The Supremecy of Faith the Supremecy of Reason

The Supremacy of Faith, The Supremacy of Reason

The history of science has long been in conflict with religion or ÐŽ§organized ignoranceЎЁ as Dr. David Starr Jordan called in his book Science and Sciosophy. In this conflict history would reveal that science always prevailed. At times this victory was won at the cost and/or suffering of the individual who earth the nerve to present their finding to the world as court. Obstructions have been raised by men who thought the little they knew of the works and ways of the Creator was all that there was to be known. However, this insensitive response to the essential Christian Concepts provides inadequate recognition of the fact that Science and Religion may work to the same end but take different routes. My holistic view of the issue of science and religion has changed over the past 6 weeks. I realize that there is a certain harmonization of science and religion that gives humanity the abundant life engineered by Jesus Christ in the Gospel. This blending of my ethnocentric religious beliefs and the reasoning of empirical thought allowed a reinventing of viewpoint allowing my position to be transformed into something new. Which I believe would be an objective to this disciplined study. The selection of this book Science and Religion Opposing viewpoints allows the reader to take a glance at this conflict from five areas. Great Historical Debates on Science and Religion, Are Science and Religion Compatible, How did the Universe Originate, How did Life Originate and Should Ethical Values Limit Scientific Research? For the sake of brevity we will cumber you with a skeletal version of the text. The author is very clever in presenting information to provide a deeper understanding of the material and come away with an appreciation of the complex nature of the issues debated. The author was careful to mention Pitfalls to Avoid:

„h Regarding oneÐŽ¦s own opinion as being common sense and the most rational stance and the viewpoint of others as being only opinion and naturally wrong.

„h To close oneÐŽ¦s mind to the opinion of others they disagree with. Seek to understand rather than to be understood.

The author emphasizes the following typology to develop basic reading and thinking skills:

„h Evaluating Sources of Information

„h Separating Fact From Opinion

„h Identifying Stereotypes

„h Recognizing Ethnocentrism

Lastly, the author presents a recognized opinion or theory and allows the prevailing points of view to speak plainly and passionately on the subject. The final opinion rendered is left with the reader.

1. Great Historical Debates on Science and Religion.

„h The Church Should Not Have Final Authority in Science ÐŽV Galileo Galilei an Italian astronomer who supported the Copernican Theory as factual and incurred the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Reasons Galileo Galilei gave for reliance upon observations instead of Scripture when describing the universe were basic grammatical errors, inconsistencies, contradictions and propositions found in the Bible. Contributing greatly to his position was the audience who read and/or had the bible read to them was very limited and controlled. The discussions of physical problems of the scriptures are the very heart of his argument. Clearly from the context of scriptural authority there was no doubt that starting from there would lead Galilei nowhere. But from sense-experiences and necessary demonstrations is where inroads would be made. For the Holy Bible and the phenomena of nature proceed alike from the divine Word, the former as the dictate of the Holy Ghost and the later as the observant executrix of GodÐŽ¦s command. Galilei argues that nature is immutable and unchanging, that she never trespasses the laws imposed upon her. For that reason alone nothing physical which sense-experience sets before our eyes ought to be called in question much less condemned. He went on to speak on behalf of Copernicus adding that suppression of the truth by banishing the opinion of Copernicus would serve no useful purpose only cause men of lessor estate to views the skies and heavens as they do.

„h The Church Should Have Final Authority in Science ÐŽV The Roman Curia ÐŽVThe medieval Inquisition was an office in the Vatican charged with defending and advancing the Roman Catholic Faith.

The Inquisitors argue that science is in fact a matter of faith, therefore the authority of the Bible is extended over all human writings. The earth indeed stands still and the sun revolves around it. The earth is in the center, surrounded by concentric, glasslike spheres on which the sun, the moon and the other planets revolve. There is a fine distant sphere, which holds the stars. Besides all of this there was a patent violation in which Galilei had violate by the publication of the book ÐŽ§Dialogues of Galileo Galilei on the Two Principal Systems of the World, the Ptolemaic and the CopernicanЎЁ. In this the Roman Curia accused Galilei of presenting only one side of the story allowing readers to come to only one conclusion. In a nutshell ÐŽ§the proposition that the sun is the center of the world and does not move from its place is absurd and false philosophically and formally heretical.

Not conclusive evidence was issued; he was duly imprisoned for the balance of his life.

2. Are Science and Religion Compatible?

„h Science Improves Religion ÐŽV Bertrand Russell. A philosopher and mathematician Russell won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1950. Russell views science as a rational tool that has improved the lives of millions.

The author begins his saga outlining the duality of science and religion how they socially travel down the same road. However, there is a distinct difference in how each concludes it thoughts. On the one hand you have science whose rambunctious flavor is accomplished through observation and testing and retesting. A collage of facts thrown sometimes haphazardly, sometimes with deliberant motion into a vast pot cooked or incubated overperiods of time, finally served only after a long painstaking process. Science is the attempt to discover, by means of observation, and reasoning based upon it, first, particular facts about the world, and then laws connecting facts with one another and (in fortunate cases) making it possible to predict futures occurences. Religion however is a more complex social phenonmenon it has three aspects the Church, a creed,