Religion and Science

Reading: McGrath, ix-18

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 3-19 ("Science and Religion"); "Religion and Politics" (IEP); "5 facts about the interplay between religion and science" (Pew Research Center); Ecklund, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think; Ecklund, Religion vs. Science: What Religious People Really Think; Ecklund, Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think About Religion; Artson, "Science Isn't Just 'How," Religion Isn't Just 'Why'"; Why It's So Hard for Scientists to Believe in God (Francis Collins)

 John Templeton Foundation; Vatican Observatory; BioLogos;

Supplemental resources are not required.  They are resources to go further into subjects that interest you.

Reading: McGrath, 19-31

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, xi-xiv, 1-16 (Intro and Essentialism); Ecclesiastes 14-6; Joshua 10:12; Psalm 19:4-6; 93; 104; JoKitcher, "Philosophy of Science" (Encyclopedia Britannica); "Critical Realism" (The Tablet); "Where are the Transitional Fossils?" (BioLogos); Carr, "Science, Sensationalism, and the Lessons of 'Insectageddon'";

Discussion of Star Trek Voyager: Distant Origin

This is a 1997 episode from one of the Star Trek series that draws on elements of both the Galileo and Darwin controversies.  A transcript of the episode is also available by clicking here.

Supplemental Resources: "Religion in Star Trek" (Ex Astris Scientia); Star Trek Voyager: Distant Origin

Reading: Given, "The Interpretive Spectrum" (See Course Documents); Ferngren, 235-50 ("The Bible and Science"); review McGrath, 28-29

Supplemental Resources:

Gnuse, "Inspiration of Scripture" (In Course Documents)

"Strategies for Reading Scripture" (HSB, xxxix-xliii)

Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism (a new book on a recurring problem)

Evangelical Christianity has had a long debate about historical criticism of the Bible.  At the fundamentalist end of the interpretive spectrum, the method is usually rejected and even vilified.  More moderate evangelicals--often referred to as "conservatives" as opposed to fundamentalists--have long used historical criticism with caution.  Indeed, some of the finest historical-critical commentaries available are written by theologically moderate to conservative biblical scholars.  This online article is an interview with the authors of a recent book about the use of historical criticism by Evangelical biblical scholars.  The authors are themselves Evangelicals writing to convince fellow Evangelicals that historical criticism of the Bible is necessary and beneficial.

The Interpretation of the Bible in the [Catholic] Church (Pontifical Biblical Commission, Presented on March 18, 1994)

This long but quite readable official document explains why the Catholic Church considers historical criticism to be indispensable for understanding the Bible.

"Applied Peshat: Historical-Critical Method and Religious Meaning"

Some of the finest historical-critical biblical scholars in the world today are Jewish but, as in Christianity, there are Jews who object to it.  This is an article by Stephen Garfinkel, a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary of America, defending the importance of historical criticism.

More Historical Criticism Links

Reading: Ferngren, 23-36 ("Aristotle and Aristotelianism")

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 37-46 ("Early Christian Attitudes Toward Nature");  "Plato's Timaeus" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy); Early Christian Writings

Reading: Ferngren, 47-67 ("Medieval Latin Christendom")

Supplemental Resources: "Plato's Timaeus" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Reading: Ferngren, 68-82 ("Islam")

Supplemental Resources:

Reading: Kalin, "Three Views of Science in the Islamic World" (Muslim Science)

Supplemental Resources: Science and Islam Video Portal; Bakar, "Religion, Science, and Technology" (Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World); Ibrahim Kalin (Wikepedia); Muslim Future Thinker Forum Keynote Address by Ibrahim Kalin; Ibrahim Kalin the Musician; Shamim, "Islam and Science: A Preliminary Exploration" (International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention); Ahmad, "The Trouble with the New 'Islamic Science': On trying to read the Koran like a science textbook" (The New Atlantis)

Reading: McGrath, 31-38; Ferngren, 100-108 ("Galileo Galilei")

Supplemental Resources:

Moyer, "How the Geocentric Model of the Universe Worked" (Scientific American)

The Trouble with Copernicus

Universe Size Comparison 3D; Various Universe Visualization Videos; How Large Is the Universe?;

Other Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 87-97 ("The Copernican Revolution"); Brown, "Copernicus’ revolution and Galileo’s vision: our changing view of the universe in pictures"; Ferngren, 110-20 ("Early Modern Protestantism"); Houtz, "John Calvin on Nicolaus Copernicus and Heliocentrism"; Ferngren, 251-66 ("Roman Catholicism since Trent"); Krulwich, "Which Is Greater, The Number Of Sand Grains On Earth Or Stars In The Sky?" (PBS)

