Panel: "The Role of Social Sciences in Theology"

Can the social sciences discover the material roots of theological language, explain its religious manifestations and organizational structures, and correlate these phenomena with integrity? The panelists answer these questions by using Paul Bramadat's book, The Church on the World's Turf, as a foil for their reflections. Bramadat uses various sociological categories to come to terms with the existence of a vibrant Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship group in the midst of a largely secular, university setting. He asks how student believers are able to integrate their faith in God, Satan, and creationism along with their concomitant views on gender roles and identity as "other" while rubbing shoulders with non-believing friends and being faced with purely naturalistic explanations of life in the classroom. The panelists offer insight into these questions from their respective sociological, theological, and evangelical/historical perspectives, with a subsequent response from Bramadat.

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