>Science can impact religion whenever religion makes scientific statements.
>Otherwise, it can't. How can you remove religion from reality? Think about
>it, what deals with the most significant things in your own life, your
>science or your faith? The real issue is what is the nature of questions
>that humans ask? For instance, is the question of origins a scientific
>question? If it is not, then the Bible may have the answer to it and
>scientists don't. The real battle is on the nature of the questions asked
>not necessarily on the answers provided by different groups.
Science does have an impact on religion, even when "scientific" claims are
not at issue. For example, if evolution and common descent are true
descriptions of the history of life, there are religious implications.
Such religious issues include: 1) the nature of God's interaction with His
creation, 2) the meaning of pain and suffering in creation (theodicy), 3)
the role, if any, for creaturely freedom, and 4) the meaning of "the image
of God." There are others as well. If common descent is true, then our
theology must accord with this reality. I should also say that what
uncertainty exists in the evolutionary picture of the history of life,
should not be used as an excuse to avoid the implications.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/