Abstract
Literature on religion and science is vast; that on the humanities and the Christian faith much less so. This essay explores this largely uncharted territory by identifying several remarkable affinities and tensions between the church’s interpretive practices (e.g., in reading the Bible) and those fostered in the humanities (e.g., in analyzing a play of Shakespeare). It then analyzes these tensions in terms of three kinds of reductionism: methodical, contextual, and ontological reductionism. The article identifies some historical, philosophical, and theological resources to remedy these various forms of reductionist thinking. The article ends with a plea to clergy that they not too quickly assume that the relationship between the church and the humanities is fraught with tension. Offering prospective students an anti-reductionist hermeneutical framework will prepare better for study in the humanities
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