Theologians should not limit themselves to learning from and working together with social scientists and others; they should also include empirical research in their own disciplinary work. The need for an “empirical theology” has forcefully been argued by the Dutch theologian Johannes A. van der Ven.2 According to this program, theology should include empirical methods in its repertoire of methods or perspectives, as it has already included those from other fields (e.g., historical science and philosophy). Theology itself should become empirical. A theologian working in this field should
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