By Roshan Shah, New Age Islam
03 August 2018

The Encounter of Faith and Science in
Inter-Religious Dialogue
Author: Sarojini Henry
Publisher: Indian Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, Delhi
Year: 2016
Pages: 221
ISBN: 81-7214-878-X
Price: Rs. 200
Interfaith dialogue has today become an existential
necessity for global peace and prosperity. Such dialogue requires some basic
common ground. In this fascinating book, Indian Christian scholar Sarojini
Henry proposes the encounter between religion/theology and science as a common
basis for dialogue between people from different faith backgrounds.
Henry remarks that for a long time, under
the influence of modern thinking, science was assigned a cognitive superiority,
because its tenets were said to be subject to verification, while religion,
which was often taken to be subjective, was dismissed by many as irrational.
But things are changing today. Henry notes that in recent decades, the
conversation between science and religion has become a prominent discourse,
engaging the attention of scientists, philosophers and theologians. There have
been several attempts to establish a partnership between science and religion
in the hope that this may provide greater understanding of the reality in which
we live. This partnership needs to take
into account diverse religious faiths—each of them has something useful to
contribute to the discussion.
In the opening chapter, Henry explores
diverse ways of envisaging the relationship between science and religion. An
earlier model posited them as being in conflict. In contemporary times,
however, this model’s appeal has declined, Henry suggests. Today, there is a
growing tendency to recognise religion and science as partners, a trend that
Henry considers as “one of the most exciting and controversial intellectual projects
of our time.”
The partnership model is becoming
increasingly acceptable especially given ‘limit questions’ that arise in
science but that cannot be answered by it—questions that often express our
wonder at the mystery of life, such as: Why is the world the way it is? Why is
there a world at all? Why are the laws of nature as they are? What is the
origin of things? Likewise, many theologians are now aware that they cannot
pursue their theological commitments and formulate their religious beliefs
without taking into account the findings of contemporary science. In other
words, today many people realise that science and religion are complementary to
each other, a far cry from the earlier model that posited them as being in
conflict.
Henry sees the growing positive
relationship between religion and science
as undermining the claims of scientism—the idea that the scientific
method is the only reliable path to knowledge. Scientism, she tells us, is
often coupled with materialism, which claims that matter is the only reality of
the universe and that there are no supernatural forces—which makes it basically
the same as atheism. Today, many scientists have recognized the falsity of this
perspective, and, in the climate of growing cognitive pluralism, recognize the
value of other forms of knowledge, including religious. This trend has been
bolstered by the challenges posed by ‘Postmodernism’, which dismisses all
authoritarian claims, including of scientific and religious absolutism, and
argues that all forms of knowledge are socially conditioned. In a climate when
scientism’s narrow view of rationality has come to be increasingly challenged,
more people, including scientists, are open to diverse forms of rationality,
including those supplied by religion and spirituality. This opens up a more
integrated model of knowledge.
The science-religion relationship, Henry
contends, can contribute significantly to inter-religious conversation. It can
provide a good common round for
inter-religious meetings. Henry identifies certain common themes in the
science-religion interface that can be employed in this regard. One of these is
cosmology—perspectives on the origin of the universe. Another is eschatology,
or the end times. Yet another is the concept of the human person. Henry provides
a brief account of some teachings on these issues in five different
religions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism—as well as in
science. She also highlights teachings from various religions in relation to
some crucial ethical challenges posed by modern technology. This exploration
suggests that religions can provide a moral framework for guiding scientific
research and technology.
Inspired by wisdom from their own religious
traditions on this large range of issues and sharing this wisdom with others,
people from diverse religious
backgrounds can meaningfully work for the common good—of not just the human
species but of all creation: That is one major lesson from this truly beautiful
book. Henry does a great job in offering useful suggestions for deepening the
science-religion conversation and for expanding the common ground for
interfaith dialogue and inter-community solidarity.
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/books-and-documents/roshan-shah,-new-age-islam/the-science-religion-relationship-can-contribute-to-inter-religious-dialogue/d/116024
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