Discussion of Galileo Galilei by Brecht

Recommended Resources: The Life of Galileo Study Guide

Supplemental Resources: Script of Galileo Galilei play by Brecht; Chaim Topol (Wikipedia); Life of Galileo (Wikipedia); Galileo 1975 film (Wikipedia); Goldman, "Stanford Repertory Theater explores the ethics of science with Brecht's Life of Galileo" (Stanford News); The Life of Galileo; Why is Brecht still relevant today? - an interview with Dr Laura Bradley;

Reading: McGrath, 38-41; Ferngren, 123-39 ("Isaac Newton")

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 220-31 ("Cosmogonies")

Reading: McGrath, 41-43; Ferngren, 140-51 ("Natural Theology")

Supplemental Resources: McGrath, 128-135 ("Natural Theology: Is God the 'Best Explanation' of our Universe" and "A Metaquestion: Creation and the Uniformity of Nature"); Ferngren, 174-89 ("Natural History"); William Paley and the Divine Watchmaker; Shapiro, "A God beyond logic: The history of natural theology shows that Intelligent Design and New Atheism both got it wrong, in strangely similar ways," Aeon (June 2022)

Reading: Ferngren, 204-217 ("Evolution")

Supplemental Resources: Dixon, 58-80; "Understanding Evolution" (Berkeley); "Evolution Resources" (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine); "Evolution" (Wikipedia); "Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?" (Nature); Domning, "Evolution, Evil and Original Sin"; Hurst, "Human evolution is still happening – possibly faster than ever" (Phys.org); Singer, "How Dinosaurs Shrank and Became Birds" (Scientific American)

Reading: Ferngren, 286-95 ("The Scopes Trial")

Recommended: Inheriting Inherit the Wind: Debating the Play as a Teaching Tool

Recommended: Monkey Trial: The Showdown between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan (This excerpt from a documentary about the trial includes comments from various experts, including historian Edward J Larson, the author of the essay in Ferngren and of the highly regarded book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.)

Recommended: The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection (includes complete transcripts and other important documents of the Scopes Trial)

Recommended: State v. John Scopes ("The Monkey Trial"): An Account

Recommended: Malone's Trial Speech ("Dudley Field Malone was a New York attorney [and Catholic Christian] who was on the defense team. He argued for the importance of teaching science. Though the local Tennesseans viewed Malone with suspicion, the force and passion of this speech surprisingly lifted the audience to its feet."  A statement he made during Darrow's questioning of Bryan to the effect that at stake was the different ways Christians interpret the Bible, not the difference between agnostic and Christian interpretations of it, also received great applause.)

Recommended: The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial

This audio dramatization of the event uses news reports and court transcripts to provide a version closer to the facts than the Inherit the Wind version.  For more information on the production, see Zinman, "The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial." 

Recommended: Alleged

This movie provides a counterpoint to the pro-science, anti-fundamentalist bias of Inherit the Wind, claiming to present "the true story."  However, bias is obvious in subtle and not so subtle ways, such as the highly truncated and selective presentation of Darrow's questioning of Bryan on the stand.  Using a fictional back-story involving two romantically involved local reporters, the film explores issues pertaining to the dangers of media sensationalism and eugenics.  Of course, Inherit the Wind is also critical of the media, portraying the cynical H. L. Mencken (the Hornbeck character) very negatively.  Go to 00:08:30 to see Bryan and the Butler Act introduced in a positive light in relation to women's equality; 00:09:30 to see the drug store planning meeting that recruited Scopes to be the defendant; 01:06:56 for Darrow's questioning of Bryan;

Supplemental Resources: "Scopes Trial" (Wikipedia); Frail, "Everything You Didn’t Know About Clarence Darrow" (SmithsonianMag); Linder, "Famous Trials" (UMKC);  Powell, "Intelligent Design and Inherit the Wind: The Debates in Historical and Cultural Context" (Duke University School of Law ); History Minute: William Jennings Bryan – Progressive Leader or Religious Demagogue?; Former President Truman Praises William Jennings Bryan

For students writing a research paper:

Reading: Turabian Quick Guide

Feel free to browse the site above if you wish, but then click here to go directly to the Classroom Resources page.  Under Topic Sheets, find the link to download all 26 topics into one PDF.  Print a copy and read it.

