Christianity & Science in Harmony?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23756/sp.v9i2.623Keywords:
Science, Bayesian Probability, Hypothesis Testing, Christianity, Holy TrinityAbstract
A worldview that does not involve religion or science seems to be incomplete. However, a worldview that includes both religion and science may arouse concern of incompatibility. This paper looks at the particular religion, Christianity, and proceeds to develop a worldview in which Christianity and Science are compatible with each other. The worldview may make use of some ideas of Christianity and may involve some author’s own ideas on Christianity. It is thought that Christianity and Science are in harmony in the sense that science can support beliefs in Christianity and in turn beliefs in Christianity can support science. To avoid future unnecessary conflicts between science and religion, it is suggested that a core faith Christianity worldview should be taken. However, this does not mean that certain parts of scripture are abandoned.
Downloads
References
Apostel, L. and Van der Veken, J. (1991) Wereldbeelden: van Fragmentering naar Integratie. Pelckmans.
Apostel, L. and Van Landschoot, J. (1988) Interdisciplinariteit, Wereldbeelden-constructie en diepe verspeideing als tegenzetten in een kultuurkrisis. VUB, CLEA.
Barbour, I.G. (1966) Issues in science and religion. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall Inc.
Barbour, I.G. (2013) Religion and Science. San Francisco: Harper Collins.
Boudry, M., Blancke, S. and Braeckman, J. (2010) How not to attack intelligent design creationism: philosophical misconceptions about methodological naturalism. Foundations of Science 15(3): 227-244.
Broekaert, J.T. (1998) World views. Elements of the Apostelian and general approach. Foundations of Science 3(2): 235-258.
Bube, R.H. (1995) Putting it all together: Seven Patterns for relating Science and the Christian Faith. Maryland: University Press of America.
Canfield, R.L. (2016) Why I believe in the resurrection. If you doubt, it is to you I write. In: Walking Blind: And Other Essays on Biblical Texts. Clayton, Missouri: Clayshire Imprints, pp. 91-97. https://peacefulscience.org/robert-canfield/ (accessed on 21/8/2021).
Carvalho VI, J.J. (2006) Overview of the structure of a scientific worldview. Journal of Religion and Science 41(1): 113-124.
Chan, E. (2018) Are the religious suspicious of science? Investigating religiosity, religious context, and orientations towards science. Public Understanding of Science 27(8): 967-984.
Coyne, J.A. (2009) Seeing and believing. The never-ending attempt to reconcile science and religion, and why it is doomed to fail. New Republic, https://www.tnr.com/article/books/seeing-and-believing?page=2 (accessed on 30/9/2021).
Coyne, J.A. (2015) Faith vs fact: why religion and science are incompatible. New York: Penguin Books.
Coyne, J.A. (2018) Yes, there is a war between science and religion. The Conversation, https://www.theconversation.com/yes-there-is-a-war-between-science-and-religion-108002 (accessed on 20/7/2020).
Dalleur, P. (2021) Fatima pictures and testimonials: in-depth analysis. Scientia et Fides 9(1): 9-45.
De Cruz, H. (2017) Religion and science. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, E.N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/religion-sience/ (accessed on 20/7/2020).
De Felipe, P. (2017) Georges Lemaître, the scientist and priest who ‘could conceive the beginning of the universe’. Biologos, https://www.biologos.org/articles/georges-lemaitre-the-scientist-and-priest-who-could-conceive-the-beginning-of-the-universe (accessed on 21/7/2020).
De Haro, S. (2020) Science and philosophy: a love-hate relationship. Foundations of Science 25(2): 297-314.
Gabora, L. (1998) Weaving, bending, patching, mending the fabric of reality: a cognitive science perspective on worldview inconsistency. Foundations of Science 3(2): 395-428.
Gould, S.J. (1999) Rocks of ages: science and religion in the fullness of life. Ballantine Books.
Grandpierre, A. (2003) On the fundamental worldview of the integral culture: integrating science, religion, and art: part two. World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution 59(7): 535-556.
Horgan, J. (2015) Book by biologist Jerry Coyne goes too far in denouncing religion, defending science. Scientific American, Cross-Check Blog, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/book-by-biologist-jerry-coyne-goes-too-far-in-denouncing-religion-defending-science/ (accessed 20/7/2020)
Horsfall, S. (2000) The experience of Marian apparitions and the Mary cult. The Social Science Journal 37(3): 375-384.
Hughes, A.L. (2015) Faith, fact, and false dichotomies. The New Atlantis 45: 111-117.
