In 1633, Galileo Galilei was placed on trial for suspicion of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church of the era. The trial was in response to Galileo’s publication of Dialogue, a book which propounded Copernicus’ theory of heliocentrism, or more simply known as the Earth’s movement around the sun. The church believed the common biblically founded view that the Earth could not be moved. Copernican theory is common knowledge these days, and Galileo’s efforts to prove the theory have earned him the title of father of science, but the Church’s opposition to science has remained largely unchanged. America is a largely religious nation, and nearly 40% of the nation believes the world is less than 10,000 years old. Throughout history the religious counterparts of society have shown little understanding for the natural world. Instead they have clung to a very precise viewpoint of their dogma, but this lack of understanding is fatal because it obstructs scientific progress, and dissociates the individual from the realities of our modern world.
There was a time when religion was entirely compatible with the science of the age. For instance, the Mesopotamia city of Babylon used astronomy, and mathematics to track the movement of the stars. These movements helped them predict change in seasons, telling them when to plant, or reap the fields and it was the Priests of the age who preformed this duty. Not only was this a practice of function, but one of a particular importance in regards to their views on religion. In fact, certain celestial movements signaled the end of era, and when the King’s passed his entire court would trail him into the grave. (Campbell 345)
Many of the Babylonian systems, and practices were predecessors for other societ...
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...ng into accord the biblical stories with the laws that govern the natural world, not in the literal sense. If religion is to remain relevant it must accept the natural order, and the natural laws, otherwise it risks becoming outdated.
Works Cited
Coyne, Jerry. “The Case against Intelligent Design” Edge.org. Edge Foundation. 31 August 2005. Web. 15 October 2011.
Campbell, Joseph Lecture. “The Celebration of Life”. Cooper Union, New York. 1 March. 1967.
Campbell, Joseph. “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Novato: New World Library, 2008. Print.
Dawkins, Richard. “The Greatest Show on Earth.” New York: Free Press, 2009. Print.
Jacobs, A.J. “The Year of Living Biblically.” New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. 2007. Print.
Jones, Ben, and Carolyn Pesce. “Medicine, Religion Collide in Chemo Refusal.”USAToday.com. USA Today. 21 May 2009. Web. 15 October 2011.
In papal Rome in the early 16th century the “Good Book” was the reference book for all scientists. If a theory was supported in its holy pages, or at the very least not contradicted, then the idea had a chance of find acceptance outside the laboratory. Likewise, no theory no matter how well documented could be viewed with anything but disdain if it contradicted with the written word of, or the Church’s official interpretation of scripture. For these reasons the Church suppressed helio-centric thinking to the point of making it a hiss and a byword. However, this did not keep brave men from exploring scientific reason outside the canonical doctrine of the papal throne, sometimes at the risk of losing their own lives. While the Vatican was able to control the universities and even most of the professors, it could not control the mind of one man known to the modern world as Galileo Galilei. Despite a wide array of enemies, Galileo embarked on a quest, it seems almost from the beginning of his academic career, to defend the Copernican idea of a helio-centric universe by challenging the authority of the church in matters of science. Galileo‘s willingness to stand up for what he held to be right in the face of opposition from Bible-driven science advocates set him apart as one of the key players in the movement to separate Church authority from scientific discovery, and consequently paved the way for future scientific achievement.
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
John Polkinghorne’s The Universe as Creation does its best to not convince the reader of Intelligent Design, but rather to dissuade the reader from the notion that although the is intelligently designed, but in this way, it has made science possible.
The history of opposition between science and religion has been steady for about half of a century. As early as the 1500's, science and religion have been antagonistic forces working against each other. Science was originally founded by Christians to prove that humans lived in a orderly universe (Helweg, 1997). This would help to prove that the universe was created by a orderly God who could be known. Once this was done, science was considered by the church to be useless. When people began to further investigate the realm of science, the church considered them to be heretics; working for the devil. According to Easterbrook (1...
