Historical Examples of the Debate

As indicated in outlines of the debate, a simple assumption of conflict between science and religion cannot be substantiated either from history or the contemporary debate. However, there have been important instances of conflict. In the two most famous conflicts between science and religion we analyse the Galileo affair and the rise of Darwinism, seeking to indicate the complexity of these moments in history, and the shallowness of the traditional caricatures. See also some recent debates about evolution, including discussion of the rhetoric of Darwinism and evolution as a science of the unrepeatable past.

We also discuss the period between 1680-1800 (under the heading ‘the love affair gone wrong’) to indicate that a very harmonious relationship between (at least some) scientists and Christian theology actually carried within it the seeds of its own disintegration.

Finally, we illustrate one new understanding of God which has been proposed which takes account of important criticisms levelled at traditional theism. Our discussion of process metaphysics and theology begins from A.N.Whitehead’s famous phrase about God ‘the Fellow-Sufferer who understands’.

Email link | Feedback | Contributed by: Dr. Christopher Southgate
Source: God, Humanity and the Cosmos  (T&T Clark, 1999)