conflict thesisnoun phrase
KON-flikt THEE-sis
The historical claim, popularized in the nineteenth century by John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White, that science and religion are inherently and perpetually at war. Most historians of science now regard the conflict thesis as a significant oversimplification.
"The conflict thesis makes for dramatic history, but it ignores the many scientists — from Copernicus to Mendel — who were devoutly religious."
natural theologynoun phrase
NACH-er-ul thee-OL-uh-jee
The attempt to prove or demonstrate religious truths — particularly the existence and nature of God — through reason and observation of the natural world, without appealing to scripture or revelation. William Paley's watchmaker argument is a classic example.
"Natural theology reached its peak with Paley's argument that the complexity of the eye, like a watch, implied a designer — an argument Darwin's theory later undermined."
concordismnoun
KON-kor-diz-um
The attempt to harmonize religious texts with scientific findings by interpreting scripture in ways that align with current scientific knowledge. Critics argue that concordism forces texts to mean things their authors never intended.
"Concordism reads the 'six days' of Genesis as six geological ages — a creative but contested attempt to reconcile the Bible with modern cosmology."
NOMAnoun (acronym)
NOH-muh
Non-Overlapping Magisteria — Stephen Jay Gould's proposal that science and religion each have their own domain of authority: science covers the empirical realm of fact and theory, religion covers questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. Each is sovereign in its own territory.
"Gould's NOMA suggests that arguing about whether evolution disproves God is a category error — science and religion simply answer different questions."
intelligent designnoun phrase
in-TEL-ih-jent dih-ZYN
The argument that certain features of living organisms are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than by natural selection. Courts in the United States have ruled it is not science but a form of creationism, as it invokes supernatural explanation.
"Intelligent design's claim that the bacterial flagellum is 'irreducibly complex' was tested and rejected in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial."
creationismnoun
kree-AY-shun-iz-um
The belief that the universe and living organisms originate from specific acts of divine creation, as described in religious texts, rather than from natural processes. Young-earth creationism holds that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old; old-earth creationism accepts an ancient universe.
"Young-earth creationism requires rejecting not just evolutionary biology but also physics, geology, and cosmology — sciences that independently confirm an ancient universe."
theistic evolutionnoun phrase
thee-IS-tik ev-uh-LOO-shun
The view that God created the universe and living beings through the process of evolution — accepting the scientific account of evolution while maintaining that it is the mechanism of divine creation. This is the position of many mainstream religious denominations.
"Theistic evolution allows a Christian to accept Darwin fully while still believing that evolution was the means by which God brought humanity into being."
methodological naturalismnoun phrase
meth-uh-duh-LOJ-ih-kul NACH-er-ul-iz-um
The procedural commitment of science to seek only natural causes for natural phenomena, setting aside supernatural explanations as outside science's scope. It is a working rule, not a claim that supernatural entities do not exist.
"Methodological naturalism does not require scientists to be atheists — it simply requires that they look for natural explanations in their professional work."
dialog modelnoun phrase
DY-uh-log MOD-ul
One of Ian Barbour's four models for relating science and religion — the view that the two disciplines can learn from each other, share methodological parallels, and engage in productive conversation without conflict or fusion.
"The dialog model suggests that questions about the fine-tuning of the universe are genuinely interesting to both physicists and theologians, even if they answer them differently."
integration modelnoun phrase
in-teh-GRAY-shun MOD-ul
Ian Barbour's most ambitious model for science-religion relations — the attempt to develop a unified theology that incorporates scientific findings. Process theology, which uses physics and biology to rethink the nature of God, is an example.
"The integration model goes beyond dialog: it attempts to rebuild theology in light of what science has learned about the cosmos."
fine-tuning argumentnoun phrase
fyn TOO-ning AR-gyoo-ment
The cosmological argument that the physical constants of the universe are so precisely calibrated to permit life that this requires explanation — and that a divine designer is the most plausible explanation. Critics propose the multiverse as an alternative.
"The fine-tuning argument notes that if the gravitational constant were slightly different, stars could not form — a precision that some find evidence of intentional design."
theodicynoun
thee-OD-ih-see
An attempt to defend the goodness and power of God in the face of evil and suffering in the world — to justify the ways of God to humanity. The problem of evil is considered one of the strongest intellectual challenges to theism.
"Every major religion has developed its own theodicy — its own account of why a good God permits suffering — because the question demands an answer."
cosmological argumentnoun phrase
koz-muh-LOJ-ih-kul AR-gyoo-ment
A family of arguments for the existence of God based on the existence or nature of the universe — arguing that the universe requires a cause, a first mover, or a necessary being. Associated with Aquinas, Leibniz, and Kalam theology.
