More coming:

Miracles
Knowledge
2nd Law of
Thermo-dynamics
Evolution
God
and more...

Introduction - Science v. Religion?

To many people and to a lot of school pupils, who might be confused by a torrent of information from books, videos, teachers and Star Trek, religion has nothing to say in a modern age because Science has 'proved' everything we need to know. Not that they have ever done any scientific research; not that they have seen and handled any evidence; not that they necessarily understand the nature of a theory; but they have been told... or so they think. In fact, they are operating in the realm of religion: science is the big god; scientists and teachers are the seers and prophets of the religion; and the ordinary lay people are the believers of the revelation they have been given.

Where did the universe come from? "The Big Bang," they chorus, but on closer questioning, it is clear that they do not understand the so-called "Big Bang Theory." They affirm that there was this huge blob of matter floating in infinite space, possibly for endless ages, and that it suddenly exploded creating the universe. They triumphantly challenge religious believers, "But where did God come from?" as though they were the first to detect a flaw in the belief-in-God system. However, they do not detect the same flaw in their own understanding, for where did matter, space and time come from that, in their understanding of the theory, existed before the Big Bang? When it is explained to them that the theory puts forward the idea that the Big Bang created time, matter and space and that there was no 'before', that this is a theory of 'the beginning', then they will not have it as a scientific idea at all. It seems worse than religious belief.

Now the word 'science' comes from the Latin word scientia which simply means 'knowledge'. Knowledge is what both Science and Religion seek to provide. Actually, in years gone by, Theology (the study of God) was known as the Queen of the Sciences. In the 21st century many think that Science and Religion are in direct conflict with each other. I think that we must accept that both are in pursuit of truth, but in different ways and using different criteria. Both are needed in our quest for understanding. There are areas where Science does not seem to be the right tool for discovering truth. For instance, how would Science be able to assess beauty or what is morally right and wrong?

Science deals with the observable universe and world around us. Evidence is considered, hypotheses put forward, tested and, if not proved wrong, formed into theories. Theories are ideas which seem to fit all the known evidence, but, at any time, new evidence might be discovered which might disprove the theory. This is hardly the "science-deals-only-with-proven-facts" model which many might wish to suggest. The history of science is a history of wrong and disproved theories. Geocentric theories of the universe were demonstrated to be wrong at the time of the Copernican revolution, although it took some time to spread the idea that a heliocentric model was on a better footing. Galileo knew how dangerous it was to espouse such a theory. And even Copernicus got it wrong, but now we have a better understanding of our place in our galaxy which is only one in a universe of billions of galaxies. Then again, Newtonian physics does not fit the current evidence and even Fred Hoyle's Steady State theory is rejected by most.

Religion, on the other hand, is based on what has been revealed, in the case of the monotheistic religions, by God to His faithful followers. This revelation is passed on from generation to generation, and is usually recorded in some form of holy writing, such as the Bible. The revelation is accepted by faith on the part of the members of the religion. What is beyond our ability to know, by human enquiry and investigation, has been revealed by the Creator. If we are willing to allow the idea of an omnipotent, omniscient Creator, then surely it must be admitted that that same Creator can make a revelation of His knowledge to His creation.

In the end, whether we follow the scientific route, the religious pathway or both, we might still have serious questions about what constitutes real knowledge. How do we know that what we know is true?... But that's another area of study - epistemology.