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The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That...
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The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 10016

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Mantini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
Interests: engineering; sensors and actuators; Artificial Intelligence; physics and cosmology; theology; Christology; science and theology studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Reality, also thanks to the advancements of technology and regardless of the ever deeper knowledge we may have of it, always remains covered by a thin veil, and therefore always partially inaccessible. This offers a dynamism that indeed calls every Truth-seeker, who feels deeply challenged by the surface of a multilevel, mysterious but also understandable Reality. A free attitude towards the enigma of Reality, therefore leads us precisely to the Mystery and Humility: “observation of the cosmos ... turns out to be a great lesson in humility for science” (Brancato and Benvenuti, 2013).

It is then possible to recognize with reverence that the scientific wonder “in the face of the rational order of the Universe, is truly a partial reading of the “Mind of God”. […] And yet, in the mind of God there is much more than science will ever discover” (Maldamé, 1995). Science today has been called to decipher the Logos present in the creation with the amazement in front of the Face of God that reveals himself through it, humbly building the compelling synergy between theological rationality and scientific rationality: “Scientific ideas may be for theologians a source of inspiration to reach new theological insights or to invent more appealing metaphors; this might help to evoke the feeling of mystery (“if in physics things go so far beyond our imagination, what can we say about God?”) or to create a suitable context for reconsidering or reinterpreting a traditional religious doctrine, and so on…“Why is the world mathematical?”…“Why is the world comprehensible?”…the comprehensibility of the world and its existence are but two aspects of the creation” (Heller, 1999).

The wonder of man in front of Creation then arises from listening to goodness, beauty, order, comprehensibility, the Mystery and therefore the underlying and unitary Truth, which translates in Humility as the new, actual and necessary attitude of performing science.

We are pleased to invite you to submit papers from different fields addressing the trans-disciplinary dialogue between theology and empirical sciences, with specific reference to the dynamic correlation between the Mystery, which invites and gives confidence to knowledge and research, and the Humility of the researchers in a multilevel Reality. Key topics for the special issue are the following, and related, ones:

  • Anthropological level: Mystery and Humility in approaching the origin of humankind;
  • Physical Science level: Mystery and Humility in dynamical expression of the structure of matter (elementary particles, Standard Model and beyond);
  • Cosmological level: Mystery and Humility in the deep exploration and understanding of the Cosmos and its beginning;
  • Complexity level: Mystery and Humility in system structures;
  • Theological level: Mystery and Humility in the discovery of the Revelation.

Today it is more and more evident the importance of the “integral” scientific community, called to converge in an integral reading of the Reality in which truth is indivisible, and requires the contributions of different disciplines: “sometimes, through a strong, compelling experience of mystical insight, a man knows beyond the shadow of doubt that he has been in touch with a reality that lies behind mere phenomena” (Hubble, 1954).

References (in the summary)

Brancato, Francesco and Benvenuti, Piero. 2013. Contempla il cielo e osserva. Un confronto tra teologia e scienza. Cinisello Balsamo (MI): San Paolo.

Maldamé, Jean Michel. 1995. Cristo e il cosmo. Cosmologia e teologia. Cinisello Balsamo (MI): San Paolo.

Heller, Michal. On theological interpretations of physical creation theories, in Russell R.J., Murphy N., Isham C.J. (ed.). 19992. Quantum cosmology and the laws of Nature. Scientific perspectives on divine action. Vatican City – Berkeley, California: Vatican Observatory Publication – The Center for Theology and Natural Sciences.

Hubble, Edwin. 1954. The nature of Science and other Lectures. San Marino, California: The Huntington Library.

I look forward to receive your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Mantini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • theology
  • science
  • mystery
  • humility
  • trans-disciplinary
  • intelligibility
  • revelation
  • multilevel reality
  • truth

Published Papers (6 papers)