"The Kalam cosmological argument states: everything that begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist; therefore the universe has a cause."
ontological argumentnoun phrase
on-tuh-LOJ-ih-kul AR-gyoo-ment
The argument, originally formulated by Anselm of Canterbury, that God's existence can be proven from the very concept of God — as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, which therefore must exist in reality as well as in the mind.
"Kant rejected the ontological argument on the grounds that existence is not a property — you cannot define something into existence."
apophatic theologynoun phrase
ap-uh-FAT-ik thee-OL-uh-jee
The approach to theology that describes God only in terms of what God is not, on the grounds that divine reality transcends all human concepts and language. Also called negative theology, it is found across Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu traditions.
"Apophatic theology does not say 'God is good' but rather 'God is not evil' — preserving divine mystery by refusing to limit God with human categories."
hermeneuticsnoun
hur-muh-NOO-tiks
The theory and practice of interpretation, especially of texts. In the science-religion debate, hermeneutics determines how scripture should be read — literally, allegorically, historically — and therefore how conflicts with science are to be handled.
"Whether Genesis conflicts with evolution depends almost entirely on hermeneutics — on how one interprets what kind of text Genesis is and what it was meant to claim."
literalismnoun
LIT-er-ul-iz-um
The interpretation of religious texts as making straightforward, historically and scientifically accurate factual claims. Biblical literalism holds that the creation account, for example, describes actual events in the order described. This reading maximizes tension with science.
"Literalism requires believing that the Earth is roughly 6,000 years old — a claim that contradicts evidence from geology, physics, and astronomy."
allegorical interpretationnoun phrase
al-ih-GOR-ih-kul in-tur-prih-TAY-shun
Reading religious texts as conveying spiritual, moral, or symbolic truths rather than literal historical facts. The Church Father Origen argued in the third century that much of scripture was not intended to be read literally. Allegorical reading typically reduces conflict with science.
"An allegorical interpretation of Genesis sees the six days of creation as a theological poem about God's sovereignty, not a scientific account of origins."
scientistic atheismnoun phrase
sy-un-TIS-tik AY-thee-iz-um
The position, associated with writers like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, that science not only operates without God but actively undermines theistic belief — that the scientific worldview makes religion not just unnecessary but irrational.
"Scientistic atheism claims that Darwin didn't just explain biology — he removed the last rational reason to believe in God."
process theologynoun phrase
PROH-ses thee-OL-uh-jee
A theological movement influenced by Alfred North Whitehead that reconceives God as non-omnipotent and relational — a God who acts through persuasion rather than coercion and who is genuinely affected by the world. It attempts to integrate science and theology.
"Process theology responds to the problem of evil by arguing that God is not all-powerful and cannot simply prevent suffering — God can only persuade, not compel."
religious epistemologynoun phrase
rih-LIJ-us ih-pis-teh-MOL-uh-jee
The philosophical study of whether and how religious beliefs can be justified — whether faith requires evidence, whether religious experience constitutes knowledge, and what rational belief in God requires. Alvin Plantinga argues that belief in God can be "properly basic."
"Religious epistemology asks whether a person can be fully rational in believing in God even in the absence of scientific proof — and what kind of evidence, if any, faith requires."
agnosticismnoun
ag-NOS-tih-siz-um
The position that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable — that neither belief nor disbelief is warranted given available evidence. The term was coined by T.H. Huxley, who argued that intellectual honesty requires suspending judgment on questions that cannot be resolved.
"Huxley's agnosticism was not a weak position but a strong one: he argued that claiming to know whether God exists — in either direction — was epistemically irresponsible."
providencenoun
PROV-ih-dens
The belief that God guides and governs the course of events in the world according to a divine plan. Questions of providence become theologically urgent in light of natural evil — earthquakes, disease — which science describes in impersonal terms.
"If evolution proceeds by random mutation, how can a believer also hold that God's providence guides human history? This tension is at the heart of modern theology."
imago Deinoun phrase (Latin)
ih-MAH-goh DAY-ee
The theological concept that human beings are made "in the image of God," granting them unique dignity and moral status. Evolutionary accounts of human origins raise questions about when, how, and whether this image was conferred — a central issue in science-religion dialog.
"If humans evolved gradually from earlier hominids, at what point does imago Dei apply? The question challenges simple theological anthropology."
two-books doctrinenoun phrase
too-books DOK-trin
The historical theological idea that God has revealed truth through two "books" — scripture and the natural world — and that genuine knowledge of either cannot ultimately contradict the other. The doctrine was used by Galileo to argue that science and faith must be compatible.
"Galileo invoked the two-books doctrine to argue that a correct reading of scripture would never contradict the evidence of the heavens."