God, the beautiful and mathematics: a response
Peter-Ben Smit and Rianne de Heide
God, the beautiful and mathematics: a response
Peter-Ben Smit and Rianne de Heide
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 2021, Vol 77, No 4, doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.6208 proc
What is this paper about?
This interdisciplinary response discusses the proposed relationship between mathematics, beauty and theology. It argues that mathematics need not be added as a separate category to Rudolf Bohren’s list and questions several assumptions about the philosophy of mathematics in the proposal it responds to.
Summary
Volker Kessler argues that Rudolf Bohren’s list of areas in which God becomes beautiful should be extended by adding mathematics, and that mathematics can be defended as a place where God becomes beautiful. In this response, we argue that the extension of Bohren’s list is superfluous and that the argument relies on several questionable assumptions about mathematics and its philosophy. The aim is to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the discussion of mathematics and theology by encouraging a more careful treatment of mathematics as an area in which beauty may become apparent.