Christianity and science

Abstract

The relations between Christianity and science are, and have conceived to be, multifarious and diverse. It has been argued, for instance, that modern science emerged in a thoroughly Christian context and probably could not have emerged outside of it (Hooykaas, 1972). It has been argued that modern science and Christian belief are incompatible (Philipse, 2012), or even ‘at war’ with each other, but it has also been argued that the alleged conflicts are only superficial and that their concordance is much deeper (Plantinga, 2011). Discussions about alleged conflicts have often focused on such questions as ‘Are evolution and divine creation mutually exclusive?’ (Dennett, 1995; Ruse, 2001; Alexander, 2008); ‘Does and can God, if He exists, work miracles in the world?’ (Swinburne, 1991, Ch. 12); ‘Doesn’t the cognitive science of religion show that religious beliefs are illusions?’ (Schloss and Murray, 2009; Bering, 2011); and many more (a first-rate work on many of the focal issues is Stewart, 2010; also important is Ruse, 2010).