Theology and science: The quest for a new apologetics

This paper claims that the hazy intersection between the diverse fields of theology and the other sciences is not to be clarified in the first place by exploring methodological parallels or degrees of consonance between theology and the sciences. What should be explored first is the epistemological question of the nature and status of explanations and of explanatory claims in theology and science. The similarities, as well as important differences between theology and science, will thus be highlighted when we focus this discussion on the shaping of rationality in theology and science, on the hermeneutical problem of relating context and meaning, and on the fallibilist nature of both theological and scientific truth claims

Rethinking the theory of evolution : new perspectives on human evolution and why it matters for theology

CITATION: Van Huyssteen, J. W. 2016. Rethinking the theory of evolution : new perspectives on human evolution and why it matters for theology. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 72(4):1-5, doi:10.4102/hts.v72i4.3664.The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.zaThis article addresses the issue of human imagination from the perspective of ‘niche construction’ in the wider discussion about ‘what makes us human’ and what it means to be a ‘self’, specifically for the Christian faith and for theology. In the article, a brief review of human origins and human evolution demonstrates the path and substantive impact of changes in behaviour, life histories and bodies in our human ancestors and us as humans ourselves. In the interactive process of niche construction, potentially changeable natural environments were, and are, acting continuously on variation in the gene pools of populations, and in this way gene pools were modified over generations. It is argued that a distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success and can be seen as one of the structurally significant aspects of the transition from earlier members of the genus Homo to ourselves as we are today. There is thus a naturalness to human imagination, even to religious imagination, that facilitates engagement with the world that is truly distinct. This provides fruitful addition to the toolkit of inquiry for both evolutionary scientists and interdisciplinary theologians interested in reconstructing the long, winding historical path to humanity.http://www.hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/3664Publisher's versio

Rethinking the theory of evolution : new perspectives on human evolution and why it matters for theology

This article addresses the issue of human imagination from the perspective of ‘niche construction’ in the wider discussion about ‘what makes us human’ and what it means to be a ‘self’, specifically for the Christian faith and for theology. In the article, a brief review of human origins and human evolution demonstrates the path and substantive impact of changes in behaviour, life histories and bodies in our human ancestors and us as humans ourselves. In the interactive process of niche construction, potentially changeable natural environments were, and are, acting continuously on variation in the gene pools of populations, and in this way gene pools were modified over generations. It is argued that a distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success and can be seen as one of the structurally significant aspects of the transition from earlier members of the genus Homo to ourselves as we are today. There is thus a naturalness to human imagination, even to religious imagination, that facilitates engagement with the world that is truly distinct. This provides fruitful addition to the toolkit of inquiry for both evolutionary scientists and interdisciplinary theologians interested in reconstructing the long, winding historical path to humanity.Original Research: Volume 17 in the South African Science and Religion Forum Series, edited by Prof. Dr Cornel du Toit (UNISA) and Prof. Dr Danie Veldsman, entitled ‘Creation, Consciousness and Christology: Evolutionary Perspectives’, papers presented at the 20th conference of the South African Science and Religion Forum (SASRF) of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion held at the University of South Africa, Pretoria 16–18 September 2015.http://www.hts.org.zaam2017Dogmatics and Christian Ethic

Lecture two : the evolution of morality: the emergence of personhood

CITATION: Van Huyssteen, J. W. 2017. Lecture two : the evolution of morality: the emergence of personhood. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 73(3):1-11, doi:10.4102/hts.v73i3.4487.The original publication is available at http://www.hts.org.zaPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.In a series of three articles, presented at the Goshen Annual Conference on Science and Religion in 2015, with the theme ‘Interdisciplinary Theology and the Archeology of Personhood’, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen considers the problem of human evolution – also referred to as ‘the archaeology of personhood’ – and its broader impact on theological anthropology. This trajectory of lectures tracks a select number of challenging contemporary proposals for the evolution of crucially important aspects of human personhood. Lecture Two argues that, on a postfoundationalist view, some of our religious beliefs are indeed more plausible and credible than others. This also goes for our tendency to moralise and for the strong moral convictions, we often hold. It demonstrates that, in spite of a powerful focus on the evolutionary origins of moral awareness, ethics emerge on a culturally autonomous level, which means that the epistemic standing of the particular moral judgements human beings make is independent of whatever the natural sciences can says about their genesis.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/4487Publishers' versio

The emergence of personhood : why the evolution of the moral sense and symbolic behaviour defines the human self

Please cite as follows:Van Huyssteen, J.W. 2014. The emergence of personhood: why the evolution of the moral sense and symbolic behaviour defines the human self. Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 55(1): 1035-1053, doi:10.5952/55-Supp%201-684.The original publication is available at http://ojs.reformedjournals.co.zaIn this essay I want to ask whether contemporary theories of human evolution might provide us with important bridge theories to theological anthropology and thus to a positive and constructive way of appropriating Darwinian thought for Christian theology. From a more philosophical point of view I am asking whether Darwin’s perspective on human evolution can help us move forward to more constructive, holistic notions of self and personhood. In John de Gruchy’s remarkable new book, Led into Mystery, we not only see this kind of “archaeology of personhood” strongly implied, but de Gruchy lifts up issues that are of great importance for evolutionary anthropology, and goes into a direct dialogue with neuropsychology and the neurosciences. In so doing he reveals the crucial impact of these sciences for central theological themes like the question of God, the perennial theodicee problem, the imago Dei, human consciousness, free will, life after death, and brain, mind, body and soul. In this way De Gruchy touches directly on some of the greatest controversies in current science and theology discussions. I would like to show that John de Gruchy places these crucial interdisciplinary issues in the centre of discussions on the human self, and in so doing opens up exciting trajectories that even go beyond the focused scope of his own project – notably challenging implications for the evolution of morality and of religion.http://ojs.reformedjournals.co.za/index.php/ngtt/article/view/430Publisher's versio