Where theology anchored possibility in divine decree, science reconfigured that same symbolic scaffolding under the guise of neutrality. The cosmos was no longer secured by God, but by law. Conservation, symmetry, causality — these took the place of providence, transcendence, and command.
Science positioned itself as the banisher of myth and theology, yet carried forward their structuring impulse. Theological absolutes were transposed into physical constants. Divine eternity was reborn as timeless mathematical truth. Creation became the Big Bang; providence became conservation laws; eschatology became heat death.
In this scientific cosmos, human possibility is reframed through discovery and mastery. The human is no longer a sinner or worshipper but an observer — the one who reads the Book of Nature, who uncovers the law written into the fabric of being. Theological obedience mutates into epistemic submission: to know reality is to accept its laws as binding and universal.
But this placement too is perspectival. Science does not merely “uncover” the real; it constructs a cosmos through its abstractions and instruments. It replaces divine fiat with mathematical decree, while denying the symbolic work it performs. In doing so, it both frees possibility from overt theological judgment and constrains it within a new transcendence — the neutrality of “objective law.”
Scientific placements thus carry forward the theological impulse under a secularised banner. They shift the stage on which human possibility unfolds, but still script it within a cosmos of command, law, and eternal guarantees.
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