No Konflikta līdz Partnerībai: Teoloģijas un Socioloģijas Attiecības no 19. Gadsimta līdz Mūsdienām

For centuries philosophy has been the closest partner of theology. To the first Christians it served as an instrument of apologetics allowing to selectively integrate within Christian beliefs the world views of other systems of thought. Current trends of theology are looking for new partners. Sociology is one of the disciplines taken on board by theologians. The purpose of this article is to analyze development of this process starting from the19th century. Responses of theologians to sociology can be divided in the following way (1) denial of modernity (including social sciences) – as in fundamentalism; (2) partial acceptance of the paradigm of social sciences (E. Troeltsch); (3) usage of sociological categories in theology (D. Bonhoeffer, R. Niehbur); (4) theological and sociological categories mutually merged (E. Farley); (4) exclusion of social sciences from the theological discourse (J. Milbank). We should also take into account the current cultural context – due to secularization the previous roles taken for granted as belonging to theology (explaining the world and human existence) in the eyes of many people are played by psychology and sociology.