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1 - Natural Theology and Religious Belief

from Part I - Faith and Rationality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2023

Jonathan Fuqua
Affiliation:
Conception Seminary College, Missouri
John Greco
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Tyler McNabb
Affiliation:
Saint Francis University, Pennsylvania
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Summary

It is no exaggeration to say that there has been an explosion of activity in the field of philosophical enquiry known as natural theology. Having been smothered in the early part of the twentieth century due to the dominance of logical positivism, natural theology began to make a comeback in the late 1950s as logical positivism collapsed and analytic philosophers took a newfound interest in metaphysical topics such as possibility and necessity, causation, time, the mind–body problem, and God. This chapter begins by considering how we might characterize natural theology as a field of enquiry. It then proceeds to survey the landscape of contemporary natural theology, which has spawned a large and at times highly technical body of literature. Finally, consideration is given to two epistemological issues confronting the theist who wishes to appeal to natural theology, namely, the problem of the gap(s) and the problem of accessibility.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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