There are two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of things and knowledge of truth. So far as "things" are concerned, they display no attribute which cannot be elucidated by direct argument. But where truths are concerned, it is only indirect argument which can throw any light upon them. Indeed, in the case of scientific truths, the validity of indirect, or inferential argument is a matter of general acceptance. Since religious truths are proved by the logic of similar inferential argument, it may legitimately be argued that they fall into the same intellectual bracket as scientific truths. It is important to note that those who conducted scientific research in the centuries im-mediately preceding our own were not in any way opposed to religion. When Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) discovered the laws governing the revolution of heavenly bodies, he wrote to a friend: "The continuous rotation of the planets is not only due to the law of gravity; there must also be a divine arm in it." When Darwin (1809-1882) wrote his book, The Origin of Species, he expressly acknowledged the existence of God. This is how he concluded the book: "How magnificent is the concept that the Creator first created some simple forms of life, and from them astonishingly simple and wonderful species of life came into existence." Then why was it that science turned against religion? The real reason behind this was not, as Drapier (1811-1882) and others have realized, any conflict between science and religion; it was, in fact, a conflict between science and ancient theology, which had been founded on Greek and Egyptian philosophy rather than on divine religion. Ex-ponents of religion mistakenly thought of it as a conflict between science and religion; they, therefore, opposed science. The result of this was that a contemporary force, which could have been put to the use of religion, became religion's rival from the very outset.
Related Articles
Article
The Sunday Guardian | October 01, 2023
Ernest Psiachari (1883-1914), a French writer, was in his youth a free-thinker and an atheist. But later he reverted to Christianity. Grandson of the famous historian, Ernest…
Article
A team of international astronomers has discovered a black hole of almost unimaginable proportions. At 12 billion times more massive than the sun, it challenges current cosmological thinking, reports Reuters.
Time…
Article
Speaking Tree
The issue of God is the issue of the Creator of the universe. It is the very existence of a universe that necessitates thinking about the existence of its Creator, or in other words, God. The universe, or…
Article
Modern Theological science is a substantiation of religious dogmas with due regard for contemporary intellect; or a presenta-tion of Islamic teachings according to modern rational methods. First of all, we must…
Article
One of the consequences of the intellectual revolution based on monotheism was that man began to look at nature as a powerless creature, and that man had the right to investigate it and bring it to his service. The…
Article
Robert Boyle (1627-1691), devoted himself entirely to the study of science, and, in time, became a scientist of repute in London. But his studies did not distance him from religion. They had the effect rather of…