Recent Transitions in Natural Theology: The Emergence of a Bolder Paradigm (IBRI Research Reports Book 58) (English Edition)

Natural theology pursues knowledge of God based on public evidence accessible to all persons by virtue of our shared human endowments of reason and sense perception. For millennia, natural theology has supported merely generic theism. However, five new projects in natural theology are more ambitious, pursuing distinctively Christian theism. They concern church witness, Bible prophecy, Bible narrative, Trinitarian metaphysics, and Christ's resurrection. These projects can be combined in a strong cumulative case, although it is also important to have individual projects that singly carry great evidential weight. The case for reported miracles, which are so essential in the Biblical worldview, is strategically strengthened by empirical evidence for testable miracles. Several open questions are discussed that merit further exploration. A bolder natural theology has important implications for Christian apologetics. The most pressing motivation for developing an enriched natural theology is to provide better support for Christian revealed theology.