SOC 3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Man Man, Book Of Nature, Abjuration
22 Aug 2019
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Science and religion, two visions of the world
Many negative statements about the relationship between science and religion continue to be
repeated today, sometimes with bitter virulence and some see in religion a malignant virus that
opposes the progress of science. The subject needs a serious and serene reflection that examines
the relationship between science and religion as forms of knowledge and social phenomena, and
how this relationship has been throughout history, especially in relation to Christianity. This is the
focus of this new book.
No one can doubt today that science and religion are, without a doubt, the two great visions about
the world. Although there are other visions, such as the artistic one, these two have an extension
and strength that place them as the two most important ways of looking at the world. In general,
we can say that science tries to understand the nature of the material world around us, how it has
come to be, how we know it and what laws govern it. Religion, on the other hand, deals with what
transcends the material world and puts man in touch with what is beyond, the numinous, the
mysterious, in a word, with the mystery of God and his relationship with man and the universe.
This is the approach taken by the author and tries to analyze both views and establish what the
relationships between them can be.
Three approaches: epistemological, historical and sociological
The relationships between science and religion can be approached from various points of view.
This study focuses on three, historical, epistemological and sociological. Both religion and science
are cultural phenomena that have been present throughout history since ancient times.
Sometimes there is a danger of assuming that science begins with the modern science of the
Renaissance, forgetting all previous developments. This is a serious mistake, since the birth of
modern science itself cannot be understood without previous scientific developments. Going back
to the dawn of science in ancient times we can already find interactions with religion.
A special interest has the relationship between Christianity and science, since modern science is
born precisely in the Christian West. This relationship begins with the first Christian authors of the
third century and continues over time to the present day. Sometimes they simplify and present
erroneous conclusions about this relationship by not taking into account how it has run
throughout history. The historical approach is, therefore, essential to arrive at a correct view of
the problem.
Religion and science are forms of approach to reality, that is, forms of knowledge with different
peculiarities. It is, therefore, important to study the different nature of each of them and the
relationship that can be established between scientific knowledge and religious knowledge. This
reflection belongs to the field of philosophy.
Philosophical reflection and specifically epistemological reflection is essential to establish the
relationship between science and religion as forms of knowledge. Faith and religious experience
form the foundation of religious knowledge that is formalized in theology, while scientific
knowledge is formed by a formal framework of laws and theories, related to an empirical basis of
experiments and observations. Clearly establishing the nature and limits of these two types of
knowledge is essential in order to correctly establish the relationship between the two.
Religion and science are also social phenomena. Its sociological aspect is, therefore, very
important to know the relationships between them. This aspect is less known and rarely taken into
account. Science and religion form two complex social systems that group individual and collective
experiences and have their norms and behavior patterns that result in the formation of
communities with their own type of structure and language.
Both communities interact with the general society in keys that can be of acceptance, rejection,
prestige and influence with the consequent interactions between them. The affirmation of
positions of social influence has sometimes resulted in confrontations between them. The
normative impact of religion on behaviors, which leads to ethical proposals, interacts with the
practice of science, which cannot be alien to the ethical problems that may arise in it. The growing
concern of society for ethical problems related to science today opens new fields of its
relationship with religious thought.
Science and religion compatible or incompatible?
The first question we can ask ourselves is whether science and religion are compatible with each
other or not. That is, if both can live together or necessarily one excludes the other and between
them there can only be one inevitable conflict. It is not uncommon to find, even today, the
sometimes-generalized opinion that science and religion are mutually incompatible and the
relationship between them has always been a source of inevitable conflicts.
They are considered as two opposing visions of the world, which can only collide with each other.
Not only this, but each of them denies the validity of the other. Today, in addition, it is maintained
that only the vision of science can be the true one, so that the religious vision has to gradually
disappear. From this point of view, the advance of science always implies a setback of religion. To
support this position, a biased interpretation of history is often made and the same cases of
Galileo and Darwin are always brought.
Although this position is pushed back to the origins of modern science, indicating that science
itself can only be in conflict with religion, it actually begins in the nineteenth century, although
some roots can be found in the eighteenth. Two books published by John W. Draper and Andrew
D. White at the end of the 19th century contributed in a special way to extend this position.
Draper, above all, devotes his most furious attacks against the Catholic Church of which he says
that Catholic Christianity and science are absolutely incompatible. These two books have come to
represent the position that maintains incompatibility and the inevitable conflict between science
and religion.
After the Second World War, there is a change in these positions. On the one hand, it begins to
give up the scientific euphoria that had favored the idea of incompatibility and the inevitable
conflict between science and religion. From the limitless admiration of science, he went on to a
more critical look and even a certain suspicion, caused by the danger to some of its consequences.
On the other hand, new historical studies have shown that many of the arguments used by Draper
and White do not have a serious historical basis. The relations between science and religion
throughout history have been complex and cannot be reduced to those of their absolute
incompatibility and continuous conflict.
