Science and Religion?

A personal view by John Parkin

This is a Huge topic – impossible to do it justice in any talk

That’s despite the message you might get from the ‘New Atheist’ propaganda, which will rubbish religion and tell you there’s nothing to discuss

All I can do is sketch an outline, offer you my own thoughts, and suggest where you might go further if it catches your interest.

A Disclaimer

Health Warning

This is a proper academic subject, so:-

There is a large body of literature out there, much written by professional academics, for other professional academics, so it can assume you already know the basics andthe key ideas.

Even if it claims to be for a general reader, beware, it can assume a rather elevated idea of that person.

I’ll offer some suggested reading at the end

The scope of S&R

Eco Theology

Creation Evolution

Bioethics Medical ethics

Mind and Consciousness

Sociology and History of Science and religion

Eschatology

Other Religions?

Much of what you will find is written from a Christian viewpoint – even books with titles like ‘Science and Religion’ can turn out to be ‘Science and Christianity’ with maybe a nod in thedirection of other religions

This is largely because science mainly developed in the modern, Western,(and therefore at least nominally Christian ) World

In a multicultural city like Birmingham, you may meet people who try to tell you their own version of the story – listen politely and then do your own research – this is a subject which can get very political!

So where to begin?We all have to start where we personally are .I think I have to come at this from my own professional life as a science teacher.

There’s a lot of research about how people try to make sense of Science – it’s an area of Psychology which has also been applied to how people make sense of their Religious Beliefs.

People’s ideas tend to develop through stages, though these aren’t rigid, moving from concrete Ideas to more formal and abstract ones. People usually stop at some point along the way, and don’t always use the highest level of which they are capable

People often experience distress when they don't 'get’ a new idea, or find they are faced with conflicts – some people want ‘simple certainty’ ( Science has proved ----- The Bible Plainly Says----)Others are prepared to live with creative tension, with ideas which are held as provisional truth.

Theory?!

A Misused Word – often used as ‘a sort of idea that works for me’ . Or ‘It’s only a theory’ – often said of Big Bang or Evolution

A body of ideas which have been tested and found to have explanatory power in terms of some deep and simple concepts. Ideally it should predict something we can go and look for and hope to find, give new insights

Physics example – Newton's law of Gravitation ‘explained’ planetary motion, in a limited wayand is still OK to navigate round the solar system. But we know it has its limits, and General Relativity is better for intense gravity and Special Relativity for fast movement. Relativity in its turn may not be the end of the story…..

Experiments?

But experiments often rely on theories for their design, so tend to ask loaded questions.

Science uses both Experiment and Observation to try out theories and to get ideas for Improved theories.

Science is a social activity, so what is done is sometimes not a free choice

Miracles?

Miracles can be hard work for religious scientists- does God actually change how God’s universe works – and why, why for some and not others?

Miracles in the Bible – no evidence we can examine, accounts written sometimes long after, by people with a very different understanding of the world than ours.

So perhaps we ask the wrong question . Not ‘Did it happen like that?’ but rather ‘What did it mean to them?’ and ‘What does it mean to us now?’

Conflict?

Often assumed that there must be conflict between science and religion

But for much of science, scientists have been inspired by theistic ideas, even if not conventional ones.

‘Warfare’ idea has its roots in a couple of 19th Century books which were writtenalmost as a piece of self publicity

Reality is, as usual, more subtle than the popular accounts might say

Reading ListI’ve produced a suggested reading list on paper, and I’ll also put it up on ‘my’ web page so you can get it from there. ( Best way is via www.allsaintskingsheath.org.ukand look for the ‘Testimonies’ page ) It’s in no way exhaustive or complete, just what I’ve read!!

You might wonder why I haven’t included books like ‘The God Delusion’.That’s partly because they are not specifically about ‘Science and Religion’, partly because they are often so poor intellectually as to hardly merit consideration, were it not for their popular impact. Try Dawkins ‘The God Delusion’ and the McGrath’s ‘The Dawkins Delusion’ in parallel!!

I've tried putting down some of my own thoughts, to try and clear my own mind, and these are available via the same web page www.allsaintskingsheath.org.uk

I’d probably start with Michael Poole’s book

CredoSo, What do I personally believe? I’d have to include:

A (Trinitarian ) God who is responsible for there being something, rather than nothing. For their being at least this Universe – and maybe others? – that’s interesting speculation.

A God who continues to underwrite the consistency of nature.

A God who’s willing to wait 13.7 billion years for this universe to produce at least one life form capable of relating to them.

A God who didn’t sit back and watch, but in the mystery of the Incarnation got involvedwith life at least here, and maybe elsewhere.

A God who was willing to suffer and die to redeem us in the mystery of Salvation.