Plantinga on Natural Theology and the Relationship between Science and Religion

Abstract

Natural theology is known to be a type of theology that seeks to justify religious beliefs, particularly the belief in God, based on human knowledge unaided by revelation. Natural theology has been always seen to be a link relating science and religion. If the purpose of religion, the revealed truths and the purpose of science is a collection of human knowledge, then natural theology can always be cemented by the efforts of theologians to establish a relationship between religion and human knowledge. Is such a way valid and if it is valid, is it necessary? Plantinga in this regard has chosen two different perspectives in his intellectual life. In the first view, he did not only consider natural theology as unnecessary, but it has discredited as natural atheism. At the same time, it was emphasizing its rationality by resembling the belief in the existence of God in the belief in other minds. In the second view, however, despite the emphasis on the negation of the necessity of natural theology, he considers it epistemically valid and mentions some functions for it.

Keywords

• natural theology
• teleological argument
• science and religion
• philosophical naturalism
• alvin plantinga