Hutchinson, I. (2016) Can a scientist believe in the resurrection? Three hypotheses. http://veritas.org/can-scientist-believe-resurrection-three-hypotheses/ (accessed on 21/8/2021).
Kuhn, T.S. (1996) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. London: University of Chicago Press.
Lofgren, L. (2004) Unifying foundations – to be seen in the phenomenon of language. Foundations of Science 9(2): 135-189.
Loncar, S.J. (2021) Science and religion: an origins story. Zygon 56(1): 275-296.
Luk, R.W.P. (2010) Understanding scientific study via process modeling. Foundations of Science 15(1): 49-78.
Luk, R.W.P. (2017) A theory of scientific study. Foundations of Science 22(1): 11-38.
Luk, R.W.P. (2019) How to handle risky experiments producing uncertain phenomenon like cold fusion? Science & Philosophy 7(2): 3-14.
Luke, I. (2017) I am unsure about Christianity because of science. Christian Teachers Journal 25(3): 8-11.
Moreland, J.P. and Craig, W.L. (2003) Philosophical Foundations of a Christian Worldview. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Neves, J.C.S. (2020) Proposal for a degree of scientificity in cosmology. Foundations of Science 25(3): 857-878.
Pandarakalam, J.P. (2013) Marian apparitions and discarnate existence. Royal College of Psychiatrists https://rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/members/sigs/spirituality-spsig/james-pandarakalam-marian-apparitions-and-discarnate-existence-x.pdf (accessed on 20/8/2021).
Pandarakalam, J.P. (2019) Understanding Medjugorje apparitional experiences: medical and parapsychological perspectives. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 7(4): 126-141.
Pearcey, N.R. and Thaxton, C.B. (1994) The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Provine, W. (1988) Scientists, face it! Science and religion are incompatible. The Scientist (September 1988) http://www.the-scientist.com/opinion-old/scientists-face-it-science-and-religion-are-incompatible-62695 (accessed on 20/7/2020).
Reichenbach, B.R. (2021) Christianity, science, and three phases of being human. Zygon 56(1): 96-116.
Russell, R.J. (2008) Cosmology: From Alpha to Omega. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Scott, E. (1995) Science and Christianity are compatible – with some compromises. The Scientist (January 1995), http://www.the-scientist.com/opinion-old/science-and-christianity-are-compatible--with-some-compromises-58686 (accessed on 21/7/2020).
Sixbert, S. and Mutabazi, P. (2021) The Bible and science: the relationship between science and Christianity. Science & Philosophy 9(1): 7-29.
STERA Inc. (2021) The shroud of Turin website. http://www.shroud.com (accessed on 30/9/2021).
Strobel, L. (1998) The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Christ. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
Tenneson, M.G., Bundrick D. and Stanford, M.S. (2014) Faith and science integration: surveys and findings. Proceedings of the 2014 Faith and Science Conference, pp. 319-352.
Tenneson, M.G., Bundrick D. and Stanford, M.S. (2015) A new survey instrument and its findings for relating science and theology. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 67(3): 200-222.
Tesoriero, R. (2021) Reason to believe. https://reasontobelieve.com.au (accessed on 30/9/2021).
Ungureanu, J.C. (2021) From divine oracles to the higher criticism: Andrew D. White and the warfare of science with theology in Christendom. Zygon 56(1): 209-233.
Waldrop, M.M. (2011) Religion: faith in science. Nature 470(7334): 323-325.
Wang, X. (2020) Axiomatization of the symbols system of classic of changes: the marriage of oriental mysticism and the western scientific tradition. Foundations of Science 25(2): 315-325.
White, A.D. 1896. A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. 2 Vols. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
Wikipedia (2020) Relationship between religion and science. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science (accessed on 21/7/2020).
Wikipedia (2021) List of Marian apparitions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marian_apparitions (accessed on 30/9/2021).
Wright, N.T. (2003) The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The journal is committed to real and immediate open access for academic work. All of the journal articles are free to access immediately from the date of publication. There are no charge for readers to download articles and reviews for their own scholarly use. Benefits of open access for authors, include:
- Free access for all users worldwide
- Increased visibility and readership
- Rapid publication
- No spatial constraints
- Authors can share their research papers on their personal web-pages (i.e. ResearchGate, etc.)
Copyright and Licensing Terms
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY publishes open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License. The Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) allows users to copy, distribute and transmit an article, adapt the article and make commercial use of the article. The CC BY license permits commercial and non-commercial re-use of an open-access article, as long as the author is properly attributed. Copyright on any research article published by SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY is retained by the author(s). Authors grant SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher. Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
For further information visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. The following logo will appear in any paper that will be published from the volume number 31/2016 onwards:
