first sight may appear to be a category mistake: it seems that love and substance are completely disjoint concepts with no possibility of overlap, let alone identity! However, the physics section explains how physical substances are shown in quantum mechanics to be best conceived as 'forms of propensity', and that the 'propensity' here carries all the logical and ontological roles that are required of the idea of 'substance'.  This realisation does not prove that love could be substance, but at least we begin to reformulate our metaphysical categories to entertain new ideas of substance and form. The development of such ideas, described in more detail in www.generativescience.org, is thus part of the general approach to Theistic Science.

The Biology Approach is of a different kind. Here we do not (yet) present ideas from biology, but only review some rather interesting connections between the insights gained by Emanuel Swedenborg some centuries ago with modern findings concerning the structure and function of certain viruses.

The Psychology Approach deals with a  the concept of successive stages or levels in developmental and cognitive psychology, some of the problems and suggestions in relating quantum mechanics to consciousness as has sometimes been proposed, and finally the relevance of ideas from Swedenborg to topics in psychology

The Philosophy Approach looks at dualism and theism, and questions how they may be possible. The theory of mind-body distinctions continues the discussion at www.newdualism.org, and the theory of theism is also outlined at www.newtheism.org

The Spirituality Approach starts with the general questions for distinguishing natural from spiritual processes, and looks whether this might be accomplished with a nondual approach. Links are given to personal accounts, whether mystical or near-death experiences, and finally some accounts are presented for how the spiritual world may interact with our own.

The Religion Approach first uses religious ideas to distinguish the natural from the spiritual, then considers whether there is an internal or spiritual sense in the Bible as well as the literal sense, with more details at  www.biblemeanings.info.

The Theology Approach discusses some general questions about how the Immanence of God, as in theism, can ever be consistent with the existence and operation of physical laws. This section discusses the fear that allowing a close connection between God and nature must introduce an element of arbitrariness into nature that makes laws impossible, and destroys the autonomy of nature.

See a general introduction to Theistic Science and how it connects religion with science.