What is a Computational
Theologist?
I have been asked this
question so many times, I finally gave up and decided to post an
explanation on my web page.
I was forced to invent the term
Computational
Theologist because I had to come up with a title to put on
my business card. The usual titles are unspeakably boring, and
non-descriptive as well.
Computational Theology
is a term I invented to describe my work on the specifications of the
JavaTM programming language and the JavaTM
virtual machine.
Initially, my work was focused on interpretation of existing
specifications. This interpretive work had a legalistic, even
talmudic flavor, and these specifications are, so to speak, the
"holy books" of the Java platform. Hence the analogy with
theology.
To be completely accurate, I should have billed myself a as a
Computational Theologian rather than as a Computational Theologist.
However, I find the word theologian quite irregular. How many
biologians, geologians or philologians do you know? Computational
theology is very much concerned with preventing this kind of
irregularity, which is so characteristic of natural language,
from spreading in computing systems, especially programming
languages. So I opted for the more regular expression,
Computational Theologist.
Java is a trademark of Sun
Microsystems.
Last updated January 14th, 2004.
Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems.
Last updated January 14th, 2004.