
Theology and Metaphysics in Sombre, Scientific Times [pdf] - rendx
https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.05339
======
rendx
Karl Svozil ∗ Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vienna University of
Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, 1040 Vienna, Austria (Dated: July
2, 2019)

"In view of the sobering findings of science, theology and to a lesser degree
metaphysics is confronted with a humiliating loss, and a need for
reinterpretation, of allegories and narratives which have served as guidance
to the perplexed for millennia. Future revolutions of world perception might
include the emergence of conscious- ness and superhuman artificial
intelligence from universal computation, extensive virtual reality
simulations, the persistence of claims of irreducible chance in the Universe,
as well as contacts with alien species and the abundance of inhabited planets.
As tragic and as discomforting as this might be perceived for the religious
orthodoxy and by individual believers, a theology guided by science may lead
us to a better and more adequate understanding of our existence. The post
factum theological options are plentiful. These include dualistic sce- narios,
as well as (to quote Kelly James Clark), a curling or bowling deity, that is,
creatio continua, or ex nihilo. These might be grounded in, or corroborated by
the metaphysical enigma of existence, which appears to be immune and robust
with respect to the aforementioned challenges of science."

