The Quest for Intelligibility as Mediation Between Science and Theology

In this article, we explore how natural sciences can serve as sources of theological reflection. We do this by clarifying the notion of the intelligibility of the world and showing how it may work as the mediator between science and theology. In contrast to the celebrated classification of the relationship between science and religion provided by I. Barbour, we elaborate our approach within the threefold division: concordism, discordism, and articulation (mediation). We opt for the articulation mode of relationship, arguing that the link between science and theology can be articulated by raising the issue of intelligibility from the epistemic and ontic points of view. From the epistemic perspective, it results that both science and theology are operating according to proper principles and are aimed at unifying their domains of discourse and giving proper understanding. From the ontic point of view, both are related to reality: science applies its own principles to the universe and works under empirical commitments, whereas theology discusses God himself, the relationship between God and all things (creatures), and God’s action in created reality. We emphasize how the articulation mode contributes to the formulation of a worldview, and we problematize the articulation by asking whether it is a convergent or divergent strategy. For this purpose, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz’s philosophical approach is applied. Finally, we show that Georges Lemaître and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who used two very different scientific and theological approaches, can come together if we consider them from the point of view of the intelligibility of the universe.