Abstract

This chapter discusses the significance of mathematics in natural theology. It suggests that the existence of an independent noetic realm of mathematics should encourage an openness to the possibility of further metaphysical riches to be explored. Engagement with mathematics is only a part of our mental experience. In itself it can give just a hint of what might be meant by the spiritual. The realm of the divine is yet more distant still, but just as arithmetic may have led our ancestors to begin an exploration that would eventually lead them into the riches of higher mathematics, so taking mathematical reality seriously might be the start of a journey which will lead to greater discoveries about the scope and nature of reality. In this way, mathematics has a modest preparatory part to play in the approach to natural theology, and may also contribute to natural theology through its role as a component in a more complex form of encounter with reality.