Are Science and Religion in Conflict?

Are Science and Religion in Conflict?

Shawn C. Kelly

PHI 103

Dr. Peter Barone

November 24, 2013

Are Science and Religion in Conflict?
This argument paper is about the notion that many have about science comparing to religion. Are Science and Religion in Conflict? No. Science and religion are not in conflict; they are two different perspectives on life that sometimes go hand in hand. Many people believe that this is not true; they believe that science is in conflict with religion, that only one is correct. This paper will examine the different aspects of science versus religion and help us to better understand the two different perspectives and how they relate to each other in life, science and religion. It will also examine the way some scientist try to refute the religion as well as gives testimony on how some of the religious stories actually happened. While science offers an interpretation on the way the world was formed, so does religion. They are just different ideas that are believed by different people and who’s to say which one is correct? Do we have any documentation, records or anything for that time to show which one is correct? No. We rely on research, scientific arguments, written documentation by others and religious texts to learn what happened in the beginning of the world. This hypothesis or scientific guess of how the earth was formed has angered many religious leaders on this matter. A publication in the Young Scientist Journal stated that, “Perhaps science and religion just offer different perspectives on life – the objective against the subjective faith – but when the Big Bang theory and any one of the creation stories collide, is there, and will there ever be, an outright winner?” (Bruce, C 2012). How will we be able to have an outright winner? As I’ve stated earlier in this paragraph no one was around during that time so I believe there is no way to have an outright winner. Science has the interpretation of the way the world was formed by the Big Bang theory; this explanation states that the universe was formed billions of years ago by expansion. This scientific explanation is from scientist studying the past and present areas of the universe, and the way the planets are formed today. Scientists researched the way new planets are formed and what happens when stars die out or explodes. They basically believed that the universe started out very small, dense and hot. It then inflated, expanded and cool, going from very small and dense to the universe today. Some scientist believes that the universe is still expanding. With religion, more notably the Christian religion and many others, we believe that god created the world and the universe. The bible states that, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (The Holy Bible, 1997). This is the belief that all religious leaders as well as religious people believe. Science and religious groups can argue and dismiss each others belief in the way the world was formed, but does either have the actual proof that it was formed their way? Both sides can bring up evidence of what they believe in, scientist can show studies and religious groups can show their religious texts, but in the end no one was around at that time to document and tell us exactly what happened. There are followers of science as well and there are followers of religion. Many people believe in one or the other and believe that only one interpretation is correct. However there are some scientists that are religious and believe that religion explains the scientific findings. “Some famous scientists, such as John Pilkinghorne, have been highly religious, others such as Albert Einstein have offered varied and complex views on religion, and then there are those, like Richard Dawkins, who criticize it” (Bruce, C. 2012). When knowing that some scientists are also very religious it is not hard to believe that both science and religion can co-exist. While it is true that some scientist do not believe in the bible or its teaching and there are also some religious groups that do not believe in the scientific interpretation, there are still some scientist that are religious and the same goes for some people of religious groups that are scientist. An online publication states, “Some astronomers, who are religious, argue that the big bang theory confirms the existence of God and the basic elements of the creation story as told in the Bible. First came light, then the heavens, then the Earth ...” (Kpoehane, J. 1997). With science we are able to solve some of the great mysteries of the bible, Quran and other religious texts that may seem to be unreal. While some of the followers of the bible may remember the story in the book of Exodus where the children of Israel were given “manna” to eat. The bible states that, “And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white: and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey”(The Holy Bible, 1997). This was given to the children of Israel because they had no food to eat, so the Lord gave them this to eat. Scientific studies state that, “Many botanist believe “manna” was nothing more than a secretion exuded by tamarisk tress and bushes. Another explanation is that it could have been a seed-something like coriander seed-which tastes a bit like honey and often falls from the trees”(Fillon, M. 1996). There have been many other ways science has helped to prove that some of the stories in the bible are true or some believe they are proving they are false. Another such is of the famous story of when Moses parted the sea, the bible states, “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” (The Holly Bible, 1997). Remember after Moses parted the sea, the Egyptians came in after him and God caused the waters to come back together, which drowned the Egyptians. Science has helped proved this true by, “According to a Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society account, computer calculations indicate that because of the peculiar geography of the northern end of the Red Sea, a moderate wind blowing constantly for about 10 hours could have caused the sea to recede about a mile and the water level to drop 10 ft., leaving dry land for a period of time before crashing back when the winds died down”(Fillon, M. 2001). While some don’t believe that God was able to feed his people by giving them this “manna” to eat, that supposedly came from out of no where. Some don’t even know what manna was and where it came about or came from. But as you can see with science they were able to explain what it was and where it came from, thereby helping to strengthen the bible. Another explanation I gave above to how the Red Sea was parted by Moses was also explained with science. Many believe these were unbelievable stories of the bible but science explained them. Haven’t we heard about archeologist finding bones of humans that were very tall or big? Would this explain some of the giants? They have even been discoveries of the remains of Noah’s Ark. Many believe that science was started because of the bible. Some think that since, “Adam was thought to have possessed a perfect knowledge of all sciences, a knowledge lost to posterity when he fell from grace and was expelled from the Garden of Eden. The goal of the 17th century scientist such as Francis Bacon and his successors in the Royal Society of London was to regain the scientific knowledge of the first man” (Harrison, P. 2002). Another journal states,” Medieval philosophers studied two books, the Book of Nature or the world, and the Book of God, the bible. God was the author of both, so they were believed to tell the same story. We tend to think that it is in science that Europe excelled, beginning in the seventeenth century, and thus in the study of the book of nature, but in the same period Europe also played a pioneering role in the critical study of God’s book and in textual studies in general. Especially in the early phase of the scientific revolution, the study of nature and the study of texts were not seen as separate realms, but parts of a single continuum” (Lernout, G 2012). With the two above-mentioned citations we can think about how religion started science. If we really think about it, why would we have scientist in the first place if it were not to refute or to confirm religion? Why would they try to learn and develop the “Big Bang” theory if it were not for the beginning of Genesis? Many things that are unknown to us now on how they happen and why are said to be an act of God. We now understand a lot of how things work and how things are. The people in the early days of the bible or other religious texts didn’t know what we do today. They didn’t have the knowledge that we do; all they knew simply is that the Lord did it. Science has made points about how things are today. They have used research and scientific evidence as well as other areas of science to try to refute many of today’s religions. Astronomy, botany, archaeology, even marine and biology has come into play when it comes to religion and if it’s true or not. As I stated above science has its followers and religion has its own as well. This topic has been around since science came about and will continue to be a debate. Many have heard both sides of this debate and whether you for one or the other side we all know that it is truth in both. An address states,” According to Gould (who called himself an agnostic Jew) science and religion each have their own area of teaching authority, which—unfortunately—is not separated by a wide no man’s land, but finds them to bump “right up against each other, interdigitating in wondrously complex ways along their joint border.””(Fendt, G 2012). With religion being the basis of the reason why science started it always going to be some question on which is right. Unfortunately, we cannot refute one or the other or even prove one or the other was correct or false. With this thin line between science and religion there will be new discoveries of the different things that happened and different ideas or ways to refute them. In conclusion I have stated an argument for my thesis statement in that science and religion do not conflict one another. I have provided a counter-thesis and counter-argument by stating how some think science refutes religion by given scientific evidence on how the different stories came about in religious texts. I have also responded to the counter-thesis by stating that the scientific discoveries and research helps to strengthen some religious texts and explain that the stories were in fact true. So are Science and Religion in Conflict? No. Science and religion are not in conflict; they are two different perspectives on life that sometimes go hand in hand.

