A scientific defence of religion and the religious accommodation of science? Contextual challenges and paradoxes
Du Toit, Cornel W
Few human phenomena in our time are as controversial or confusing as religion. People seem to
live in two worlds: a mythical and a scientific one. They talk about either of these worlds in
isolation but cannot reconcile the underlying presuppositions. Believers are less naïve than the‘new atheists’ suppose, and atheists do not come without their quota of superstition and belief.
Midway between the two opposites is a burgeoning, secular new spirituality that has assumed
many forms in recent years. The groups are often marked by some form of naturalism, which
try to accommodate science. The premise in this article is that religion, being a product of
normal evolutionary processes, is ‘natural’. This implies that cultural evolution is ongoing
and supports the thesis that religion (in this case Western Christianity) is making a major
transition. As for science, I briefly outline the role of metaphysics. That is because science
often has to invoke metaphysical constructs to make sense of the bigger picture. Following
Aristotle, the metaphysical dimension of science is a blank page which every era fills with
its own interpretation. In that sense, it is ‘more than’ just empiricism, verifiability, and it
is accompanied by some metaphysical baggage. At this metaphysical level, the traditional
dominance of causality makes way for emergence.
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