Anthropic Coincidences:The physical constants of nature appear, to a remarkable degree of precision, to be 'fine-tuned' to the emergence of life-as-we-know-it. These 'cosmic coincidences' are more popularly known as the Goldilocks Effect because conditions needed for our existence seem 'just right'.' These cosmic coincidences have led to several versions of what is termed the Anthropic Cosmological Principle, which relate the coincidences to our existence as observers of the coincidences.
Biblical literalism: 3 types: 1) Verbal inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture 2) Truth deducible from literal readings of texts and 3) Scripture has absolute authority.
Big Bang (The): The beginning of the expansion of the universe from a common origin about 13.7 billion years ago.
Contingent order: God has the freedom to create or not to create, it is an act of voluntary choice. The structures of the world are contingent in the sense that they might not have existed at all, or could have been otherwise had the deity chosen.
Continuing creation: Coming-to-be is a continuing process throughout time. Nature in all its forms must be viewed historically. On the theological side, this term expresses God's participation in the ongoing world.
Cosmology: a branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, processes, and structure of the universe; astrophysical study of the structure and motion of the universe.
Critical realism: The view that scientific models and theories aim to describe physical realities but must always be subject to rigorous testing on account of the mediating effect of our minds on the sense data we receive.
Determinism: the belief that all events are causally determined by their antecedents and therefore in principle predictable, raising philosophical questions about freewill and responsibility
Dialectic: contradiction between two conflicting forces, or ideas, viewed as the determining factor in their continuing interactionDeism Sometimes means the belief that God created the world and then had nothing more to do with it. More accurately means the view that propositions purporting to be derived from revelation are only acceptable if independently supported by reason.
Dualism: the belief that matter and mind, or body and soul, are two distinct kinds of thing, yet capable of interacting.
Epistemology: the branch of philosophy that investigates the nature and origin of knowledge.
Eschatology: Consideration about the ultimate destiny of humankind and the world.
Evolution: The development of a species from its original to its present state; descent with modification; the theory that all species developed from earlier forms.
Faith: personal trust, confidence, and loyalty.
Fundamentalism: a movement or point of view characterized by rigid adherence to fundamental or basic principles (may apply to scientific or religious viewpoints).
Inductive: method the scientist starts with observations and formulates theories by generalizing the patterns in the data. Arguing from specific examples to universal conclusions.
Logical positivism: a theory of language in which empirical testing (science) is taken to be the ultimate standard of what can meaningfully be said.
Mechanistic: Treating nature, including living systems, as machinery, obeying fixed laws and tending to explain phenomena only by reference to physical or biological causes.
Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy concerned with issues of ultimate reality, including the study of being (ontology), matters which lie beyond the capabilities of scientific enquiry.
Model: A theoretical model (as distinct from a toy scale model) is a systematically developed analogy between the properties of something with which we are familiar and whatever it is that we are trying to understand. The belief is that similarities in the properties of each (isomorphism) will further our grasp on what is unfamiliar on account of it being novel, invisible or conceptually difficult.
Myth: A narrative with a deeper underlying truth about the human condition.
Narrative theology: the study of the nature of God and religious truth as presented in the stories of religion.
Natural Selection: The process whereby variations that confer a competitive advantage on individuals that possess them will tend to be preserved, resulting in cumulative change over many generations and, according to the theory of Charles Darwin, eventually giving rise to a new species.
Ontology: the branch of philosophy that deals with being, with what is.
Paradigm: a cluster of conceptual and methodological presuppositions embodied in an exemplary body of scientific work. Thomas Kuhn, who brought this complex word into prominence, and is said to have used it in many different ways, later preferred the term 'disciplinary matrix'. To illustrate how the word paradigm is used, we could say that biologists work within an evolutionary paradigm, while physicists concerned with motion far below the speed of light work within a Newtonian paradigm.
Paradigm shift: "scientific revolution"; a radical transformation of the scientific imagination which is not unequivocally determined by experimental data or by the normal criteria of research.
Pantheism: God is identified with the world, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God.
Panentheism: God is the world, but the world is also in God, in the sense that God is more than the world.
Reductionism: a procedure or theory of reducing complex data or phenomena to simple terms; usually found when seeking to explain events at a higher level of organisation with exclusive reference to processes occurring at a lower. The view that wholes are nothing but the sum of their parts.
Relativism: There are no absolute truths, only what different groups and societies hold to be true for them, as exemplified by a diversity of ethical principles across different cultures.
Scientific materialism: makes two assertions (1) the scientific method is the only reliable path to knowledge, (2) matter (matter or energy) is the fundamental reality in the universe.
Theology: The study of the nature of God and religious belief, a critical reflection on the life and thought of the religious community.
Theory: A formulation of underlying principles governing certain observed phenomena which has been verified to some degree.
Theism: God is separate from the world, of which God is Creator. In contradistinction to deism, usually implies the belief that God is still active in a world that continues to be dependent on the divine will.
