IS THE UNIVERSE OPEN FOR SURPRISE? PENTECOSTAL ONTOLOGY AND THE SPIRIT OF NATURALISM

Author: Smith, James K. A.¹

Source: Zygon, Volume 43, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 879-896(18)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

Given the enchanted worldview of pentecost-alism, what possibility is there for a uniquely pentecostal intervention in the science-theology dialogue? By asserting the centrality of the miraculous and the fantastic, and being fundamentally committed to a universe open to surprise, does not pentecostalism forfeit admission to the conversation? I argue for a distinctly pentecostal contribution to the dialogue that is critical of regnant naturalistic paradigms but also of a naive supernaturalism. I argue that implicit in the pentecostal social imaginary is a distinct conception of nature that is amenable to science but in conflict with naturalism.

Keywords: Philip Clayton; David Ray Griffin; laws of nature; miraculous; naturalism; pentecostalism; supernatural

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00966.x

Affiliations: 1: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 49546;, Email: jks4@calvin.edu.

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