Is it okay to compare and contrast science and religion?

Use this forum to discuss the December 2020 Book of the month, "Wilderness Cry: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach to Understanding God and the Universe" by Hilary L Hunt M.D.
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zulfiyya
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Re: Is it okay to compare and contrast science and religion?

Post by zulfiyya »

Evidence is like the building blocks of a theory. The more evidence you have, the more structure your theory will have.
More structure means your theory is less flexible. Think about it, when a scientist comes up with a theory for some phenomenon, he has to take into account all of the evidence collected for that particular phenomenon. That means he isn't free to come up with any random idea for why something happens. He needs to consider things like gravity, air pressure, etc. when building his theory.

When there is no evidence (or minimal evidence) to support a theory, that theory is entirely flexible. The idea is free to be extended on, challenged, proven, and disproven as much as possible because there is no evidence leading the theory into one explanation over another. Every explanation is equally just and equally unprovable.

This is why religions can be challenged, extended on, proven and disproven as much as possible by any possible subject. They are completely flexible in that sense, and anyone's interpretation of religious teachings is just as valid (or invalid) as everyone else's.
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Sarrikoziol
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Post by Sarrikoziol »

I think it is ok to compare science and religion. If you think about it, they both require some sort of faith. A religious person believes in their God of choice. Whether it be Allah, Buddha, God/Christ,or any other religion, the person has faith in their beliefs of that religion. The same can be said for science. A scientist develops a hypothesis, and then he has faith he can prove his theory. I do agree using science to try to disprove their is a God is a bit of a stretch. Even if one could prove it, people would still choose for themselves whether or not to believe. Both religion and science have their own faith structure. If it wasn't the case, we wouldn't see religious people in scientific fields.
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Post by Francis Aderogbin »

In my opinion, science and religion can't be compared. Religion is about faith. It is not necessary you see something before you believe. In fact, you have to believe you have seen something before coming to pass. However, science is about fact and figure. If research and experiment does not establish a thought pattern, then it's not valid.

They ate two different path that can't be compared.
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Post by energyking »

Moocow1213 wrote: 01 Dec 2020, 10:12 I think that science and religion have spectrums of their own, so when you think about comparing and contrasting science and religion you would have to consider which subject from each your comparing, for example the belief in God or the theory of evolution. But then again, science and religion has been compared and contrasted many times before, with this comparison happening in day to day life, we see it in debates, books and in philosphy class rooms. So overall I believe that it's ok to compare and contrast science and religion though it depends on what your comparing and contrasting.
I quite agree. It is not exactly a new thing, but they are opposite spectrums which work by facts or faith respectively. Any comparison tends to rouse emotions the deeper the argument gets.

It depends on the topic under comparison and the purpose for it. But yes, it is okay to compare and contrast it.
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Post by HaloWarrior »

lumenchristi wrote: 23 Jan 2021, 15:51 In my opinion, science and religion can't be compared. Religion is about faith. It is not necessary you see something before you believe. In fact, you have to believe you have seen something before coming to pass. However, science is about fact and figure. If research and experiment does not establish a thought pattern, then it's not valid.

They ate two different path that can't be compared.
You're right, science is based on observation and reasoning from observation. Religion takes into account that human beings can access a deeper level of information that is not available by either observation or reason.
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Post by AngieOdeh »

I think that science can explain in a more reachable way what religion has already stated. There are tons of knowledge that were put on written by religion that scientist just in the last centuries came to come across. The knowledge didn't come to the humans by itself but it was given to them by the creator of all things. Only when the minds expands in knowledge one is able to find the greatness of the creator. On the other hand, religious beliefs agree with science only when it has not been corrupted by humans and their selfish interest.
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Post by Shieldmaiden88 »

For me, the Word of God is always the highest and final authority. If science is saying something in contradiction to the Bible, it's the science that needs to be re-evaluated. We are not perfect and our minds are finite, so it is quite possible to incorrectly interpret what we are studying in science, or simply not collect accurate data. In my view, when science is placed as the higher authority, it is the religion. Many people today actually practice Scientism, placing faith in science, and don't even realize they effectively have a religion. Scientism, however, offers no hope for today or the future, and certainly nothing for eternity. Science has no answers for evil and can never offer us forgiveness.
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Post by Albaou Amira »

There are a lot of religious beliefs that cannot be backed by scientific evidence or even quantified to study. Religion is all about faith and science is all about proof, so I don't think we can compare the two.
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Post by energyking »

Albaou Amira wrote: 31 Jan 2021, 01:22 There are a lot of religious beliefs that cannot be backed by scientific evidence or even quantified to study. Religion is all about faith and science is all about proof, so I don't think we can compare the two.
I'd agree with that to that extent. Some archaeological findings nowadays have proof backing up religious history in Christianity, for example... while others still elude scientific reasoning. They can be compared, but it is not strictly necessary
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Post by petozkid1221 »

For fun it's OK but for real it's not to avoid serious argument cause science is a theory while religious is a belief so comparing could cause clash
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Post by monicamu »

Well, it's like comparing apples and pears, but I think it does no harm if it helps people to question, and thereby better understand their beliefs.
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Post by Kazak »

B Creech wrote: 01 Dec 2020, 13:30 I think it is okay to compare the two, that doesn't change the facts. Where I have a problem with books that compare science and creation is when the person doing the comparison is obviously doing it to disprove there is a God! It is one of those 'aha, I told you so' comparisons! I don't see that in this book, at least not so far, so I think it is fine to compare the two to solidify the truth!
Xactly. I think it's okay, too.
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Post by just_a_wormy »

Religion and science are two different things. They are on their own. I don't think they should be compared.
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Post by Tangerinehippie1 »

Well I think sometimes the two come together. For example some people believe God is science and science is God.
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Post by zyxskip »

To compare and to contrast is by far the most human thing to do between science and religion because they're both aimed to fulfill our basic human need which is to understand life and existence that enable us to satisfy our search for knowledge and its application in our day to day endeavors.
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