ABSTRACT
Natural theology is a type of theological discourse in which the existence and attributes of the deity are discussed in terms of what can be known through natural reason, in contradistinction (though not necessarily in opposition) to knowledge derived from special revelation. Routine, timeless definitions of natural theology are, however, simplistic because “natural reason” and “revelation” have been understood differently in different cultures and at different times. Since the Enlightenment, natural theology has often been characterized as the attempt to construct rational “proofs” for God’s existence and attributes-a project drawing on the natural sciences but vulnerable both to philosophical critiques and to changes in scientific sensibility. By contrast, in premodern cultures, adherents of the monotheistic religions would scarcely have entertained a discourse of natural theology independent of that greater knowledge of God revealed in their sacred texts. Doctrinal disputes abounded but, within Jewish, Christian, and Islamic societies, the existence of God was rarely the issue. The psalmist had spoken of the manifold and wondrous works of God (for example, in Psalm 19:1-6), but as an affirmation of faith in, not an attempted proof of, divine wisdom. There are many comparable examples from the history of Christendom and Islam, suggesting that to abstract what may look like “proofs” of God’s existence from their contexts misses the significance that such arguments had within specific religious communities.