References

Bruce, C. (2012). Can science and religion work together while one relies on evidence and the other on faith? Young Scientists Journal, 5(11), 31-33. Retrieved from PROQUEST database.
Fendt, G. (2012). Truth in Science and the literal Reading of the Bible. Vital Speeches of the Day, 78.12. Retrieved from the PROQUEST database.
Fillon, M. (1996, 12). Science solves the ancient mysteries of the bible. Popular Mechanics, 173, 39-43. Retrieved from PROQUEST database.
Fillon, M. (2001, 12). Science solves more mysteries of the bible. Popular Mechanics, 178, 78-81. Retrieved from PROQUEST database.
Harrison, P. (2002, 04). The bible and the rise of science. Australasian Science, 23, 14. Retrieved from PROQUEST database.
Keohane, J. (1997). Ask an Astrophysicist. Retrieved from http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov on November 24, 2013.
Lernout, G. (2012). Who wrote what when: The bible, science and criticism. European Review, 20(3), 301-315. Retrieved from PROQUEST database.
The Holy Bible, (1997). Freemasonry and The Holy Bible, Heirloom Bible Publishers: Wichita, Kansas: Devore & Sons, Inc.

References: Bruce, C. (2012). Can science and religion work together while one relies on evidence and the other on faith? Young Scientists Journal, 5(11), 31-33. Retrieved from PROQUEST database. Fendt, G. (2012). Truth in Science and the literal Reading of the Bible. Vital Speeches of the Day, 78.12. Retrieved from the PROQUEST database. Fillon, M. (1996, 12). Science solves the ancient mysteries of the bible. Popular Mechanics, 173, 39-43. Retrieved from PROQUEST database. Fillon, M. (2001, 12). Science solves more mysteries of the bible. Popular Mechanics, 178, 78-81. Retrieved from PROQUEST database. Harrison, P. (2002, 04). The bible and the rise of science. Australasian Science, 23, 14. Retrieved from PROQUEST database. Keohane, J. (1997). Ask an Astrophysicist. Retrieved from http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov on November 24, 2013. Lernout, G. (2012). Who wrote what when: The bible, science and criticism. European Review, 20(3), 301-315. Retrieved from PROQUEST database. The Holy Bible, (1997). Freemasonry and The Holy Bible, Heirloom Bible Publishers: Wichita, Kansas: Devore & Sons, Inc.