Assignment: Go to Topic #2 in the Topic Sheets.  Cut and paste the Topic+Question+Signficance (TQS) section into an email and try filling in the blanks.  By class time, send me the email with your TQS and a paragraph explaining why you want to do research on this topic.

Supplemental Resources: Harrington, "How to plan a research project"; Wade Clark Roof, "Research Design" (In The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion, 68-80)

For students writing an extended critical book review:

Reading: How to Write Critical Reviews (The University of Wisconsin-Madison); Book Reviews (The Writing Center-UNC at Chapel Hill)

Assignment: By class time, send me an email with a link to the book you want to review and explain in a paragraph why you want to review it.

Supplemental Resources: A Concise Guide to Writing a Critical Book Review;

Discussion of Inherit the Wind (1999)

Supplemental Resources: Inherit the Wind (1960); Inherit the Wind (1988); Script of the original 1955 play by Lawrence and Lee; Iannone, "The Truth about Inherit the Wind" (First Things)

Reading: Dixon, 81-103 ("Creationism and Intelligent Design" in Course Documents); Darwin's Black Box: Michael Behe & Keith Fox debate Intelligent Design;

Presenter: Alli

Supplemental Resources: "40% of Americans Believe in Creationism" (Gallop Poll); "The Intersection of Science and Religion" (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine); "Intelligent Design" (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine); Science, Evolution, and Creationism (National Academy of Sciences); Strauss, "Does the bill just passed by the Ohio House allow students to be wrong in science class without penalty if they cite religious reasons?"; Yong, "A New Clue to How Life Originated" (The Atlantic);

Reading: McGrath, 50-53; Ferngren, 220-32 ("Cosmogonies"); Ferngren, 367-75 ("Modern Cosmologies and Religion")

Presenter: Cody

Recommended: The Big Bang and the Beginning of the Universe (Here is an example of how a Christian apologist can use recent physics and astrophysics to argue for the existence of God and the supernatural.  His presentation will remind you of some of the ideas encountered in today's reading and, of course, an earlier reading that included discussion of the Big Bang.  A longer more complete presentation is available here.

Supplemental Resources: Planetary Defense (NASA); Pete Enns, "Genesis 1 and a Babylonian Creation Story" (BioLogos); "Ecology and the Environment," (Ferngren, 451-62); O'Raifeartaigh, "Einstein's Greatest Blunder?" (Scientific American); Georges Lemaître, Monseigneur Big Bang; Francis, "Five Facts about the Big Bang"; Ambrosino, "If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react?" (BBC); Tulp, "NASA hasn’t hired theologians to study reaction to alien life" (AP)

Comets have played a fascinating role in theories about the origins and maintenance of the solar system.  In recent times, however, they have become more a source of concern.  The first link above takes you to NASA'a Planetary Defense website, including information about its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission.

Reading: Ferngren, 314-30 ("Asian Traditions")

Presenter: Nga

Supplemental Resources: Buddhism and Science (Wikipedia); Rama, "Implicit Science in Hindu Thought: On the foreshadowing of modern science in ancient Hinduism" (The New Atlantis); Jainism and Science (Google);

Reading: McGrath, 57-65

Supplemental Resources:

Reading: McGrath, 65-76

Presenter: Matt

Supplemental Resources: Kuhn, "What is a 'Self'? Here are All the Possibilities" (LiveScience)

Reading: McGrath, 76-92

Supplemental Resources:

Reading: McGrath, 95-110

Presenter: Arielle

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 333-45 ("Atheism"); William Lane Craig vs Peter Millican: "Does God Exist?", Birmingham University, October 2011; Richard Dawkins debates Alister McGrath (The debate is, broadly speaking, between an atheistic and theistic worldview in which the topic of evolution plays a large part.  Dawkins is a scientist and atheist who authored The God Delusion.  The Anglican theologian Alister McGrath is a theistic evolutionist with a strong science background who authored The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine); Billings, "Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prizewinning Physicist Says" (Scientific American);

Reading: McGrath, 111-120

Supplemental Resources: Ferngren, 377-94 ("Causation"); Alister McGrath - Understanding Cultural and Theological Resistance to SDA (WITH SLIDES); Gholipour, "Philosophers and neuroscientists join forces to see whether science can solve the mystery of free will" (Science);

Reading: McGrath, 120-25 ("Miracles and the Laws of Nature"); Dixon, 37-57 ("Does God Act in Nature" in Course Documents )

Supplemental Resources: Craig Keener, "Miracle Reports in the Gospels and Today"; Schmalz, "What’s going on when the Virgin Mary appears and statues weep? The answers aren’t just about science or the supernatural";

Reading: McGrath, 158-75

Supplemental Resources: McGrath, 143-57 ("Models and Analogies in Science")

Reading: McGrath, 125-27; 213-18 ("The Cognitive Science of Religion: Is Religion 'Natural'?")

