One Solution to the Science/Religion Problem
Here in my hometown of Lakeland, Florida resides the Florida Center for Science and Religion. The FCSR is funded by Florida Southern College and the Local Societies Initiative (LSI) grant of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science. According to their mission statement the FCSR promotes the engagement of issues in science and religion throughout central Florida. Creston Davis, a professor of religion at Rollins College, was the guest speaker at a recent event. He proposed a solution to reconcile science and religion. According to this article in the Lakelenad Ledger, here is his assessment of at least part of the problem:
We’ve seen these unbending (religious) claims to absolute truth, supported by literal readings of Scripture. But also, we hear that science has all the answers and all the right methods.
Cary McMullen, the article’s writer, stated Davis maintains that interpreting the book of Genesis to mean that God created the world out of nothing does not agree logically with science’s account of the origins of the universe. He advocates a more “pluralistic apporach”, a more inclusive approach:
The cosmos is a gift from God because God made it out of love. If God is grounded in inclusivity through differences, any discovery is welcomed.
I must commend the effort to encourage rational discussion concerning the roles of science and religion in society. This is always a good thing. I have been unable to attend the lectures which have been offered by the FCSR, but it seems the preferred solution by almost all the speakers (according to the reviews which I have read in The Ledger) is for Christianity to give up making any claims about science and nature other than these mystic claims such as the one above. Davis believes:
1. Both Christianity and Science should relinquish claims to absolute truth.
2. Creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) is logically inconsistent with scientific accounts of the origins of the universe.
3. Understanding the universe as “an expression of God’s being” and the cosmos as “made of out (God’s) love” will resolve the conflict.
4. God must be grounded in inclusivity through differences, which welcomes any discovery.
In my next post, I will interact with these claims.