The Perceived Conflicts between science and religious faith
by Peter W. Johnson
Many consider the gap between religious faith and Scientific knowledge, not able to be mended and impossible to reconcile. However, I believe that both ways of thinking deal with discovering aspects of the unknown. And while one is more involved with philosophy and ideology and another with demonstrable facts, neither should dismiss every idea of the other as being totally false or untrue.
Of course I am aware that the various ways of determining geological time have soundly and solidly provided proof that the time line of the Earth has unfolded over billions of years, and therefore, I feel that most of the Old Testament, is really a record of the earliest events in recorded Hebraic history. And, this does not exclude the very real possibility that many of its ethical stories and symbolic representations of faith may have positive applications in every day life. However, unlike the Young Earth Christian philosophers, who make outrageous arguments about so called scientific conspiracies, I think the time line of the Earth’s beginning would be absurd to consider as having happened in only 7 days. Science is completely right about the immense age of the Earth—something that, along with Darwin’s evolution–should not be just believed, but actually accepted.
The flip side of the coin is that, those who ridicule the faith of believers, often unfairly portray them all as stupid and hysterical–something certainly true of many, but by no means typical of all of them. I believe it is also very legitimate to discuss the limits of reason and the intuitive validity of certain types of spiritual knowledge and the various assertions of faith. Most of all, I think that many intelligent people, fail to give enough credit to the many people of faith who rely on that faith to pursue religiously endorsed undertakings in an attempt to bring greater love and compassion into the world. That’s why I posted the following comment on the propagandaprofessor.net website and tried to explain in more detail some of my feelings about the value of human faith. Those interested in the article I refer to, can access the original post by the sites owner under the December 2010 list of articles. Here is what I wrote:
Peter W. Johnson hello POP,
Because I have not read many of your previous posts and only recently stumbled upon “Whose Holiday is It Anyway?,” I would like to say, that, even though I find nothing wrong with assigning an impressive Astronomical event involving the sun’s observed and relative movements (as seen from Earth) during the Winter Solstice, with some sort of religious significance, I don’t believe this possibility necessarily negates the entire Christ story and the teachings in it. But, one thing I think you may have wrong is that, during the Winter Solstice the Earth is actually closer to the sun, not farther away. And, winter actually happens in the Northern hemisphere because the Earth’s tilt on its axis (away from the sun) creates more atmospheric interference and diminishes the intensity of the sun. It becomes colder since light has to travel farther on a skewed path through the atmosphere, and because the Earth changes its relative seasonal tilt. I may be wrong, but I’ll check this out later, since I had an Astronomy class in college, in which I remember the Professor passing on this interesting factoid.
But, Just like the existence of Billions of years and incredibly long periods of time during which the cosmos itself, as well as the life within it, evolved, does not logically prove that there is no God, the fact that many religious celebrations have had their roots in previous cultural myths and traditions, does not prove that a real person called Jesus Christs did not exist, or was not perhaps, later given that title by disciples and historians. And, although I believe that the gospels were written down hundreds of years after the crucifixion, this fact also does not prove D. M. Murdock’s contention that the gospels “could rightly be called Gospel Fiction.”
How does the existence of other cultural holidays and astronomical events, even when sharing symbolic content similar to that in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, or the Muslim faith, or, for that matter—the mad hatters birthday tea party—conclusively prove that many of the events and teachings in the Gospels have little or no factual basis? Isn’t this kind of idea, like the idea that, correlation does not necessarily equal causation? i.e. isn’t it possible that certain astronomers of that time, saw a nifty correlation between the sun’s three days in limbo and its return or (resurrection) and the accounts of the gospels spoken by early Christians (or visa versa), and associated this astronomical event as having spiritual significance? But, since when, does the apparent path of the sun, as seen from Earth’s relative viewpoint, imply a period of limbo? And, how can three days of such astronomical purgatory ending with the suns return (not it’s resurrection, since it never died or disappeared) provide an indisputable and alternate explanation for the story of the resurrection?
I once read a book called, THE SACRED MUSHROOM AND THE CROSS which was a scholarly attempt to prove that early rituals using psyloscibin or magic mushrooms, Inspired the Christ story and also represented the sacred forces of nature because this mushroom has a mystically significant phallic appearance. This book contained a number of impressive ideas. And, the author took great pains to deliver a believable theory, but even his scholarly attempts could not absolutely prove that theory to be correct.
