natural theology
1
9.5
- noun
- /ˈnæʧərəl θiˈɑlədʒi/
- Formal
:
teología natural
- The concept of natural theology argues that we can discover God's existence through nature and reasoning.
And so that's all just by way of saying, maybe there is a way to see natural theology and religious experience as more connected.
- And so that's all just by way of saying, maybe there is a way to see natural theology and religious experience as more connected.
Examples
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Natural Theology was not required reading for Cambridge undergraduates, but Darwin read Paley's Natural Theology anyway.
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Darwin rejected natural theology.
Academic text (1995) -
In such a world, natural theology may have real value.
Blog text (1) -
And so that's all just by way of saying, maybe there is a way to see natural theology and religious experience as more connected.
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Poetry seemed to share with natural theology an anthropocentric understanding of the natural world.
Academic text (1995) -
As early as 1644, Goodwin's natural theology had raised concerns.
Academic text (2018) -
One could likewise add more fuel to the unending debate about types of natural theology and argue that human reason is not to be excluded from the enterprise.
Academic text (2007) -
Following the analysis of Jonathan Barnes, the Xenophanean distinctions make possible not only a naturalistic understanding of the world but also a natural theology.
Academic text (2017) -
The relation between doctrines and systematics is similar to that between natural theology (philosophy) and speculative theology (systematics).
Academic text (2009) -
Many scholars believe that natural theology can support the idea of a divine creator without depending on religious texts.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally clear: 'natural' (from nature) + 'theology' (study of God) yields a branch of theology concerned with nature-based or reasoned knowledge of God. This basic sense is cross-linguistically transparent (e.g. Spanish teología natural) and would be comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the two constituents, even if the technical distinction from revealed theology is more advanced.
Etymology
The expression natural theology comes from the idea of learning about God by looking at the world. It links natural, meaning the world, with theology, meaning the study of God, so it means 'to know God by looking at nature' instead of from holy books.