Science and Theology——A Battle No One Loses
The dispute between theology and science lasts for ages. Theology once dominated the mainstream during the Medieval period. However, starting from the 16th century, with the rapid development of science, the authority of theology had been challenged and had declined ever since. In this reflective journal, I’ll discuss the difference and similarities of theology and science. In addition, the reason that science gained its authority will also be further explained.
Science and theology, despite their different ways of recognizing the world, their fates have been twisted with each other. Newton, who was born in an era dominated by the Christian church, was a great reflection of how science and theology combined with each other. As a son of the seventeenth century, he had a deep concern of the religious matters. Astonishingly, his achievements on science was not influenced by his religious beliefs. Newton published Principia in 1687. In this book, he described his comprehension to the system of the world and proposed the principles of force and motion. He showed us how general movements in our daily life apply to the broader world. Under this criteria, he should be considered a physicist and mathematician. However, he revealed his confusion of the original force that pushed the Earth. He believed that there should be a force to push the planets at the first place otherwise they would fell vertically. He argued that no nature power can lead to this transverse motion. In his old ages, he turned to theology to find his answer. He said in his letter to theologian Richard Bentley that he thought such Principles might be the masterpiece of the Deity(Cohen, 1995). Newton tried to use theology to explain the things that cannot be solved by science. Likewise, although a huge number of scientists believe in God, they believed in the God that created the laws of the cosmos. From Newton’s experience, I think both science and theology provide us ways to find the true meaning of the world. Although we are born in an era that science is the main fashion, theology still is a way of explaining the world beyond science and would not be replaced. In addition, the main differences of science and theology lie in their ways of recognizing the world. According to Russell, science is first to discover some particular facts about the world, and then finds the laws behind these facts. Eventually, finding laws connecting facts with one another makes it possible to predict future occurrences(Russell, 2010). Religions, however, are more absolute, they make assertions on universe, humans and nature. I argue that this is the reason why theology lost its authority after the 16th century. With the development of science, the theories in science could be proved in real life. Take the famous astronomer Halley as an example, he observed the cycle of a comet’s orbit and then successfully proved the return of this comet 76 years later, which was named after him. His prediction was so precise that it inspired more people to learn astronomy(Howell, n.d.).
The dispute between theology and science lasts for ages. Theology once dominated the mainstream during the Medieval period. However, starting from the 16th century, with the rapid development of science, the authority of theology had been challenged and had declined ever since. In this reflective journal, I’ll discuss the difference and similarities of theology and science. In addition, the reason that science gained its authority will also be further explained.
Science and theology, despite their different ways of recognizing the world, their fates have been twisted with each other. Newton, who was born in an era dominated by the Christian church, was a great reflection of how science and theology combined with each other. As a son of the seventeenth century, he had a deep concern of the religious matters. Astonishingly, his achievements on science was not influenced by his religious beliefs. Newton published Principia in 1687. In this book, he described his comprehension to the system of the world and proposed the principles of force and motion. He showed us how general movements in our daily life apply to the broader world. Under this criteria, he should be considered a physicist and mathematician. However, he revealed his confusion of the original force that pushed the Earth. He believed that there should be a force to push the planets at the first place otherwise they would fell vertically. He argued that no nature power can lead to this transverse motion. In his old ages, he turned to theology to find his answer. He said in his letter to theologian Richard Bentley that he thought such Principles might be the masterpiece of the Deity(Cohen, 1995). Newton tried to use theology to explain the things that cannot be solved by science. Likewise, although a huge number of scientists believe in God, they believed in the God that created the laws of the cosmos. From Newton’s experience, I think both science and theology provide us ways to find the true meaning of the world. Although we are born in an era that science is the main fashion, theology still is a way of explaining the world beyond science and would not be replaced. In addition, the main differences of science and theology lie in their ways of recognizing the world. According to Russell, science is first to discover some particular facts about the world, and then finds the laws behind these facts. Eventually, finding laws connecting facts with one another makes it possible to predict future occurrences(Russell, 2010). Religions, however, are more absolute, they make assertions on universe, humans and nature. I argue that this is the reason why theology lost its authority after the 16th century. With the development of science, the theories in science could be proved in real life. Take the famous astronomer Halley as an example, he observed the cycle of a comet’s orbit and then successfully proved the return of this comet 76 years later, which was named after him. His prediction was so precise that it inspired more people to learn astronomy(Howell, n.d.).