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20 pages, 317 KiB  
Article
“Touch” the Sun and “Touch” the Cosmic Space to Learn How to Touch the Earth: Space Sustainability as an Ethical Guide for Relations: Mystery and Humility
by Alessandro Mantini
Religions 2024, 15(4), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040499 - 18 Apr 2024
Viewed by 240
Abstract
On 14 December 2021, the extraordinary event called “touching the Sun” has been heralded as a “monumental moment for solar science”, in which the Parker Solar Probe opened up a new frontier of research for Space exploration, proposing the challenge of reaching, studying, [...] Read more.
On 14 December 2021, the extraordinary event called “touching the Sun” has been heralded as a “monumental moment for solar science”, in which the Parker Solar Probe opened up a new frontier of research for Space exploration, proposing the challenge of reaching, studying, and even “touching” our Sun at close range. The consequences of this event are scientific but also metaphysical and transcendental, offering the opportunity to reflect on the complex reality and meaning of the “boundaries” as opportunities for relationships and then for ethics. In this paper, I would like to propose an attempt to develop a possible discussion for an extension of Space Sustainability as an ethical guide for humanity which, as it goes out into outer Space, is helped to rediscover new, expanded dimensions of perception along the path of mystery and humility, in order to return back to Earth enriched for new relationships in pursuit of the common good. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
11 pages, 275 KiB  
Article
Cosmology, Cosmologia, and Reality: How the Cosmological Model Challenges the Intelligibility of Reality
by Piero Benvenuti
Religions 2023, 14(5), 601; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050601 - 04 May 2023
Viewed by 836
Abstract
More than four centuries after the Copernican Revolution and the consequent dismissal of Aristotelian Cosmology, the modern model of the cosmos has reached a similar if not superior level of a satisfactory understanding of physical reality. This extraordinary feat was achieved by using [...] Read more.
More than four centuries after the Copernican Revolution and the consequent dismissal of Aristotelian Cosmology, the modern model of the cosmos has reached a similar if not superior level of a satisfactory understanding of physical reality. This extraordinary feat was achieved by using the Galilean scientific method of investigation, which was demonstrated to be extremely powerful in modeling cosmic physical phenomena. Unexpectedly, the main global characteristic of the cosmos was found to be its evolution in time; the universe’s history passes through very different phases, all linked together by a subtle fil rouge. This very fact, by now incontrovertible, is challenging our interpretation of reality by the sole use of the scientific method. The time may have come to reconnect, in a collaborative and constructive way, science, philosophy, and theology, which for too long have proceeded along independent, parallel, or even divergent paths. Only in this way may we hope to reach a more satisfactory understanding of global reality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
17 pages, 306 KiB  
Article
The World as a Gift: Scientific Change and Intelligibility for a Theology of Science
by Flavia Marcacci and Michał Oleksowicz
Religions 2023, 14(5), 572; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050572 - 24 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1467
Abstract
“Truth” and “cause” are essential issues in theology. Truths of faith are meant to remain solid and fundamental and can be traced back to the unique truth of God. The same God is conceived of as the Creator who brought everything into existence [...] Read more.
“Truth” and “cause” are essential issues in theology. Truths of faith are meant to remain solid and fundamental and can be traced back to the unique truth of God. The same God is conceived of as the Creator who brought everything into existence before every other cause. Recent discussions about scientific rationality and causality have engaged with the same ideas of “truth” and “cause”, even though they have done so according to different methodologies and from different points of view. Can those discussions stimulate theology, and if so, in what manner? In this paper, we begin by considering the subject of scientific change and rationality, arguing that scientific change leads to the recognition of the connection between any scientific theory and what remains intelligible in nature. Next, we show some of the outcomes from new mechanistic philosophy, focusing on the idea of cause, which unveils a strong correspondence between epistemology and ontology and provides a unique way of speaking about causality. Finally, we conclude that science can support theology through new approaches to nature and that a theology of science is required today as an intertwined perspective between science and theology. The main virtue that guides this approach is humility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
22 pages, 1536 KiB  
Article
Mystery and Humility in the Depths of Understanding of Reality
by Borut Pohar
Religions 2023, 14(4), 433; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040433 - 23 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1811
Abstract
The scientific process of understanding natural phenomena such as evolution is an important tool for human progress, so it is good to know where it begins and where it ends, or where it leads. In this article, we put forward the observation that [...] Read more.
The scientific process of understanding natural phenomena such as evolution is an important tool for human progress, so it is good to know where it begins and where it ends, or where it leads. In this article, we put forward the observation that mysticism begins when, in understanding phenomena, we move into the intellectual realm of the unobservable and invisible material and personal life processes, which are interconnected in two ways. On the one hand, the material life processes, which can be contemplated mystically by means of scientific explanations, analogical models, and imagination, are the reason for the purposefulness of identities that are the fruit of personal processes. These are experts, professional and amateur scientists, and lay scientists who are attracted to identity precisely because of the material life processes in which they have an interest, enthusiasm, or passion. On the other hand, it is precisely their mental engagement with these material life processes through the mystical contemplation of the beautiful solutions to nature’s problems that makes them true since truth is classically conceived precisely as the correspondence between intellect and a thing. Discerning the truth of hypotheses, theories, mid-range theories, and meta-theories, however, requires humility at all levels because of the collective way of seeking truth. In this process of truth discernment, it is necessary to accept humbly that I may be wrong and that my neighbor may be right, which ultimately leads us to the mysticism of the Triune God’s merciful love. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
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25 pages, 430 KiB  
Article
Aristotelian-Thomistic Contribution to the Contemporary Studies on Biological Life and Its Origin
by Mariusz Tabaczek
Religions 2023, 14(2), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020214 - 05 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2512
Abstract
The phenomenon of life belongs to the most intriguing and puzzling aspects of reality, studied in various divisions of natural science, as well as in philosophy and theology. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims at bringing into the rich [...] Read more.
The phenomenon of life belongs to the most intriguing and puzzling aspects of reality, studied in various divisions of natural science, as well as in philosophy and theology. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims at bringing into the rich contemporary conversation on the nature, origin, and persistence of life a deeper and more thorough insight coming from the classical Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy of nature and metaphysics. Secondly, in reference to the theological aspects of the debate, the article presents the two contrasting positions on the necessity of a direct divine intervention in the origin of life and analyzes them from the same Aristotelian-Thomistic perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
13 pages, 259 KiB  
Article
How a Humbler Science Becomes a Better Science
by Sara Lumbreras, Laura Gismera and Lluis Oviedo
Religions 2023, 14(1), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010064 - 03 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1946
Abstract
Giving humility a key role in scientific practice and communication would improve its objective social function—that is, the production of knowledge about our world and its application to the improvement of the human condition—and its public acceptance. This article reviews the limits of [...] Read more.
Giving humility a key role in scientific practice and communication would improve its objective social function—that is, the production of knowledge about our world and its application to the improvement of the human condition—and its public acceptance. This article reviews the limits of science arising from systemic, epistemic, methodological, and individual limitations and links them to the phenomena in scientific practice that they originate from. The reflection invites us to consider science from the point of view of its limits in situations where there is difficulty in reaching a consensus but also when a consensus has indeed been achieved. Science and technology reflect who we are as individuals and as a society and inherit both our virtues and weaknesses. Humility is the key to getting technoscience that brings us closer to the truth and helps us advance toward improving the human condition. Humbler science becomes a better science. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Intelligibility of Reality: Theology and Science between Mystery That Calls and Research Humility)
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