Can God and Darwinism coexist? – Part 1

By admin · Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Creating Boundaries in Order to Create Discussion between Science and Religion

There are many varied opinions as to how science and religion interact, or in some opinions, can not interact. Some people reject religion but have added a metaphysical dimension to their study of science. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who attempt to cram the physical world into the Ancient Near Eastern science found in the bible (Barbour, 1990; Haught, 1995). There exists a happy medium where modern, progressive science and classical religion both exist independently of each other and can positively interact (Haught, 1995). Science has to be allowed to continue to make discoveries about the world we live in (Barbour, 1990) while religion has to understand and accommodate these discoveries (Easterbrook, 1997; Galilei, 1989; Haught, 1995; John Paul II, 1992). As science and religion progress, boundaries have to be established to isolate the message so that the incident can continue to advance.

The question of what religion is can be answered in many different ways. The preschooler, who perceives religion to be directly equal to God, would answer very differently than the extremist, who believes that it is the only truth. Across societies, religion binds communities together with a common way of life (Barbour, 1990; John Paul II, 1992). The main job of a religious institution within a society is to teach the moral norm. Many utilize a rich mythological heritage to help with these lessons. Through stories, parents teach children what is expected of them and social groups are bound together by a common history. In oral traditions, these stories evolve with the society (Lindberg, 1992) but the evolution to accommodate new knowledge is very difficult in a written tradition. Defining religion is a challenge that each person must face in his or her own time. There is no right or wrong way to be religious. The choice that a person finally makes is one that can support what they have learned and experienced in their lifetime. By Clouser’s (1991) definition I am a pagan. I believe in the Goddess and Mother Earth and a God who is represented as the sun and the rain.

If the history of human progress is reviewed, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to pin point one date or discovery and say that from that point forward is science (Jon Paul II, 1996). The scientific method is used to discover the physical world around us through trial and error

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