Natural theology
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'''Natural theology''' is that part of the [[philosophy of religion]] dealing with attempts to prove the [[existence of God]] and other divine attributes purely philosophically, that is, without recourse to any special or supposedly supernatural revelation. (The flip-side of this endeavor is sometimes referred to as "natural atheology," in which atheistic philosophers attempt to prove that God does not exist or to refute the proofs of theistic philosophers.) The expression 'natural theology' (theologia naturalis) survives in quotes of [[Varro]] by [[Augustine of Hippo]], drawing on [[Stoic]] tradition, with reference to the deepest theological insights of the classical philosophers. Natural theology (or '''natural religion''') is [[theology]] based on [[reason]] and ordinary [[experience]], explaining the gods rationally, as part of the physical world.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Thus it is distinguished from ''[[revealed theology]]'' (or ''revealed religion'') which is based on [[scripture]] and [[religious experiences]] of various kinds; and also from ''transcendental theology'', theology from ''a priori'' reasoning (see [[Immanuel Kant]] ''et alia'').
Natural theology was originally part of [[philosophy]] and [[theology]], and theologians still study it; but most of its content also forms part of the [[philosophy of religion]].
==Development==
===Astrotheology ===
Prior to [[Isaac Newton]], 'astrotheology', natural theology based upon astronomy, was a prominent theological view. Newton himself believed that the facts of astrophysics yielded evidence of divine contrivance of the universe, and attributed the action, at a distance, of gravity to this immaterial divine agency. However, his astronomical achievements made necessary a distinction between astrotheology and natural theology which was based upon biology. Once his work had explained the patterns of motion, they did not seem to demand further purposive explanation, so natural theology turned to biology for evidence of purpose. Thereafter astrotheology became a neglected position, having its last prominent advocacy in the ''[[#The Bridgewater Treatises|Bridgewater Treatises]]'' of 1833.<ref name=adaptation>Adaptation: Natural Selection in Evolution, Academic Press, Michael R. Rose, George V. Lauder, pp 18-20.</ref><ref>''The Modern Predicament: A Study In The Philosophy Of Religion'', H. J. Paton, 2004, p20</ref>
==Key proponents==
{{Unreferencedsection|date=June 2008}}
The earliest literary evidence comes from [[Hindu]] sacred texts such as the ''Upanishads''. The ''Upanishads'' are metaphysical musings by the ancient sages of [[India]] and contain questions like - "Who was there before the creation?" Besides these, the [[Vedas]] also delve into scientifically analyzing the concept of God. According to the Vedas creation of the universe is shrouded in mystery. The Rig Veda says:
"Then was not non-existence nor existence: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it. What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water? Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider. "
[[Marcus Terentius Varro]] (116–27 BC) in his ''Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum''
established a distinction of three kinds of theology: [[mythical theology|mythical]], [[political theology|civil (political)]] and natural (physical), of which the latter is concerned with the question "what are the gods". Varro's solution is a materialist ([[Epicurean]]) reduction of the gods to effects in the physical world (''physikos'').
[[St. Augustine of Hippo]] quotes Varro frequently in his ''[[De civitate Dei]]'', translating Varro's ''physikos'' with Latin ''naturalis''.
[[Plato]] gives the earliest surviving account of a "natural theology", in his ''Laws'' establishing the existence of the gods by rational argument. [[Aristotle]] in his ''Metaphysics'' argues for the existence of an "[[unmoved mover]]", an argument taken up in medieval [[scholastics]].
From the 8th century, the [[Mu'tazili|Mutazilite]] school of [[Islam]], compelled to defend their principles against the orthodox Islam of their day, looked for support in philosophy, and are among the first to pursue a rational theology, called ''Ilm-al-[[Kalam]]'' ([[Scholasticism|scholastic theology]]).
English bishop [[Thomas Barlow]] wrote ''Execreitationes aliquot metaphysicae de Deo'' ([[1637]]) and spoke often of natural theology during the reign of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]].
[[John Ray]] (1627–1705) also known as John Wray, was an [[English people|English]] naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English [[natural history]]. He published important works on [[plants]], [[animal]]s, and natural theology.
[[William Derham]] (1657–1735), was a friend and disciple of John Ray. He continued Ray's tradition of natural theology in two of his own works, The ''Physico-Theology'', published in [[1713]], and the ''Astro-Theology'', [[1714]]. These would later help influence the work of William Paley (see below).
[[Thomas Aquinas]] (c.1225–1274) is the most famous classical proponent of this approach: the Angelic Doctor's [[Summa Theologica]] and [[Summa Contra Gentiles]] both present various versions of the [[Cosmological argument]] and [[Teleological argument]], respectively. The [[Ontological argument]] is also presented, but rejected in favor of proofs dealing with cause and effect alone.
In ''[[An Essay on the Principle of Population]]'', the first edition published in [[1798]], [[Thomas Malthus]] ended with two chapters on natural theology and population. Malthus—a devout Christian—argued that [[revelation]] would "damp the soaring wings of intellect", and thus never let "the difficulties and doubts of parts of the scripture" interfere with his work. (Interestingly, Malthus' work would later be cited as inspiration by both [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]].)
[[William Paley]] gave a well-known rendition of the [[teleological argument]] for God. In [[1802]] he published ''Natural Theology, or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity collected from the Appearances of Nature''. In this he described the [[Watchmaker analogy]], for which he is probably best known. Searing criticisms of arguments like Paley's are found in [[David Hume]]'s posthumous ''Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion''.
[[Thomas Paine]] wrote the definitive book on the natural religion of [[Deism]], [[The Age of Reason]] (1794–1807). In it he uses reason to establish a belief in Nature's Designer who man calls God. He also establishes the many instances that Christianity and Judaism require us to give up our God-given reason in order to accept their claims to revelation.
