When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers Or Partners?

I have chosen the article, Does Science Threaten Religion? (p. 497) as my focus for this tutorial. I strongly believe the article uses the structural-functionalism approach as well as scientific sociology.

Dr. Connie Bertka’s essay, “A Primer on Science, Religion, Evolution and Creationism,” expands on Kingsolver’s idea that science and religion have cohabited by explaining how science and religion are formative elements that shape society and serves to contribute to the common good. The relationship between science and religion can be described as a conflict approach which means that “science sets the standard of truth to which religion must adhere to or be dismissed or religion sets the standard to which science must conform.” On the other hand, science and religion can form an interactive relationship in which ideas converge from a scientific and religious perspective. Dr. Bertka mentions that religion and science can be taught in a classroom, since their interactive relationship can constructively benefit from engagement, since they both lead to individual insight and communal discernment.

“In the Forest of Gombe” by Jane Goodall describes her own perspective of the correlation between religions and science through her experiences in the forest at Gombe where she finds comforting to recover from the loss of her husband. Developed several new concepts regarding life, Goodall comes up with the idea of the coexistence of science and religion. Agreeing with Goodall, however, the windows that Goodall sees through have no drawbacks.

Faith Matters. (2010, April 02). Scholar says that religion and Science can coexist. Lab Activity: Chapter1. Podcast retrieved from

When it comes to Christianity and science, neither side is truly at piece with the idea of an agreement. This feud between the two sides is usually applied by people who are atheists or don’t believe in any kind of spirituality and it applies to science as well. Christianity and spirituality produce unfathomable feelings in people. By speaking to peoples’ most profound values it makes practicing science difficult and they must be careful to approach these processes with familiarity, compassion and precaution. Unfortunately, it is rare people in the profession of science take into consideration these values. Although it isn’t their

A whole section of his essay is titled Science as a Source of Spirituality. Doing these things furthers the essay’s popularity and appeal to groups outside of a scientific

From the beginning of time, science and religion have fought each other. Both trying to explain life and the things that go on in our daily lives. There are many topics where science and Christianity don’t see eye to eye. Both believe many different things. Religion believes in faith and science believes in observing the environment and phenomena that happens around us.

The Pivotal Dichotomies of Science and Religion Science can help identify and elaborate upon the laws of nature, help humans ascertain an improved understanding of the universe, and enable people to acquire powerful thinking skills to generate innovative and beneficial ideas. However, in the recent centuries many scholars have addressed the numerous conflicts that have emerged between the fields of science and religion. Although certain similar factors can render science and religion compatible, many differences have caused a contentious divisiveness to permeate between the two fields. Many philosophers have contemplated and debated the relationship between science and religion.

I did not appreciate this information at all because I am going into the next chapter thinking it is going to be difficult and it was. There is a lot of terminologies that I was looking up to better grasp the concept. When reading in chapter six Entwistle (2010) makes us think of nature and a time that we were in awe of it (p.94). He goes on to talk about how science plays a big role in the world today to make sense of things like what we view to be beautiful in nature. The concept made more sense because I could relate it to my life where science and my beliefs meet. I remember the science from field trips to the wilderness and the religious part comes from knowing who made the

When dwelling into the explorations about science and religion, one can find it quite amusing. "If science and religion are to continue to coexist it seems opposed to the conditions of modern thought to admit that this result can be brought about by the so-called

Many people consider science and religion to be at loggerheads. Other people consider religions and science to be completely unrelated and different facets. The idea that many people have is that science seems to be more popular than the legions since it is based on facts while religion is based on perceptions. However, what many people fail to realize is that science is not the only source of facts, and religion has been effective in reaching out beyond the realms of morals and values. Indeed, science and religions rely on one another in examining and explaining the things that happens in the daily lives of individuals. Although the views of religion and science have been more or less distinct, there are several ways in which science and religions come together. This paper reviews

Conceptions holding that science and religion should operate (epistemologically and philosophically) in basically the same manner lead to the Conflict or Integration models . At issue for philosophy, from the most formal seminars in leading universities to the most basic ideas of personal morality conceived by individuals world-wide, is achieving a supreme understanding of humanity and its role in the world. Should this understanding encompass both science and religion (Dialogue and Integration) or favor one or the other rather than some synthesis of both (Independence and Conflict)? How a specific philosophy answers these sets of essential questions determines how science and religion will interact and the role of each in a greater understanding of the world.

Townes explored the area of convergence between science and religion for many years (Powell, 2005). During the year 1966, Townes’ first article published in IBM’s Think magazine clarified Townes’ point of view related to the parallels between religion and science (Powell, 2005). In addition, Townes argued that scientific and religious thought was far from conflicting (Powell, 2005). Furthermore, that today we are finding more and more in common between the two categories, which Townes believes were ultimately destined to merge (Townes, 1966).

There is a long documented history of conflict between religion and science. As two institutions that have a considerable effect on society and global opinion, and ones that are based on very separate principles, conflict seems almost inevitable and history proves this. But in the modern age will it ever be possible for us to reconcile the ideas of two things that create and explain the foundations of our society?

Within philosophy, there has long been a question about the relationship between science and religion. These two systems of human experience have undoubtedly had a lot of influence in the course of mankind’s development. The philosopher Ian Barbour created a taxonomy regarding science and religion that has become widely influential. His taxonomy postulates that there are four ways in which science and religion are thought to interact. The four categories are: conflict, independence, dialogue, and integration. By using articles from a select few philosophers, theologians, and scientists, it is clear to see the ways in which these two systems of human experience are categorized in the four categories presented by Ian barbour. However, it will be apparent that the category of conflict may be seen as the most dominant in regard to the interaction between science and religion.