Theology–Science–Religion Trialogue as Tangible Good — Pepperdine University

At the Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference, themed “Christian Scholarship as Tangible Good,” I presented on how theology, the sciences, and the world’s religions can be drawn into a single constructive conversation for the global church.

The paper

“Theology–Science–Religion ‘Trialogue’ as Tangible Good for the Global Church’s Engagement with Science and Religions.”

Abstract

The global church faces a deficit of theological resources to engage with the rapid advances of science and technology alongside the deepening religious pluralism. Compared to its Western counterpart, Chinese theology is still in its early stages, lacks theologically trained scientists and scientifically knowledgeable theologians, and has a roughly seventy-year gap between its theology of science and that of the West. This paper contends that Christian theological scholarship produces tangible goods when it simultaneously generates new knowledge, recovers neglected historical resources, and equips the contemporary church to engage creatively with two of its most pressing challenges: scientific advancement and religious pluralism.

The argument develops three tangible goods: (1) a new English translation of the entire Tang Jingjiao (Luminous Religion) corpus in a Chinese/Syriac–English parallel format; (2) a triadic “trialogue” method linking Christian theology, the natural sciences, and Chinese religions, especially Daoism; and (3) Embodied Critical Realism (ECR) as a shared philosophical platform that extends Alister McGrath’s critical realism.

Event

• Event: Thomas H. Olbricht Christian Scholars’ Conference — “Christian Scholarship as Tangible Good”
• Host: Pepperdine University
• Venue: Malibu, California, USA
• Dates: June 3–5, 2026