American education reformer and [[abolitionist]], [[Horace Mann]] (1796–1859) taught [[political economy]], intellectual and [[moral philosophy]], and natural theology.
Professor of chemistry and natural history, [[Edward Hitchcock]] also studied and wrote on natural theology. He attempted to unify and reconcile science and religion, focusing on geology. His major work in this area was [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;sid=6730fe66e24262cb615a418fad16efb8;rgn=full%20text;idno=AFY7120.0001.001;view=image;seq=0017 ''The Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences''] ([[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[1851]]).
The [[Gifford Lectures]] are lectures established by the will of [[Adam Gifford|Adam Lord Gifford]]. They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term—in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means [[theology]] supported by [[science]] and not dependent on the [[miraculous]].
==The Bridgewater Treatises==
Debates over the applicability of [[teleological arguments|teleology]] to scientific questions came to a head in the nineteenth century, as [[William Paley|Paley's]] argument about design came into conflict with radical new theories on the [[transmutation of species]]. In order to support the canonical scientific views at the time, which explored the natural world within [[William Paley|Paley's]] framework of a divine designer, [[Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater|The Earl of Bridgewater]], a gentleman naturalist, commissioned eight '''Bridgewater Treatises''' upon his deathbed to explore 'the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation.'<ref>Robson, John, 'The Fiat and Finger of God: The Bridgewater Treatises', Lightman, Bernard, and Frank Turner ed., Victorian Faith in Crisis: Essays on Continuity and Change in Nineteenth-Century Religious Belief. 1990</ref> The treatises are:
#[http://books.google.com/books?id=xfwLAAAAIAAJ&dq=The+Adaptation+of+External+Nature+to+the+Moral+and+Intellectual+Condition+of+Man ''The Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Condition of Man''], by [[Thomas Chalmers]], D. D.
#[http://books.google.com/books?id=xfwLAAAAIAAJ&dq=The+Adaptation+of+External+Nature+to+the+Physical+Condition+of+Man%27 ''On The Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man''], by [[John Kidd]], M. D.
#[http://www.google.ca/books?id=6hMYAAAAIAAJ&dq=Astronomy+and+General+Physics+considered+with+reference+to+Natural+Theology, ''Astronomy and General Physics considered with reference to Natural Theology''], by [[William Whewell]], D. D.
#[http://www.google.ca/books?id=-xgIAAAAIAAJ&dq=The+hand,+its+Mechanism+and+Vital+Endowments+as+evincing+Design ''The hand, its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as evincing Design''], by Sir [[Charles Bell]].
#[http://www.google.ca/books?id=EfwLAAAAIAAJ&dq=Animal+and+Vegetable+Physiology+considered+with+reference+to+Natural+Theology Animal and Vegetable Physiology, Considered with Reference to Natural Theology ''Animal and Vegetable Physiology considered with reference to Natural Theology''], by [[Peter Mark Roget]].
#[http://books.google.com/books?id=MR4HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=william+buckland&ie=ISO-8859-1 ''Geology and Mineralogy considered with reference to Natural Theology''], by [[William Buckland]], D.D.
#[http://books.google.com/books?id=bx4HAAAAQAAJ ''The Habits and Instincts of Animals with reference to Natural Theology''], [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZRkHAAAAQAAJ Vol. 2], by [[William Kirby (entomologist)|William Kirby]].
#[http://books.google.com/books?id=rhkHAAAAQAAJ ''Chemistry, Meteorology, and the Function of Digestion, considered with reference to Natural Theology''], by [[William Prout]], M.D.
In response to the claim in Whewell's treatise that "We may thus, with the greatest propriety, deny to the mechanical philosophers and mathematicians of recent times any authority with regard to their views of the administration of the universe", [[Charles Babbage]] published what he called [http://www.google.ca/books?id=gB4HAAAAQAAJ&dq=Charles+Babbage+Bridgewater&as_brr=1 ''The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, A Fragment'']. As his preface states, this volume was not part of that series, but rather his own reflections on the subject. He draws on his own work on calculating engines to consider God as a divine programmer setting complex laws underlying what we think of as miracles, rather than miraculously producing new species on a Creative whim. There was also a fragmentary supplement to this, posthumously published by [[Thomas Hill]].
A notable critic of the Bridgewater Treatises was [[Edgar Allan Poe]], who wrote [http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/eapoe/bl-eapoe-criticism.htm Criticism] (1850)
==See also==
*[[Deism]]
*[[Natural magic]]
*[[Natural history]]
*[[Epicureanism]]
*[[Existence of God]]
*[[Theistic evolution]]
*[[Intelligent design]]
*[[Creation science]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* A Bridgewater Treatise for the 21st Century. Science. (Vol 301, p. 1051, 22 August 2003). A review by [[Robert T. Pennock]] of philosopher of science [[Michael Ruse]]'s book ''Darwin & Design''.
* [[John Bascom]] ''Natural Theology'' (1880)
* [[Stanley Hauerwas]] ''With the Grain of the Universe: The Church's Witness and Natural Theology'' ISBN 1-58743-016-9
==External links==
* [http://www.deism.com Site offers an indepth look at the natural religion of Deism]
* [http://www.apollos.ws/philosophy-of-religion-article Apollos.ws] A Christian site surveying arguments for the existence of God and responses to common arguments against.
* [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] article [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02783b.htm Bridgewater Treatises]
*[http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/dnr.htm ''Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion''] by [[David Hume]]
*[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=A25&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 Babbage, Charles ''The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise''] 2nd edn. 1838, London: John Murray.
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