Definitions
Science and religion
Science, like religion, rests upon the shared belief that the universe
in which we live is both ordered and intelligible.
Scientific findings and religious beliefs are normally quite
separate:
- Science deals with the study of nature, its forces, processes
and development. It is based on the analysis of evidence. It assumes, as a
working hypothesis, that processes and events happen due to natural causes, not
through divine intervention.
- Religion deals with matters of faith. Most faith groups teach
of the existence of one or more deities who created the universe, and continue
to play a major role in managing it - sometimes bypassing the laws of nature to
create miracles.
Science generally welcomes change. Many false hypotheses are proposed
and later rejected or modified as new data becomes available.
Religious beliefs, particularly those based on a sacred text, change
much more slowly. In fact, many faith groups stress the unchangeable nature of
their beliefs.
However, even in religion, change eventually happens. Most people no
longer believe that:
- The Earth is flat.
- The Sun goes around the Earth.
- Lightning and thunder are caused by Satan and his demons.
- Mental illness is caused by demonic possession.
A main function of religion is to teach moral principles, mankind's
relationship to God, behaviour towards other humans, spiritual matters,
etc.
Various groups disagree about humanity, other species of life, the Earth
itself and the rest of the universe. This is because their beliefs are built
upon different initial assumptions. Thus, they reach different conclusions:
- Very conservative Christians generally believe in the
inerrancy of the bible and its passages are interpreted literally. All events
described in the bible happened exactly as described. There is no possibility
that any of these events did not happen in this way, because that would mean
that the bible itself is not free of error. The bible cannot be proven to be
false because it is by definition true.
- Liberal Christians see great spiritual truths in the bible,
but note that the authors of the bible lived in a pre-scientific age. When the
writers described the creation of the world, they borrowed heavily from earlier
religious writings of nearby Pagan societies. Such material is not to be taken
as a serious description of reality. The bible is a spiritual book, not a
scientific text book.
- Scientists generally work from the assumption that things
happen as a result of purely natural processes. Many scientists believe in the
existence of God. However, most do not see God regularly intervening in the
running of the universe and setting aside natural laws. That is, they believe
that miracles either do not happen or are extremely rare. They rarely refer to
the bible as a guide for their research.
Both religion and science purport to offer key insights that shape
society's responses to the core questions surrounding human meaning and
significance. Both, in their own way, address the question that precedes all
others, namely 'Why is there something rather than nothing?'
Some of the areas where science and religion overlap and make
conflicting claims, are:
- Cosmology, geology, astronomy, etc.: Many believers within the
conservative wing of Christianity claim that the Earth is less than 10,000
years old. They interpret the creation and universal flood stories in Genesis
as being literally true. 95% of scientists believe that the Earth is about 4.5
billion years old, and that humanity, the world and the rest of the universe
evolved.
- Linguistics: Most conservative Christians claim that the
Tower of Babel story in Genesis describes precisely a past event in the
Middle East in which humanity separated into many different cultures, with
various languages. Scientists generally disagree that languages developed in
this manner.
- Medicine: Some faith groups promote methods of healing that
they believe are superior to modern medicine. Physicians tend to disagree about
the effectiveness of prayer.
Another example is the Shroud of Turin, which many believers regard to
be the burial cloth of Jesus. Many scientists disagree.
To understand the relationship between science and religion, there are
three models that have been used:
- The Conflict Model: The view that science and religion are two
opposed systems of belief, and that one can only accept a scientific world-view
if one has rejected the claims of religion as superstitious.
- The Separation Model: The view that science and religion are
engaged in answering very different questions. Science attempts to answer the
question 'how' whereas religion attempts to answer the question 'why'.
- The Interaction Model: The view that science and religion are
partners in the search for truth. They share a common origin in this
fundamental human desire for the unity and coherence of all knowledge.
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