Religion and science: historical perspectives and interactions

Science and Religion

The debate between Darwinism and creationism has been a part of religions life for a long time. This is especially so for Christianity. The debate has been made so often that it now even appears in the classroom in schools. On the other hand, many religious leaders and scientific professionals who are also Christians have found that they could quite happily believe in both Darwinism and their faith. On the other hand, it is also true that these people cannot talk to everyone about this. It was therefore quite surprising to me to learn that, in Darwin's day, many writers were open to the idea of incorporating Darwin's findings into the Christian views of the time (McGrath, 1999). Perhaps one of the reasons for this can be that science was young when Darwin made his discoveries.

When Darwin wrote his book, science was young and not yet seen as a threat to religion. Instead, science was seen as a road to discovery. From a Christian viewpoint, science was also considered a way of learning more about creation. Hence, discovery and religion were partners in the minds of both religious people and scientists.

Another factor is the similarity of religion in Darwin's world. Most people at the time were Christian, although some, like Darwin, became agnostic for certain reasons. People therefore believed that creation and evolution were simply part of each other.

In general then, the main reason for the attitude of most intellectuals during Darwin's day was the fact that Darwin, like many other scientists, did not offer a rival to religion. Instead, he simply offered observation and fact as reasons for his findings.

Gradually, however, the Western world moved towards a separation between religion and science, and more specifically between creationism and Darwinism.

One of the reasons for this can be the religious fundamentalism created by the colonization, especially in countries such as the United States. By coming into contact with nature cultures such as the Native American tribes, religions in the Western world were no longer the same. Religious fundamentalism became the basis for many of the often violent interactions between the different cultures, religions, and ways of life. This was the basis for later violence against all who did not agree with the religious norm, for example in events such as the Salem Witch Trials.

Today, this same fundamentalism insists that every word in the Bible or other religious documents should be taken literally. According to this view, the story of creation simply could not agree with Darwinism. The long American history of using religion as a basis for many actions, both good an bad, plays an important role in this.

However, it is also true that there is an increasing trend within Christianity to return to the earlier point-of-view, accepting both Darwinism and creationism as complements of each other, rather than rivals. This school of thought suggests that the Bible is a symbolic presentation of both natural and religious reality.