Commentary On Modern Science And Religion

Throughout the reading from week three “Religion and Science in the 1920s Collected Commentary” four primary viewpoints are defended. These are: There is no conflict between religion and modern science, there is no way to reconcile religion and modern science, science and religion can coexist in the same belief system, and science and religion support and complement each other. Each of these viewpoints was defended thoroughly by highly regarded intellectuals of their time period. The idea that there is no conflict between religion and modern science is primarily addressed by Frederick C Grant. Grant was the most prominent spokesperson for this position because he defined what it meant to have no conflict between science and modern religion. He claimed “true religion has nothing to fear from a true science and true science has nothing to fear at the hands of a true religion”. In his work he uses the involvement of Christians within the scientific community including the accomplishments of people such as Charles Butler, Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, to give credit to his …show more content…
The most prominent article form this viewpoint was the Joint Statement upon the Relations of Science and Religion. This article represented the culmination of many religious leaders and scientists and they claimed God allows the furthering of science to more fully explain himself. John Ransom also goes on to further dissect this article theorizing that God is a scientist and his universe is his workshop while man is a small scientist who works on the earth. In this way God further reveals Himself to us through the use of science thus furthering religion through science and vice versa. Alfred Whitehead also shared this belief stating “the clash doctrines is not a disaster, but an opportunity” which can be used to further strengthen religion and science