This project was part of the larger project Epistemic Progress in the University of the Abraham Kuyper Center for Science and the Big Questions.

Theology is often seen as a disreputable discipline, since, in contrast to the natural sciences, it does not make epistemic progress (e.g. Coyne 2013). As a result, “[t]he achievements of theologians don’t do anything, don’t affect anything, don’t mean anything” (Dawkins 2006). This subproject investigated the claim that theology does not make epistemic progress by exploring, comparing and evaluating five avenues of response. In this project, the pros and cons and compatibilities of each of them were assessed on the basis of a more extensive literature research, mainly using the method of conceptual analysis.

As part of this project, the book ‘Progress in Theology. Does the Queen of the Sciences Advance?’, edited by Gijsbert van den Brink, Rik Peels and Bethany Sollereder was published by Routledge.