Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Naturally, there is bound to be some friction between science and religion because they
offer very different ways to assess truth. The long history of interaction between geology
and Christianity includes times when they reinforced one another and times when they
clashed. The story of Noah's Flood shows how the different beliefs of various branches of
Christianity are shaped by which parts of the Bible their devotees read literally and which
they interpret allegorically. Over time, Christian thought has sorted itself out along a con-
tinuum of belief. The modern view of inherent conflict is championed most vociferously by
those who keep the conflict going—creationists and militant atheists who share little else
than the belief that faith in God and science are incompatible. Most people, however, hold
beliefs somewhere between these two extremes.
In reality, there is a wide spectrum of possible beliefs about the relationship of God to the
material world. At one end is belief in an engaged, helpful personal God who rides shotgun
on everyday activities and can intervene at anytime to favor the outcome of specific events,
like a coin toss or a football game. Others believe in a more strategic God that intervenes
only occasionally to shape the course of history or important events, like elections or wars.
Farther along the continuum of belief is a more distant God responsible for creating the
universe and the laws governing the world. At this end of the philosophical spectrum are
the beliefs that God directed and planned the course of events in advance, and the view that
the universe is a glorious but random experiment. Still others ascribe no role in the universe
for a God at all.
While religion cannot adequately address scientific questions, accepting scientific truths
need not mean abandoning morality, purpose, and meaning in life. And just because science
can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God does not mean that it says religious
faith is an illusion. Thoughtful discussions of the relationship between science and religion
are impossible when fundamentalists disguise religious arguments as science and scientists
dismiss religion as childish superstition. In reality, faith and reason need not be enemies if
one views ignorance as the enemy of both. Should humans be afraid of an enigmatic uni-
verse whose mysteries elude us? Or should we struggle to decipher the mysteries of our
world and how it works, whether for simple intellectual joy and challenge, to reap practical
benefits, or to gain insight into the mind of God—whatever one imagines that to be.
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