Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not

The cognitive science of religion (CSR) indicates that belief in supernatural agents, or “gods”, is underpinned by maturationally natural cognitive biases and systems (Natural Religion). It is unclear, however, whether theism is natural. Does the god concept that our cognitive biases and systems giv...

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Autores principales:	Lari Launonen, R. T. Mullins
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	cognitive science of religion classical theism open theism Natural Religion general revelation natural knowledge of god Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/83835c5c0f034707bb8864c20fe58f5e
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:83835c5c0f034707bb8864c20fe58f5e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:83835c5c0f034707bb8864c20fe58f5e2021-11-25T18:52:52ZWhy Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not10.3390/rel121109562077-1444https://doaj.org/article/83835c5c0f034707bb8864c20fe58f5e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/11/956https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1444The cognitive science of religion (CSR) indicates that belief in supernatural agents, or “gods”, is underpinned by maturationally natural cognitive biases and systems (Natural Religion). It is unclear, however, whether theism is natural. Does the god concept that our cognitive biases and systems give rise to approximate theism? In other words, is Natural Religion “theism-tracking”? As Christian theologians have different views of what God is like, we argue that the answer depends partly on one’s model of God. We discuss two models: classical theism and open theism. We argue that classical theism is far from being natural. The classical divine attributes are very hard to comprehend. Moreover, people naturally conceptualize God as a special sort of person, but the classical God strongly deviates from our cognitive expectations about persons. Open theism is much more natural. However, recent findings in CSR challenge the suggestion that Natural Religion tracks open theism. The possibility that we are “born idolaters” rather than “born believers” might undermine the Christian doctrine of general revelation and attempts to make CSR compatible with theology.Lari LaunonenR. T. MullinsMDPI AGarticlecognitive science of religionclassical theismopen theismNatural Religiongeneral revelationnatural knowledge of godReligions. Mythology. RationalismBL1-2790ENReligions, Vol 12, Iss 956, p 956 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	cognitive science of religion classical theism open theism Natural Religion general revelation natural knowledge of god Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790
spellingShingle	cognitive science of religion classical theism open theism Natural Religion general revelation natural knowledge of god Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 Lari Launonen R. T. Mullins Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
description	The cognitive science of religion (CSR) indicates that belief in supernatural agents, or “gods”, is underpinned by maturationally natural cognitive biases and systems (Natural Religion). It is unclear, however, whether theism is natural. Does the god concept that our cognitive biases and systems give rise to approximate theism? In other words, is Natural Religion “theism-tracking”? As Christian theologians have different views of what God is like, we argue that the answer depends partly on one’s model of God. We discuss two models: classical theism and open theism. We argue that classical theism is far from being natural. The classical divine attributes are very hard to comprehend. Moreover, people naturally conceptualize God as a special sort of person, but the classical God strongly deviates from our cognitive expectations about persons. Open theism is much more natural. However, recent findings in CSR challenge the suggestion that Natural Religion tracks open theism. The possibility that we are “born idolaters” rather than “born believers” might undermine the Christian doctrine of general revelation and attempts to make CSR compatible with theology.
format	article
author	Lari Launonen R. T. Mullins
author_facet	Lari Launonen R. T. Mullins
author_sort	Lari Launonen
title	Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
title_short	Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
title_full	Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
title_fullStr	Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
title_full_unstemmed	Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not
title_sort	why open theism is natural and classical theism is not
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/83835c5c0f034707bb8864c20fe58f5e
work_keys_str_mv	AT larilaunonen whyopentheismisnaturalandclassicaltheismisnot AT rtmullins whyopentheismisnaturalandclassicaltheismisnot
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Why Open Theism Is Natural and Classical Theism Is Not

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