'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology
The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its intuitions. Hence, it describes religion as a ‘natural’ belief in ‘supernatural agents’. Traditional theology also maintained that there is an ‘innate’ or ‘implanted’ knowledge of God or gods. It will be...
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| Formato: | Journal article |
| Idioma: | English |
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Wiley
2023
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| _version_ | 1826311605664612352 |
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| author | Gornandt, R |
| author_facet | Gornandt, R |
| author_sort | Gornandt, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its intuitions. Hence, it describes religion as a ‘natural’ belief in ‘supernatural agents’. Traditional theology also maintained that there is an ‘innate’ or ‘implanted’ knowledge of God or gods. It will be argued that CSR and theology can be related, yet not in a straightforward manner. After sketching out in what sense CSR calls religion ‘natural’ and how it describes ‘supernatural agents’, this article explores some examples of the traditional theological doctrine of an ‘implanted’ knowledge of God. It shows that the reliability of such an ‘implanted’ knowledge of God was disputed among theologians and, even if it was affirmed, had an ambiguous position in theology. This also applies to CSR if it is to be related to the traditional theological doctrine. There are illuminating convergences between CSR and theology but also considerable divergences. Both, however, prove significant for theology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:12:13Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:2520574e-e9b5-4e04-9a9f-f76f64f67cca |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:12:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:2520574e-e9b5-4e04-9a9f-f76f64f67cca2023-12-05T08:48:39Z'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theologyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2520574e-e9b5-4e04-9a9f-f76f64f67ccaEnglishSymplectic ElementsWiley2023Gornandt, RThe Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) holds that religion emerges from human cognition and its intuitions. Hence, it describes religion as a ‘natural’ belief in ‘supernatural agents’. Traditional theology also maintained that there is an ‘innate’ or ‘implanted’ knowledge of God or gods. It will be argued that CSR and theology can be related, yet not in a straightforward manner. After sketching out in what sense CSR calls religion ‘natural’ and how it describes ‘supernatural agents’, this article explores some examples of the traditional theological doctrine of an ‘implanted’ knowledge of God. It shows that the reliability of such an ‘implanted’ knowledge of God was disputed among theologians and, even if it was affirmed, had an ambiguous position in theology. This also applies to CSR if it is to be related to the traditional theological doctrine. There are illuminating convergences between CSR and theology but also considerable divergences. Both, however, prove significant for theology. |
| spellingShingle | Gornandt, R 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title | 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title_full | 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title_fullStr | 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title_full_unstemmed | 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title_short | 'Implanted in us by nature': the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| title_sort | implanted in us by nature the cognitive science of religion and its importance for theology |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gornandtr implantedinusbynaturethecognitivescienceofreligionanditsimportancefortheology |