Resolving Conflict between Science and Religion: Reform Judaism and Scientific Thought

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Resolving Conflict between Science and Religion: Reform Judaism and Scientific Thought

The relationship between science and religion is not easy to navigate. On the most basic level, they are viewed as different types of thought. Religion, it seems, deals with the subjective, spiritual realm. Science, on the other hand, seems to deal with facts. It may then appear easy to separate the two realms of thought, and philosophers, theologians and scientists have from time to time attempted to do this. Both science and religion make hypotheses about the fundamental nature of human existence and the nature of the universe, however, and inevitably the claims of each come into conflict. Whether this conflict occurs on a personal level or between opposing institutions, the claims of one often seem to place the other in dire jeopardy. We have seen demonstrations of such conflict throughout history, especially in relation to the Christian faith.

For instance, few people have not heard about the adverse reaction of the Catholic Church when Galileo propounded his theory of a heliocentric universe. Even today, we are not free of conflicts that arise when religious doctrine conflicts with scientific theorizing. A prominent issue is creation, in which scientific theories about the big bang directly contradict the religious doctrine of the Christian faith, which understands creation through the story of Genesis in the Old Testament. It is an oversimplification to pit science and religion as bitter opposites, but it is undeniable that in many faiths there exists a continuing conflict between advancing scientific theories and the religious perspective.

How, then, can one expect to be able to integrate a scientific understanding of the wor...

... middle of paper ...

... faith that binds them to one another and to God.

Bibliography

Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1993.

Barbour, Ian. Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues. San Francisco:

HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.

"Human Stem Cell Research (5761.7)." CCAR Responsa. 30 April 2003

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Meyer, Michael A. and W. Gunther Plaut. The Reform Judaism Reader: North American

Documents. Cambridge: UAHC Press, 2000.

Nuesner, Jacob. Judaism in Modern Times: An Introduction and Reader. Cambridge:

Blackwell Publishers, 1995.

"On the Treatment of the Terminally Ill (5754.14)." CCAR Responsa. 30 April 2003

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Plaut, W. Gunther. The Rise of Reform Judaism. New York: World Union for

Progressive Judaism, Ltd., 1963.

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