Is theology a science?

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Published: Monday, 29 September 2014 09:05

Written by pr. Razvan Ionescu

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First, if we have in mind the modern definition of science, an object of knowledge is only that which is unanimously considered as such. This is not the case for God: it’s sufficient for there to be even just one atheist in the world for God to not be considered as an object of knowledge from a scientific point of view.

Second, science legitimates itself horizontally, in the space of creation, and does not interest itself with the transcendent.

Third, God is a personal Subject that opens Himself to being known by man through His own initiative and cannot in any way be considered an object of knowledge that man can manipulate. Saint Maximus the Confessor says that God cannot be demonstrated, His existence can only be believed in through faith, which is a type of knowledge greater than the natural forces of man and which is gifted through grace by the Lord to he who is searching for salvation. There are sciences that interest themselves in various aspects of religious life and of theology. They are called theological sciences, and sometimes, improperly, theology. Theology does not, however, lie in those things.