Abstract

All are welcome.

Natural theology is generally understood to concern what we can know about God purely by being human, apart from any special revelation. The subject has had a chequered history but is still a live area of enquiry today, especially with insights from science such as cosmological fine-tuning. However, the very idea of doing natural theology has been seriously challenged from within systematic theology, most notably by the great Protestant theologian Karl Barth. In this lecture I critique Barth’s position, especially by arguing that natural theology is included in God’s revelation in the Bible where it is portrayed as giving knowledge of God which is universally available. I conclude with a brief consideration of theologians who have reconsidered the place of natural theology following on from Barth.