Science

This chapter takes a historical approach to the question of how religion relates to science. An older, two-dimensional model, in which religion and science represent irreconcilable categories, remains widespread in public discourse but also persists in the academic world. That model draws selectively on a narrative consisting of simplistic interpretations of well-trodden examples from Galileo to Darwin. These examples are here revisited in line with recent developments in the history of science; the emergence of, and continued cultural need for, that simplistic narrative are explored. The chapter explores alternative models for conceptualizing science–religion relations, and ways in which the terms of the debate can be broadened without losing focus. Productive areas of overlap for critical and non-partisan analysis emerge when the debate includes varieties of religious and scientific experience and practice, not just cosmological or biological theories on the one hand and Christian systematic theology on the other. These approaches, if based on genuine interdisciplinary dialogue, have the potential to illuminate the booming (but largely separate) research fields analyzing grassroots religious movements and science in the public realm.