Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
williampoulos.substack.com
Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
1–10 of 77 posts
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#2The author conveniently fails to mention Galileo was found guilty of heresy by the Church, forced to retract his Dialogues and lived the rest of his life under house arrest for advocating the Copernican heliocentric model over the doctrinal geocentric model.[0]
When one cherry picks evidence like that...
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#3Granted, the religious _practice_ I’m most familiar with is Christianity as it is practiced in North America. There, non-trivial numbers of people believe that the Earth is 6000 years old and hold to other similar falsifiable claims. I would gladly shrug my shoulders and say “To each, his own.” But there are constant battles to present some of these views (albeit less extreme) in public school curricula. Some have ended in landmark cases before the Supreme Court.
One can make the argument that science and religion occupy disparate spheres of interest, as Gould did with his “non-overlapping magisteria,” but it ignores the fact that religion as it is practiced often makes claims about material reality, claims that can be put to scientific scrutiny.
The historical record is interesting, and I appreciate the details presented in TFA. But I’m concerned with the practicalities of religious practice and those of science and the “constantly-overlapping magisteria” of material claims.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#4The author conveniently fails to mention Galileo was found guilty of heresy by the Church, forced to retract his Dialogues and lived the rest of his life under house arrest for advocating the Copernican heliocentric model over the doctrinal geocentric model.[0] When one cherry picks evidence like that... [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair
Well, that's not really how it happened. Don't forget that Galileo spilled a lot of ink in order to deliberately mock and humiliate the Holy Father at the time. His trial and sentence were not so much about his science than about his lousy attitude toward legitimate authority. There were other scientists who adhered to the Copernican perspective (Copernicus himself is a Roman Catholic priest) without so much trouble.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#5Granted, the religious _practice_ I’m most familiar with is Christianity as it is practiced in North America. There, non-trivial numbers of people believe that the Earth is 6000 years old and hold to other similar falsifiable claims. I would gladly shrug my shoulders and say “To each, his own.” But there are constant battles to present some of these views (albeit less extreme) in public school curricula. Some have en…
Point taken, but you have to understand that American Fundamentalism is a minor pocket of Christianity in the worldwide scheme of things. There are billions of Christians who don't believe in a 6,000-year-old Earth. Billions of us.
And perhaps those Fundamentalists felt that the anti-religious atheists needed an appropriate foil. Certainly some of the noisiest people have come from both camps and made their presence and beliefs known. I believe there is a silent majority on both sides that sees no conflict between science and religion, because this lack of conflict has existed for 2,000 years, and it will continue to exist, because Christianity is the source of spiritual truth, and science seeks to explain physical truths.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#6Granted, the religious _practice_ I’m most familiar with is Christianity as it is practiced in North America. There, non-trivial numbers of people believe that the Earth is 6000 years old and hold to other similar falsifiable claims. I would gladly shrug my shoulders and say “To each, his own.” But there are constant battles to present some of these views (albeit less extreme) in public school curricula. Some have en…
Point taken, but you have to understand that American Fundamentalism is a minor pocket of Christianity in the worldwide scheme of things. There are billions of Christians who don't believe in a 6,000-year-old Earth. Billions of us. And perhaps those Fundamentalists felt that the anti-religious atheists needed an appropriate foil. Certainly some of the noisiest people have come from both camps and made their presence…
> because Christianity is the source of spiritual truth
the source?
I'll give you a source (for some) .. but there are a lot of religions across the globe and Christianity is just one of several in the Abrahamic family.
Fair point about Galileo though - his trial was principally due to him being a delibrately provocative giant pain in the butt to all the wrong people.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#7[flagged]
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#8[flagged]
With the disclosure that I'm neither Christian nor religous, ie I'm not looking for fight here;
how do you explain recent prominent scientists, including Nobel Laureates whao are also committed Christians?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_...
These are peak scientists who have reconciled internally what you believe to be conflicting opposites.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#9This is a great piece and I have bought the book. I'm expecting that in the decades ahead we will begin to see conferences on the conflict between science and atheism. Research into the question of the origin of life has put atheism to bed as a serious hypothesis, but there are still many common uneducated people who think atheism is a scientifically viable stance, and this perspective can even be found among academics who have not kept up with the latest advancements.
Re: Science and Religion Have Never Been Enemies
#10[flagged]
With the disclosure that I'm neither Christian nor religous, ie I'm not looking for fight here; how do you explain recent prominent scientists, including Nobel Laureates whao are also committed Christians? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_... These are peak scientists who have reconciled internally what you believe to be conflicting opposites.
Yes, I'm not sure most people realize that it was a Catholic priest (and theoretical physicist, mathematician and astronomer), Georges Lemaître, who was the first to propose the Big Bang theory.