Informal Logic
Have you ever thought to wonder what will happen to you after death? Where will your soul go? Will you still have some form of existence to continue through a mental capacity? Most every person has sat to ponder this lifelong question at one time or another. In many peoples mind this can be a devastating thought, serious enough that they begin to contemplate believing what they know is true and what they would like to believe.
Over the existence of man many people have followed different ideals ND practices to help cope with this daunting question. Religion is the basis for the preservation of a person’s soul and gives comfort In a belief of a higher power that Is responsible for creation. Most religions such as Charlatanry believe that our soul Is sent to a higher place after death and gives mental relief from the life after death question. But ask yourself this, is religion real, or merely an ideal used to comfort the wandering human mind?
Science is the theory of truth thru knowledge, and many people only believe what they know is true thru factual evidence. According to Webster New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is “knowledge attained through study or practice,” or “knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world. “(Science) So what’s the answer? What concept is truth? Should you trust your soul in the concept of religion or science? More importantly are these two ideals In conflict?
I would argue that both of these concepts are far beyond our humble minds to comprehend. We simply don’t have enough knowledge regarding owe religious facts and scientific facts relate to each other regarding the creation of the universe. Because we have yet to fully understand the creation of the known universe and its relation to religious ideals they are not in conflict, and God could Just be the creator of science. The universe is a void of space filled with galaxies, stars, planets and vast amounts of never ending empty space; but how did the space we live in get there to begin with?
How did all the star dust we are made up of come to being? These questions have been plaguing mankind for generations, and we have spent millions of dollars trying o find the answer. There are many theories such as the Big Bang that mathematically quantifies the expansion and creation of the known universe. This theory puts Into perspective how the universe dispersed Its matter to form the universe we know today. (Lieberman, 2013) These theories no matter how mathematically correct cannot explain how space and matter itself came into created from nothing or destroyed only converted in to energy.
Because the known fact that matter cannot be created from nothing it would allude to the fact that all matter that is in the universe had to come from somewhere. Sahara, 2004) Even more mind boggling is the thought of where space and time exists itself, how was the big empty vacuum called space made and where does it go? So for arguments sake if science can only explain the expansion of the universe thru mathematical equations and experiments, that would mean that the ideal of god being the creator of the heavens is still sound.
The theory of the Big Bang could in fact be an accurate mathematical equation of how god distributed matter he created throughout the universe. Until we have scientifically proven how matter came into existence in the iris place we can’t logically prove how we came into existence one way or the other. This would lead us to the conclusion that the two ideas are not really in conflict per say, because we simply Just don’t know yet. There is still a chance that science is merely a tool used by a higher power to create and distribute matter thought the universe.
With that being said lets debate the so called “controversy’ most people have heard about or even debated themselves. The relationship between science and the Catholic Church has been very intertwined for ages and is a controversial epic to many. The Catholic Church have vested time and money into many things scientific like hospitals and universities. It’s a known fact that the Catholic Church remains the single greatest private provider of medical care and research facilities in the world.
But in the beginning of the relationship between the Catholic Church and science there were many problems. While being funded by the church religious scientists began looking to the stars and developing theories to our existence. In fact a priest named Monsieur Georges Henry Joseph ?dotard Limiter proposed the Big Bang theory that explained the expansion of the universe. (Georges Limiter) Like Limiter, many other scientists made advancements in science in areas of astronomy and genetics, all while working under the close supervision of the Catholic Church.
Another religious scientists working under the Catholic Church was a man named Friar Gregory Mendel who is known as the “father of modern genetics”, pioneered many fundamental principles in genetic research in plants. (Basic Principles of Genetics) Obviously the manipulation of a Gods creations in nature truck a harsh cord in the way of scientific research in the churches eyes. The Catholic Church then drafted an actual conflict thesis that proposes an intellectual conflict between the Church and science asserting that the Church has been in stated lifelong opposition to science.
The public and well known thesis interprets the relationship between the Church and science as inevitably leading to public hostility, when religion aggressively challenges new scientific ideas in relation to creation and the evolution of mankind. What concept is truth? Should you trust your soul in the concept of religion or science? More importantly are these two ideals in conflict? Because the Catholic Church funded the research that developed facts that put the concept of religious faith in God to question, an eternal conflict was struck in mankind in a battle of truth versus faith.
