u73611 issues in contemporary religion week five: religion and science [email protected]...
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U73611 Issues in Contemporary Religion
U73611 Issues in Contemporary Religion
Week Five: Religion and Science
Week Five: Religion and Science
What have religion and science to do with one another?
Aren’t they concerned with very different things?
What have religion and science to do with one another?
Aren’t they concerned with very different things?
ReligionReligion
Scripture, tradition, rituals Community, identity Moral values, spirituality
Scripture, tradition, rituals Community, identity Moral values, spirituality
ScienceScience
Elite, educated, professional activity Using maths and technology Undertaken by small numbers of people Aims to discover the true nature of the
universe
Elite, educated, professional activity Using maths and technology Undertaken by small numbers of people Aims to discover the true nature of the
universe
ButBut
Both religion and science share an interest in fundamental questions about nature of physical universe
And about human nature
Both religion and science share an interest in fundamental questions about nature of physical universe
And about human nature
When we talk about religion and science
When we talk about religion and science
We are mostly talking about Christianity
We are mostly talking about Christianity
Most popular metaphorMost popular metaphor
Battle which science has won Battle which science has won
eg Galileoeg Galileo
Condemned by RCC 17th C Bible taught that earth was stationary Copernicus - the sun is stationary Heresy - how can an omniscient God
have got the Bible wrong?
Condemned by RCC 17th C Bible taught that earth was stationary Copernicus - the sun is stationary Heresy - how can an omniscient God
have got the Bible wrong?
Moments in the ‘war’Moments in the ‘war’
Galileo vs the Church Darwinism vs Creationism Bible vs Science Superstition vs Rationality Dogma vs Empiricism
Galileo vs the Church Darwinism vs Creationism Bible vs Science Superstition vs Rationality Dogma vs Empiricism
Too simplisticToo simplistic
History shows there were other factors at stake
History shows there were other factors at stake
Alister McGrathAlister McGrath
Was a molecular biophysicist Now a theologian
Was a molecular biophysicist Now a theologian
John PolkinghorneJohn Polkinghorne
Physicist turned Anglican priest Physicist turned Anglican priest
Dialogue?Dialogue?
Tends to be one-sided Tends to neglect the plurality of both
science and religion Ignores that it is largely about
Christianity
Tends to be one-sided Tends to neglect the plurality of both
science and religion Ignores that it is largely about
Christianity
John Hedley Brooke (1991)John Hedley Brooke (1991)
History of the relationship between religion and science is extremely complex
Metaphors such as battle, bridges etc don’t cut it
There is no such thing as the relationship between religion and science
History of the relationship between religion and science is extremely complex
Metaphors such as battle, bridges etc don’t cut it
There is no such thing as the relationship between religion and science
The complexity thesis dominates scholarly thought
Let us return to Galileo
The complexity thesis dominates scholarly thought
Let us return to Galileo
1) Theological conflict1) Theological conflict
Should clergy only interpret scriptures? Laypersons? If passages conflicted with scientific
knowledge then they should be read figuratively - according to Galileo
Sensitive issue because of Reformation
Should clergy only interpret scriptures? Laypersons? If passages conflicted with scientific
knowledge then they should be read figuratively - according to Galileo
Sensitive issue because of Reformation
2) Scientific conflict2) Scientific conflict
Between Aristotelean/Ptolomeic and Copernican views
Between Aristotelean/Ptolomeic and Copernican views
3) Philosophical conflict3) Philosophical conflict
Is Copernican system just a useful way of making calculations
Or is it a true picture of how the world actually is?
Is Copernican system just a useful way of making calculations
Or is it a true picture of how the world actually is?
4) Political conflict4) Political conflict
Between those who supported Galileo as a person
And those who thought him arrogant, untrustworthy and in need of reigning in
Between those who supported Galileo as a person
And those who thought him arrogant, untrustworthy and in need of reigning in
Huxley vs WilberforceHuxley vs Wilberforce
Debated Darwin in 1860Debated Darwin in 1860
Bishop of Oxford asked Huxley if he was an ape on the side of his grandfather or grandmother
Huxley replied he’d rather be descended from an ape than a bishop, especially one blocking progress of science
Bishop of Oxford asked Huxley if he was an ape on the side of his grandfather or grandmother
Huxley replied he’d rather be descended from an ape than a bishop, especially one blocking progress of science
But more complexBut more complex
Liberal theologians had no problem with Darwin
Others saw Darwinism as atheism Scientists felt there was insufficient
evidence to support Darwin Philosophers unsure whether Darwin
had used induction correctly
Liberal theologians had no problem with Darwin
Others saw Darwinism as atheism Scientists felt there was insufficient
evidence to support Darwin Philosophers unsure whether Darwin
had used induction correctly
Even today issues are complex
Even today issues are complex
Role of religion in politics Teaching of religion and science in
schools Advancement of Prof. Dawkins own
career? Dawkins own religious upbringing?
Role of religion in politics Teaching of religion and science in
schools Advancement of Prof. Dawkins own
career? Dawkins own religious upbringing?
To what extent are science and religion rational?
To what extent are science and religion rational?
Caricature: science based on facts; religion is wish-fulfillment
Science based on evidence; religion on blind faith
Scientists are objective; religionists subject to emotions
Caricature: science based on facts; religion is wish-fulfillment
Science based on evidence; religion on blind faith
Scientists are objective; religionists subject to emotions
Responses to this caricatureResponses to this caricature
Talking down science Talking up religion
Talking down science Talking up religion
Talking science downTalking science down
Science may not be quite the detached, objective pursuit it claims to be
Observations are theory-laden
Science may not be quite the detached, objective pursuit it claims to be
Observations are theory-laden
Talking religion upTalking religion up
Theology is not unlike a sci discipline It makes inferences from the observable
to the unobservable It deploys metaphors just as scientists
do Has a set of hard-core theoretical
assumptions surrounded by more flexible auxiliary hypotheses
Theology is not unlike a sci discipline It makes inferences from the observable
to the unobservable It deploys metaphors just as scientists
do Has a set of hard-core theoretical
assumptions surrounded by more flexible auxiliary hypotheses
Together these strategies cancel each other out!
One questions the superior rationality of science, the other apes it
Together these strategies cancel each other out!
One questions the superior rationality of science, the other apes it
God of the gapsGod of the gaps
Perhaps we can locate God in the gaps in scientific knowledge
But if those gaps are closed, where does that leave theism?
Perhaps we can locate God in the gaps in scientific knowledge
But if those gaps are closed, where does that leave theism?
Ethics and politicsEthics and politics
Both science and religion offer salvation
ie science is often justified for its utilitarian ends
Religious people are often the first to question the ethics of science
Science is often funded by big business, arms companies etc - ethics?
Both science and religion offer salvation
ie science is often justified for its utilitarian ends
Religious people are often the first to question the ethics of science
Science is often funded by big business, arms companies etc - ethics?
SeminarSeminar
Where does modern science leave the concept of a soul?
Where does modern science leave the concept of a soul?