Should Science Make you Lose Faith in God? -- A New Course on Science and Religion
Religion and science have had a love-hate relationship ever since the fifth century when St. Augustine affirmed the validity of science and at the same time hardened the church's stance on the infallibility of scripture. Later the Catholic Inquisition tried Galileo for teaching the heresy that the earth orbited the sun. In our time the proponents of the Intelligent Design movement have claimed that modern biochemistry proves the existence of God (and disproves Darwin). Richard Dawkins and the “new atheists” use the same sort of data to prove that “there almost certainly is no god.” A more balanced perspective is provided by many prominent theologians who argue that a wholehearted acceptance of the finding of modern science can broaden and enrich our faith as well as correct some theological errors that have become part of our tradition.
Last fall St. Anselm offered a course on several contemporary topics in this strange romance between religion and science. In addition to the conflicts mentioned above we looked at the possible significance of quantum mechanics to Christian theology. Cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole, helps us re-evaluate our place in the universe. Finally, we discussed the emergence of order, complexity, and intelligence from primordial chaos. The notion of emergence was central to the thinking of Jesuit paleontologist and theologian, Teilhard de Chardin whose ideas we visited at the end of the course.
The text of the lectures and PowerPoint slides are posted below.
The course material is outlined below together with links to the class notes and PowerPoint presentations.
Week 1: The tradition of conflict.
We explore the various ways religion and science have conflicted with one another over the last 1500 years. The centerpiece is the prosecution of Galileo for espousing the heliocentric theory.
Week 2: New Atheism, Intelligent Design, and Evolutionary Theology
The "new atheists" claim that science has disproved the existence of God. Dawkins' book, The God Delusion is representative. We then look at the intelligent design movement, an instance of creationism dressed up in pseudoscience. Finally, we consider the possibility of a theology of evolution.
Week3: Quantum Mechanics and Theology
We explore the various connections that have been claimed between quantum mechanicsand religion ranging from mysticism to methodology.
Week4: Cosmology
The universe seems to have been exquisitely fine tuned to make carbon-based life possible. Why is this?
Week5: Emergence
The early universe was completely "without form and void." From this has emerged a rich diversity of organized complexity of which we are perhaps the most complex. How did this come to be?