Religion greatly outdoes early and modern science, but in the beginning of science as we now it, the two ideals were actually intertwined. Controversy between religion and science struck and became two arguments is a bit irrational due to the fact that one side of the argument is based on faith, and the other truth by what can be proven by science. McCall, 2011). Religious documents like the bible are one of the most historic documents of the known world. They give premise to the early beginning of man and woman, and by most accounts are the most circulated historical documents of mankind.
While they do have a many revisions mostly due to the evolution of human language their stories have changed little over the last few thousands of years. (The Holy Bible) Religious documents like the bible are seen as factual documents to the religious community, and so bring controversy with non-believers. Many teachings in the bible such as the age of the earth directly contradict what factual science has discovered over the last few hundred years (Hodge, 2007). This idea of conflict simply comes down to the interpretation of valid sources.
The bible and other religious documents have claimed to be inaccurate by scientists due to the lack of control and validation when they were written. Many faulting factors like how many people had a hand in writing religious documents like the bible make it difficult for people to instill their faith in such a concept but in hindsight scientific documents have known o be Just as flawed. (McCall, 2011) Advancements in science have explained many things about the universe around us in a tangible way people can see and feel.
Therefore until we are able to reach advancements in science that prove religion wrong there will always be some kind of hostile conflict between the religion and science. Let’s face it the idea of where a person’s soul will reside after death is a huge deal to most people. Most every person has had to of contemplated where they would go after they die and there is question it can make people seriously emotional. These emotions lead to public controversy that bleeds in to religious debates in almost every type of religion.
Over the years the religious community has had my conflicts with concepts like Naturalism and Evolution because they offer a logical scientific explanation to how things have come to be on earth. But these conflicts can still go back to the main point that we truly don’t know what or how started the creation of matter God in fact could have used science as a tool for creation. Over the last few hundred years we have made vast advancements in the way of science.
We can now fly, split atoms, and actually live in space for an extended period of time. Such advancements have enabled us to peer into the very beginning of the universe almost to the very beginning of the Big Bang itself. Scientists have even been able to replicate a small scale Big Bang like scenario by smashing atoms together in hopes to create a small big bang of our own. (CERN, 2013) But with all of these amazing discoveries we have failed to answer the most important question of them all.
Is god the real creator of the universe or can science explain it with mathematical facts or experiments? The argument of whether religion and science are in a conflict is realistically a moot point in today’s day and age. The concept of science being the search of the truth and religion being a fundamental belief system is like comparing apples and oranges. Most religions are centered on the basis of faith that causes a false sense controversy with the hunt for the truth in science.
One really doesn’t have much to do with the other unless people want to stir up controversy by comparing the facts of science to the plausibility of religion, in fact they might Just be comments like the bible do not give specific reference to how the heavens were created, you could deduct that we are only now learning the process of how god created matter, and spread it thru the universe. Scientific facts like the evolution of man and animals overtime can appear to create controversy but all take us back to the basis of the truth and our humble understanding of how matter was created and that we simply don’t know.
While there might be a perceived conflict between religion and science, this is merely a false comparison of the two. The two ideals do have mom independent characteristics that strike the human mind for comparison but not in a way that makes them competitive. Religions that are based on faith in a higher power, concede that they no longer search for the answer of our beginnings in space and time. In comparison scientific studies search to further our understanding of matter and how it was created thru facts that can be proved.
Unlike belief systems science has no agenda, nothing to gain or lose, only the truth. How far that truth can be proved in a conclusion of the existence of matter itself Just might prove and endless Journey playing to the tune of faith in its own right. Unfortunately our own human nature has clouded our view of these daunting principles. Because of the importance and nature of the subject this topic will be evaluated until god comes or science finds him. I would argue that both of these concepts are far beyond our humble minds to understand to completion.
Because we have yet to fully understand the creation of the known universe and its relation to religious ideals they are not in conflict, god could Just be the creator of science making them one in the same. The idea that these to giants are in conflict is more or less a confusion between the imperfections in man and not the truth itself.