Supplemental Resources: "Anthropology" (Ferngren, 409-420); Theories of Religion (IBCSR): The Cognitive Study of Religion (IBCSR); McGrath, 203-297 ("Evolutionary Biology: Can we speak of 'Design' in Nature?")

Reading: Henig, Darwin's God (New York Times Magazine, March 4, 2007 [also in Course Documents])

Supplemental Resources: "Neuroscience and the Human Person," (Ferngren, 438-49); Torrey, "How the Evolution of the Human Brain Led Us to God" (Zócalo Public Square);

Reading: McGrath, 207-213 ("The Psychology of Religion: What is Religion All About?"); Ferngren, 423-36 ("American Psychology");

Supplemental Resources: Humphreys, "Is religion better than atheism as a coping mechanism?"; James, The Varieties of Religious Experience; VanderWeele, "Does a Religious Upbringing Promote Generosity or Not? An erroneous paper on religion and generosity is finally retracted" (Psychology Today); Sigmund Freud Quote about Reason, Experience, and Religion; Philo, On Greater and Lesser Vision of God; Filler, "Philo's Threefold Divine Vision and the Christian Trinity"  (Hebrew Union College Annual); Philo On Abraham, 119-132;

Reading: McGrath, 179-89 ("Moral Philosophy: Can the Natural Sciences establish Moral Values?" and "Philosophy of Science: Is Reality Limited to What the Sciences Can Disclose?")

Presenter: Dakota

Supplemental Resources: "Why Sam Harris is Wrong - A Critique of Sam Harris' 'The Moral Landscape'"; Bhattacharjee, "The science behind psychopaths and extreme altruists" (National Geographic); Poison or Cure: Religious Belief and the Modern World, a Debate and Discussion with Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath;

Reading: Johnson and Lukert, "Science, Scripture, and Sexuality: The US United Methodist Church at Crossroads" (Journal of Religion and Health)

Supplemental Resources: Belluck, "Many Genes Influence Same-Sex Sexuality, Not a Single ‘Gay Gene’" (New York Times, Aug 29, 2019) [also in Course Documents]); "Perspectives on the complex genetics of same-sex sexual behavior";  Ganna, et al., "Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior" (Science); Weisberger, "'Gay' Penguin Couple Had No Egg of Their Own. So They Stole One" (LiveScience); Miller, "What the Bible Really Says About Sex"; Luke Timothy Johnson, "Homosexuality and the Church: Scripture and Experience" (Commonweal, 2007); Given, Homosexuality and the Bible; A Special Message from President Smart

Reading: McGrath, 192-96 ("Theology: Transhumanism, the 'Image of God,' and Human Identity"); The Christian Transhumanist Association (Explore the site and get a sense of what they have to say for themselves); 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (Read the footnotes as well)

Supplemental Resources: Wellness and Longevity Seminar/The Transhumanism Handbook; Transhumanism: advances in technology could already put evolution into hyperdrive – but should they?; Rissler, "Open Theism" (IEP); Tuggy, "History of Trinitarian Doctrines" (SEP); Tuggy, "Trinity" (SEP); Troels Engberg-Pedersen; Engberg-Pedersen, Paul and the Stoics; Dr Troels Engberg-Pedersen on Stoicism, Spirit, and Christology;

Dakota: Review of Guillen, Michael. Believing is Seeing: A Physicist Explains how Science Shattered his Atheism and Revealed the Necessity of Faith.

Cody: "To be God or not to be God: A Critical Examination of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin through the Lens of Popular Transhumanist Science Fiction"

May 10

Carista: Sarah Coakley’s Spiritual Healing: Science, Meaning and Discernment

Alli: "Frozen in Time: A Look at the Catholic Response to Embryo Adoption"

Nga: "Buddhist Philosophy and Quantum: a Brief Comparison of Reality and Time concepts in modern physics and Sunyata"

Final Exam

REL 530 Final Exam

Monday, May 15, 1:15 pm to 3:15 pm

For final exam description and preparation instructions, see Assignments.

Research Papers or Reviews Due

Papers can be turned in earlier than this due date.