Historical Theology: Science & Religion

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Lecture audio: Science & Religion

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Question: What is the relationship between science and religion (specifically, Christian faith)? Are they in conflict with one another? Or do they present complementary means of understanding the true nature of the world we live in?

You can receive a wide variety of answers to this question depending on who you ask. Many Christians today are very skeptical about the claims of the modern scientific project, particularly in areas like evolutionary biology, which to many people seems to contradict the biblical record of creation, or in the study of cosmology, where some scientists are creating theories of the universe’s beginnings that don’t seem to fit well with Christian faith. On the other side of things, many scientists are very skeptical about Christianity’s truth-claims, which they sometimes regard as ancient myths rather than historical realities. At the same time, there are quite a few prominent theologians and scientists who see no conflict between the science and religion, but claim instead that these perceived “conflicts” are due to a misunderstanding, on the part of both scientists and lay Christians, as to the true nature of the Bible’s historical and scientific claims.

The Middle Ages: Theology as “Queen of the Sciences”

There were very few advancements in scientific theory during the first 1500 years of Christian civilization in Europe (though there were some staggering achievements of applied science, especially in the areas of technology, engineering, and agriculture). The academic study of science simply held onto some of the major scientific theories of the pre-Christian world, notably those of Aristotle and Ptolemy. These systems suggested that Earth was the center of the universe, and that the other celestial bodies—sun, moon, and stars—revolved around the earth as different levels of successive “heavenly spheres.” This scientific theory was well suited to the Christian and biblical picture of the universe, which appeared to consider Earth and humanity as the center and pinnacle of God’s plan of creation and redemption. So science was felt to be perfectly in harmony with Christian belief, and theology was taught at university in the place of utmost honor: as the “queen of the sciences.”

The Copernican Revolution

The trouble with the Earth-centered view was that the movement of the planets was immensely complex—they had to be described as a “dance.” Just before his death in 1543, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published his groundbreaking thesis, On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres, in which he made the case that the sun was at the center of the universe, not the Earth. This theory allowed the planets to move in smooth revolutions rather than erratic dances. Within two years, a Catholic clergyman named Giovanni Tolosani had responded in his own book, criticizing Copernicus for positing the movement of the Earth through space (against all apparent observations). He wrote that he wanted to “stamp out the Copernican doctrine,” and he worried that the new theory would cause a crisis in biblical interpretation: “From this situation, there could easily arise disagreements between Catholic expositors of holy scripture and those who might wish to adhere obstinately to this false opinion.” On the Protestant side, Martin Luther’s fellow theologian Philip Melanchthon also objected to the Copernican theory, writing to a government official in the hopes of having the theory repressed. Finally, in 1616 (during the Galileo affair), the Roman Catholic Church officially decided to suppress the work of Copernicus, declaring the Copernican theory “false and altogether opposed to Holy Scripture.” But Copernicus’ theory spurred on a new generation of scientists, though, like Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, who both advanced the new field of astronomy, and Giordano Bruno, who suggested that the stars were not simply lights on a rotating heavenly sphere, but were themselves “suns,” perhaps with planets of their own—for this idea, and for a few other daring speculations, Catholic authorities burned him at the stake in 1600.

The Galileo Affair

Galileo was one of the most prominent scientists of all time, an Italian who made major discoveries in multiple fields, including astronomy, optics, and the basic laws of physics. He ran into trouble with the Catholic Church, however, when he claimed that he had found proof that Copernicus’ system of planetary motion was correct (Copernicus’ system was the only one to correctly predict the phases of Venus which Galileo observed). In 1616 the Catholic Church officially declared Copernicus’ theory to be a heresy, and forbade Galileo from believing it or teaching others about it. In 1633 Galileo published another book which subtly supported Copernicus, and for this the Roman Catholic Inquisition tried him, found him “gravely suspect of heresy,” and sentenced him to indefinite imprisonment. He was under house arrest for the next nine years, until his death in 1642.

The Resolution

Within a few generations, the evidence made it absolutely clear that Copernicus and Galileo had been right, and the theologians who opposed them had been wrong. (Though it took until 1835 for the Catholic Church to drop its prohibitions against Copernicus’ and Galileo’s work.) Biblical interpretation was able to shift fairly painlessly to a new understanding of the controversial points, a process which actually led to a more faithful understanding of Scripture within its own cultural context.

Application

We must always remember to ask ourselves if the apparent battles between the Bible and science are true “conflicts” in which we must defend the truth at any cost, or opportunities to discover ways of interpreting Scripture that are even more faithful to its original meaning and to the truth of God’s creation.