The Credibility Of Science And Religion

Weingartner compares criteria and basic assumptions for the credibility of scientific and religious belief systems. It is shown that mankind has access to basic knowledge about a higher spiritual power and knowledge by conscience about what is obligatory or forbidden. This is defended by further axiomatizations on basic terms as natural goods, natural and moral law, and conscience. Scientific and religious belief systems are then compared thoroughly and by logical deduction and verisimilitude. One main argument is that every kind of belief system has an upper and a lower bound of credibility, yet a degree of credibility that leads to the impossibility of rational justification for scientific belief systems must not be required from religious belief systems. Further topics are internal and external consistency, local refutation, mutual complementation between religion and theory of evolution as well as a comparison of the five world religions leading to general features of religion. It is shown that one main yet basic axiom of morality is the principle of charity. Finally, the book concludes with the credibility-requirements of science towards religion and those of religion towards science.

Are scientific and religious ways of knowing compatible or forever at loggerheads? Can the cognitive claims of both religion and science be held simultaneously, or are they mutually exclusive? And what criteria ought we to use to form a judgment? These are the central questions posed by the author who strips away the long-held idea that science and religion can be safely relegated to their own separate spheres -- science to the empirical, religion to the spiritual -- by illustrating the many ways in which religion encroaches upon the domain of science by claiming to have unassailable, revealed knowledge about the universe and human nature. The clashes between these powerful worldviews have steadily increased in number and intensity as more and more people have turned to science for answers to life's mysteries. But are science's ways of knowing to be preferred to those of the world's religions? The author shows that the professed aims of science -- logical compatibility and clarity of explanation based upon observable data and experience -- are the more congenial to human thought and reasoning, unlike religion with its reliance on tradition, mystery, parable and revelation -- none of which can be emprically demonstrated.

I With the immense success of modem science it has generally become accepted that the only way to acquire knowledge is by the use of the method uniformly practiced by working scientists. Consequently, the credibility of the claims of religion, which seem to be based on belief in revelation, tradition, authority and the like, have been considerably shaken. In the face of the serious threat provided by the ascendancy of modem scientific method ology, religious thinkers have adopted various defensive attitudes. Some have retreated into an extreme position where Theism is completely safe from any attack on it by the use of empirical methods of inquiry, maintaining that contrary to appearances, religion makes no factual claims whatsoever. To be religious, they say, is to subscribe to a certain value system; it is to adopt a set of practices and a given attitude to the meaning and purpose of life without making any assertions about this or that empirical feature of the universe. Others wishing to remain more faithful to what religion traditionally meant throughout the ages, agree that Theism does make factual claims but that these are so radically different from the kind of claims made by science that it is only right that they should be established by a separate method on its own. In matters of faith reliance on widely entrenched tradition and sacred authority is not objectionable according to some.

Examines the science versus religion debate by interviewing scientists regarding their own faiths.

The book encourages Christians to take valid scientific theories on board. They are God's way of displaying the profundity, complexity and greatness of God's creation. They can become God's instruments to master the looming economic-ecological crises. Science can help believers update their worldview, restore the credibility of their message, and regain their contemporary relevance; faith can afford the scientific enterprise a new grounding, direction and vision. God's creative power' is explored by science and God's benevolent intentionality' is proclaimed by the Christian faith. Major Christian convictions can be restated on this basis to make sense to our scientifically informed contemporaries.

The Definitive Introduction To The Relationship Between Religion And Science ∗ In The Beginning: Why Did the Big Bang Occur? ∗ Quantum Physics: A Challenge to Our Assumptions About Reality? ∗ Darwin And Genesis: Is Evolution God′s Way of Creating? ∗ Human Nature: Are We Determined by Our Genes? ∗ God And Nature: Can God Act in a Law-Bound World? Over the centuries and into the new millennium, scientists, theologians, and the general public have shared many questions about the implications of scientific discoveries for religious faith. Nuclear physicist and theologian Ian Barbour, winner of the 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion for his pioneering role in advancing the study of religion and science, presents a clear, contemporary introduction to the essential issues, ideas, and solutions in the relationship between religion and science. In simple, straightforward language, Barbour explores the fascinating topics that illuminate the critical encounter of the spiritual and quantitative dimensions of life.

For centuries science and faith have been drifting apart. Science lost its transcendent foundations, faith lost its credibility. Science conquered the future; faith got stuck in the past. Science unleashed unprecedented powers; faith became a private pastime. The economic and ecological consequences are catastrophic. Science and faith must reconnect and lead the way out of the crisis.