As said by Yale professor of psychology and cognitive science, "Religion and science will always clash." Science and religion are both avenues to explain how life came into existence. However, science uses evidence collected by people to explain the phenomenon while religion is usually based off a belief in a greater power which is responsible for the creation of life. The characters Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's novel, The Scarlet Letter, represent religion and science, respectively, compared to the real world debate between science and religion. Roger Chillingworth is a physician who is associated with science. (ch. 9; page 107) "...made [Roger Chillingworth] extensively acquainted with the medical science of the day... Skillful men, of the medical and chirurgical profession, were of rare occurrence in the colony...They seldom... partook of the religious zeal that brought other emigrants across the Atlantic." The people of the Puritan community traveled across the Atlantic for religious reasons, and because men affiliated with medical science did not tend to practice religion, they rarely inhabited this community. Chillingworth, falling under the category of "skillful men of the medical and chirurgical profession," would not be expected to reside in this community. The narrator through emphasizes this with his rhetorical questioning, "Why, with such a rank in the learned world, had he come hither? What could he, whose sphere was in great cities, be seeking in the wilderness?" These questions demonstrate that it was so strange for Chillingworth to appear in this community because of his association with science. Perhaps, the phrase "with such rank in the learned world" could yield the narra...
"AAAS Board Resolution on Intelligent Design Theory." AAAS. N.p., 2002. Web. 7 Nov 2010. .
In 1695 Galileo wrote a Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina. This letter discussed the relationship between the traditional biblical beliefs of the time (the basis on which their society was built), scientific discoveries, and their correlation with one another. The purpose of the letter was to inform that the scientific discoveries being made were not hearsay or contradictory to the Bible, rather they were natural laws, which could coincide with Scriptural based beliefs, not oppose them. In the Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo implies that science is the means by which G-d meant for humanity to understand scriptural truths. This belief can be applied to the present day by finding equilibrium, and in turn allowing for a balanced life.
Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.
...eveloped, and especially during the Enlightenment, God and religion were relegated to a lesser role because it was thought that science could explain everything. Now, though, the farther we plunge into science, the more questions we find that can only be answered by religion. When science and Christianity are both studied and well understood, especially in the context of their limitations, it is possible to integrate them, or at least for them to complement each other, in my view of the world.
When considering the basis for the understanding of both science and religion it is interesting to distinguish that both are based on an overwhelming desire to define a greater knowledge, and comprehension of the universe that surrounds us. Now while, science has based its knowledge of experimental basis, researcher, and scholarly work; religion
Religion helps establish mankind’s place in the order of the universe. As civilization began to be established through the domestication of animals, the irrigation and cultivation of agricultural crops, and life became more complex (moving from mainly a hunter/gather existence to one that could settle down and have more time to consider advanced ideas) people began to consider questions such as, where life comes from, is there a creator or creators who helped make the world, and what happens after we die. Religion helped answer some of these questions. It gave people purpose, meaning, and perspective. Religion helped establish nations in the case of religious theocratic governments. In many of the ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, the Mayans, and even Mesopotamia, the priests and other religious leaders played prominent roles in help shaping the laws and government of these civilizations. As his...
Before this revolution, the Roman Catholic church held a monopoly on most scientific research. The majority of scientists were monks or members of universities where a study of the natural world was viewed through the lens of Scripture. Even Copernicus 's studies of the rotation of the planets and his original heliocentric model of the universe were created to help the papacy build a better calender so that it could properly celebrate Easter. However, during and after the Scientific Revolution, philosophers and scientists began moving toward a belief that the spiritual world was outside of the physical world, and that religious beliefs should be considered separate from scientific study. This turn in thinking is seem in Galileo 's attempt to reinterpret the Bible to fit the new research being done. Despite the Church 's attempts to crack down on theories that contradicted its own beliefs, these new ideas permeated the society. After the Revolution, society had mostly turned to a belief that the Church and science were separate entities, and that religion was not over study of the natural
Law is rationalized with evidence, cannot be used to manipulate a nation, protects and ensures the safety of the people, and is parallel with universal human morals. Although religion serves many purposes, it can neither serve nor be the things law encompasses; religious beliefs cannot come above the laws of a country because of their ambiguity and tendency to be manipulated.
First off, it is important to realize that religion and science have to be related in some way, even if it is not the way I mentioned before. If religion and science were completely incompatible, as many people argue, then all combinations between them would be logically excluded. That would mean that no one would be able to take a religious approach to a scientific experiment or vice versa. Not only does that occur, but it occurs rather commonly. Scientists often describe their experiments and writings in religious terms, just as religious believers support combinations of belief and doubt that are “far more reminiscent of what we would generally call a scientific approach to hypotheses and uncertainty.” That just proves that even though they are not the same, religion and science have to be related somehow.
Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were the center of everything, ultimately causing people to question theology’s role in science and sparking the idea that people were capable of reasoning for themselves.