Abstract
Many people assume that there has been ceaseless conflict between science and Christianity. I argue that the real conflict has been between scientism and religion. Scientism is the view that only the sciences generate knowledge or rational belief. Scientism, as typically articulated, entails the opinion that reliable belief about divinity (theological realism) is impossible. I debunk four historic science–Christianity conflict myths and show how they have promoted scientism. These four science–religion myths function as part of a larger warfare narrative about science and Christianity. This misleading warfare thesis often comes packaged with an alternative anti-theistic “myth” in the anthropological sense—in this case, a worldview-shaping narrative that awakens the imagination to interpret the world in scientistic and non-theistic ways. I call this the scientistic warfare myth and explore its major flaws.
Highlights
I argue that the real conflict has been between scientism and religion
This misleading warfare thesis often comes packaged with an alternative anti-theistic “myth” in the anthropological sense—in this case, a worldview-shaping narrative that awakens the imagination to interpret the world in scientistic and non-theistic ways
Atheist biologist Jerry Coyne once wrote: “Had there been no Christianity, if after the fall of Rome atheism had pervaded the Western world, science would have developed earlier and be far more advanced than it is now.”4 Theological realism infused in culture inhibits the growth of science, Coyne believes
Summary
“The idea of a ceaseless conflict between” science and religion “seems to be an integral part of the public consciousness.” (Elsdon-Baker and Lightman 2020). So observe two historians in a recent academic anthology about science and religion. The historians go on to argue that this “conflict thesis” is largely faulty, while at the same time noting that it is “more ingrained in the scholarship than previously imagined”, and so the “only way to root it out is to pursue a multidisciplinary reenvisioning” of science and religion studies.. The present essay contributes to this multidisciplinary reconceptualization by analyzing several claims relating to the history of Christianity and science. Anthropologists use the term “myth” to refer to a worldview-shaping narrative that awakens the imagination to interpret the world in certain ways (Witzel 2012).. Anthropologists use the term “myth” to refer to a worldview-shaping narrative that awakens the imagination to interpret the world in certain ways (Witzel 2012).3
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