My own view is that the similarity between the teachings of Christ in all four books of the Gospel, are strikingly similar, and, even if only one of them contained his original words and teachings, that doesn’t negate the wisdom and beauty of those teachings any more than it negates the long verbal history that Alex Haley endured in order to track down his ancestor’s existence and record of being abducted and forced into slavery hundreds of years ago. Spoken histories have a common place in the traditions of all kinds of cultures, and if the followers of Christ believed in the utmost importance of his teachings, they very well may have taken great care to recount, in painstaking detail, the verbal history of those teaching—which although yet unwritten–-may have contained extremely accurate information. And, as far as his personality being fictional and mythic, its easy to see where that conclusion could be reached. However, for me, no other living person (with the exceptions of a few other wise and loving religious Icons) has ever said anything so beautiful and touching—followed by the extreme sacrifice of giving their lives as a testament that a spiritual world exists. And, although perhaps this world is beyond understanding with the use of reason, is may still be as real as the feelings of love we may have for another person.
As I have said before, I admittedly have no way to rationally prove these beliefs, but every poet who has ever lived, knows that not all truth and spirit comes only from logical reasoning. In fact, even Einstein (although not believing in a personal God) saw evidence of a divine force driving the Cosmos, and said that his Theory of Relativity was not only the result of rational thought.
Although those of us who refuse to close the book on all things that cannot be proven, because we still believe that the message passed on by such an incredibly loving being, makes the belief in miracles entirely reasonable and verifiable in the human heart, none of us can rationally prove that Jesus spoke with divine authority. But for a being like Christ, who obviously wanted to spread a gospel of pure love, he must have experienced great disappointment when those who agreed to listen expected him to entertain them with the equivalence of magic tricks, just to sustain their interests.
Christians are far from being perfect, and yes, they are often as warlike and crazy as people having many other beliefs and irrational superstitions. However, not all of them are that way. Those of us who remain willing to believe in the divinity of love don’t need a mathematical formula to validate the words of a very wise being—one who, while practicing his message of love and non-violence, was entirely different form 99.999999999% of us and most likely had nothing to do with any commonplace revolution or gambit for power!
Although we shouldn’t’t need miracles in order to believe in love, neither do many of us feel the need to deny them in order to achieve complete dependence on the supposed infallibility of logic. And like Richard Dawkins, we understand that even science may never be able to explain everything we see or feel. But, it would also be plain silly to deny the clear physical evidence that we often discover in the real physical world. I just don’t see where one has to imply the non-existence of a supreme being to also scientifically experience the universe with the awe and fascination of a child.
Many mystics have recommended that we should not completely close accounts with our perceptions of reality, and science has not yet taught us every reason and cause behind all observable phenomena. But religions don’t have a divine right to prevent us from looking for those answers—in order to suppress our free thinking and natural curiosity—but, if anyone is awestruck by a being who epitomizes pure love, who advocated forgiving one’s enemies, taught us that the greatest spiritual status belongs to little children, that the first shall be last, as well as assuring a dying criminal on the cross next to him, that he would be with him in heaven that very day—even while looking down at the soldiers who were torturing him to death, while saying, “forgive them Father, they know not what they do!” then I would not dispute that persons right to be awed. I would also say that any revolutionary leader who would normally rely on the strength of arms and the violent actions of his followers—no matter how good such a rebel may have been—he would be crazy to endorse such a program of non-violence and selflessness! After all, forcefully changing the world doesn’t often involve such universal and loving actions, and how could such a leader help the oppressed become free from their political yokes by merely advocating forgiveness for those who persecuted them?
Faith is faith, and science is science, but neither can only exist when completely divorced from each other. While one person may require physical proofs, another may need to believe in the sanctity of the human heart. So, although those on the religious right bemoan our lack of understanding about the teachings of Christ, they often do so because they already know that December 25th, and Easter, do not accurately represent the real dates of two religiously significant events. I only wish that all of them could also be aware of how enjoyable these occasions for celebration can be, especially when including loads fun for children and adults, along with symbolic expressions of giving and caring.
While cultural traditions and symbolic rituals often cover the same grounds as those which are practiced in other cultures and at other times, the person who gave the sermon on the Mount, may have been assigned his godlike status by zealous followers who felt the need to mythologize him. But, how can this ever negate the truth and beauty which such a person’s life and death epitomized—whether the Christian accounts of Christ have historically verifiable roots, or not—I too, (like the Roman Officer at his crucifixion) can only gaze upward in awe and say, “Truly this man was the son of God!”No math, no chemical formulas, no fossilized missing links are required for anyone to believe this, only someone who is touched by what Jesus said and did—Most of which is expressed in the same way in all four biblical accounts of his life and teachings.
Sorry to go on for so long, but your posts are very thought provoking and you bring up many valid yet unconventional points. I hope I have responded in kind.
Peter Johnson is a senior citizen who has become much more interested in what is happening in America and the world, than he was as a young man. He’s interested in poetry and expository writing, and has had letters to the editor published in Time magazine, Newsweek and Playboy magazine. He is concerned about ignorance and indifference that has been circulated concerning the significance of man made global warming and is dismayed dismayed by the way political lies and corruption are being used to influence the public (apparently free from any penalties or adequate culpability). He frequently writes letters of opinion to the editors of his local newspapers.