Science And Christian Hope: A Dialogue And Integration Of Their End-Time Narratives

• Main Author: Espiritu, Wilson Angelo G
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2017
• Subjects: Science and Eschatological Hope; End-time Narratives; Epistemology of Science; Epistemology of Hope; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Religion
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/theology-faculty-pubs/36; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=theology-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Ruminations about how the world will end continuously stir the curiosity and imagination of a lot of people. These thoughts mostly deal with the possible end-story of history. Science, on one hand, surmises history’s tragic end in its theories about cosmic death. On the other hand, Christianity believes in existence that transcends personal and cosmic death. On surface, the two seem to contradict each other. For some, this confirms the notion that science and Christianity cannot go hand and hand or, worse, that they are adversarial to each other. This paper argues that while the scientific and the Christian end-time narratives are not identical, still they do not essentially contradict each other. Science and Christian hope must respect their given distinctions, i.e. their fundamental epistemological and methodological differences. But, nonetheless, the two could dialogue and mutually enrich each other’s understanding of reality. Therefore, one does not have a limited choice of believing only either the scientific or the Christian-hope narrative. A Christian may opt to acknowledge what science validly says while remaining faithful to one’s conviction and hope for an eschatological future.