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24 June 2006; rev. 14 June 2009

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Is theology a science?

The answer depends on what, exactly, is meant by "a science." If all that is meant is some form or other of critical reflection and proper theory concerned somehow with clear and consistent conceptualization and employing some kind of objective argumentation, then, yes, theology is a science--in much the same way, or for essentially the same reasons, that philosophy would be a science.

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By this criterion, theology is no more a science than philosophy would be  --  and be—and for the same reason: because it is oriented by the existential question about the meaning of ultimate reality for us, even though it is constituted by theoretical questions about meaning and validity --  in validity—in the case of theology, the meaning and validity of Christian witness; in the case of philosophy, the meaning and validity of religion and culture generally.

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