Science vs. Religion: Can this Marriage Be Saved?

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article by David H. Bailey originally appeared in Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man (2016).

Abstract: This chapter examines the details of ongoing wars between science and religion and shows why they are not only futile and senseless, but also unnecessary. Sometimes such battles cause people to forget important ideals that science and religion hold in common. It is important for religious movements to stay focused on religion and not embrace in their central belief systems some particular scientific theory or worldview that will eventually become obsolete with continued research advances. As Holmes Rolston observed, “The religion that is married to science today will be a widow tomorrow.” Both scientists and religious believers can stand in awe at the majesty of the universe. So why all the fighting?

To download this chapter in PDF format, click here.

About the Interpreter Foundation Book Chapter Reprint Series

The purpose of this reprint series is to make individual chapters from books published by The Interpreter Foundation more accessible to readers. Chapters from large format books will be made available as pdf files, while chapters from smaller format books will appear within the Interpreter journal, making this content available in a form suitable for many popular digital readers.

Although in some instances the formatting and pagination may have been changed, the content of this chapter, like others in this reprint series, is identical to what appeared in its original book publication. It has not been updated to incorporate research that has appeared subsequently nor to reflect the current practice of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to use the full name of the Church and to avoid terms such as “Mormon” and “LDS.”

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