The difference between science and theology is science reveals the existence of God through the study of the universe, while theology attempts to interpret God's intent.
The original Founding Fathers were disproportionately comprised of Deists and as such were only prepared to ascribe to God what could be seen through science and natural law. Newton's laws were well known among these men and so they realized only a "creator" could explain how the universe came to operate under what some today call "intelligent design".
Besides recognizing God through His "work" (the universe), they thought they could identify attributes of God, through human behavior. The three attributes they associated with God through the study of human behavior was the will to live, to be free, and pursue their purpose whatever they identified that to be. And so, the captured that in the Declaration of Independence, which is not a theology document but rather the result of observations of science and natural law.
Religion/Theology expands that based on "revelations" in the past or even present. The Bible, the Koran, Hindu Vedas, the Book of Morman, etc. all purport to be contain revelations regarding God's purpose for humanity.
Mythology is simply a collection of stories which may or may not include revelations about God. So, the myth of George Washington and the cherry tree may simply be a story a way to convey the importance of honesty. On the other hand, the doctrine of free will, explains who evil can exist in a universe with a "good" all powerful God. Whether one accepts religious the doctrine of free will is based on faith. It is easy to prove that evil exists in the world as we define it, but impossible to improve why an all-powerful God would allow it. And so, the doctrine of free will bridges that observed inconsistency between a good all-powerful God and evil in the world. Alternatively, Deists believe once God created the world, he largely stepped away and so they would explain evil as a social construct ascribed to certain human behaviors.
But while the Deist description sounds more "logical", there is no way to prove which is true...does God allow evil as an unfortunate result of free will or do we call things evil when they are just natural behavior.
When an earthquake kills people, we don't say "nature" is evil. But when people kill people, we do. That difference is one example of what theology is about. Stories of great natural disasters or evils perpetrated by humans on one another become the gist for myths and used as teaching tools.
