ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century, the rapid progress of natural sciences created a need for theology to relate itself to both scientific method and particular findings of modern science. Broadly speaking, the dialogue between theology and sciences has taken place within two different ways of understanding the nature of theology. On the one hand, there have been revisionist approaches that have tried to shape theology to accommodate the implications of science. This stance, exemplified by, for example, David Griffin and Ian Barbour, has usually been closely related to process philosophy originating from Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) and developed in a more theological direction by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000). On the other hand, some theologians do not necessarily seek to shape theology to accommodate science, but instead concentrate more on the relationship between scientific methodology and theological method. Representatives of this approach include Thomas F. Torrance, John Polkinghorne and J. Wentzel van Huyssteen. In the last decade, Alister McGrath has emerged as one of the leading theorists of this approach.
