Eutonia: The Cross (In)Between Science and Theology

Abstract

Antje Jackelen has proposed the concept of eutonia as an analogy for understanding a constructive relationship between science and theology. By eutonia she means a kind of helpful tension that should exist in the dialogue between scientists and theologians around issues of religious concern. Such tension could help avoid the coercion of one discipline by the other and create an epistemic space where each discipline can contribute to the other. This chapter examines Jackelen’s proposal and explores how eutonia could open up a similar fruitful dialogical space between the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and theology. CSR offers theology a powerful tool to examine the possible constraints and cognitive compulsions in its attempt to fathom the mystery of God. Theology in turn can offer CSR a reminder of the limits of its gaze and an invitation to the transcendent depths of reality. The ultimate goal is a deeper and richer understanding of what it means to be human and how religion and science can work together to find ways to bring healing to the world and transform it in wholesome ways.