Science and Religion
- Submitted by: manjoe
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- Category: Politics: Philosophy
- Date Submitted: 09/02/2015 12:42 PM
- Pages: 5
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Science and religion
‘Where do I come from?’... It is the most fundamental question on which the beliefs of trillions of people around the world hinges upon. The journey towards self-discovery that each one of us travels must begin with one simple question: ‘Where do I come from?’ As simple as the question may be the answer has inspired the construction of over 4000 religions as well as numerous scientific theories on the origin of life. People generally separate the laws of science from religion basing the latter on faith, however the evidence of a divine creator may be found by comparatively evaluating scientific discoveries with religious scripture. To explore the relationship between all religions and science would be impossible in 1000 words, but here follows an exploration of the scientific contributions of two of the world’s foremost religions, Christianity and Islam, as well as an argument to prove that science has its place in religion.
Historically, science and religion have been in conflict with one another. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Catholic Church persecuted scientists who developed theories they deemed sacrilegious, and prohibited any literature which contradicted the Christian faith by placing them on a prohibited list known as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Rambaldi & Pattini, 2012). One of the most notable scientists persecuted by the Church was Galileo Galilei who wrote a book in which he theorised that the earth was spherical and revolved around the sun. The Church brandished him a sinner as his theory contradicted the bible which states that the earth was a flat disk placed on pillars and was therefore immovable (Benjamin & Clausen, 2008). Much of his written works were censored and he was even found guilty of heresy. Ironically, it was also during this era of Christian dominance that lead to many inventions that are still used today such as the mechanical clock, printers and spectacles. This shows that...
‘Where do I come from?’... It is the most fundamental question on which the beliefs of trillions of people around the world hinges upon. The journey towards self-discovery that each one of us travels must begin with one simple question: ‘Where do I come from?’ As simple as the question may be the answer has inspired the construction of over 4000 religions as well as numerous scientific theories on the origin of life. People generally separate the laws of science from religion basing the latter on faith, however the evidence of a divine creator may be found by comparatively evaluating scientific discoveries with religious scripture. To explore the relationship between all religions and science would be impossible in 1000 words, but here follows an exploration of the scientific contributions of two of the world’s foremost religions, Christianity and Islam, as well as an argument to prove that science has its place in religion.
Historically, science and religion have been in conflict with one another. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Catholic Church persecuted scientists who developed theories they deemed sacrilegious, and prohibited any literature which contradicted the Christian faith by placing them on a prohibited list known as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Rambaldi & Pattini, 2012). One of the most notable scientists persecuted by the Church was Galileo Galilei who wrote a book in which he theorised that the earth was spherical and revolved around the sun. The Church brandished him a sinner as his theory contradicted the bible which states that the earth was a flat disk placed on pillars and was therefore immovable (Benjamin & Clausen, 2008). Much of his written works were censored and he was even found guilty of heresy. Ironically, it was also during this era of Christian dominance that lead to many inventions that are still used today such as the mechanical clock, printers and spectacles. This shows that...