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Juan Reyes

World History I

14 December 2012

Mr. Hart

Can Science and Religion be Compatible?

Science and religion have been in conflict before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Science always has a logical explanation, but religious groups wanted God to have

credit for the earth, humans, and miracles. Many famous scientists made major

discoveries, but because of the religious beliefs during their time, were chastised,

thrown in jail or killed without cause. Therefore, we’ll examine four periods in

which science and religion have been complete polar opposites.

The conflict between science and religion was abundant in the sixteenth,

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Science and religion colliding together

implicated Galileo Galilei. When he was born, everyone thought that the sun

revolved around the earth. Even though Galileo Galilei was a devout Roman Catholic,

he disagreed with the church’s view of the stars, the planets and the galaxies. For

this reason, Galileo Galilei was found guilty by the Roman Inquisition of: "having

believed and held the doctrine -- which is false and contrary to the sacred and divine

Scriptures -- that the sun is the center of the universe and does not move from east

to west and that the earth moves and is not the center of the world" (Graf 20).

Galileo Galilei was sentenced to house detention for the remainder of his life. His

book was excluded and he was prerequisite to say the seven unrepentant sacred

songs. This judgment is one example that science and religion were not compatible,
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and that nobody could be deprived of the authority of the Catholic Church. Galileo

Galilei died in 1642. Many years later, the Catholic Church published a formal act of

contrition for their conduct to Galileo, and accepted that their acts to Galileo were

inhumane and cruel.

If science and religion were compatible in the nineteenth and twentieth

century, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution might have been more popular.

“Charles Darwin ascertained that all species of life have descended over time from

common ancestors, and introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern

of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the

struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in

selective breeding” (Desmond) During this time, many people believed that God

created all humans so Darwin’s theory wasn’t well received. For this reason, the

evolutionary theory was very polemic. Years later in 1925, the Tennessee’s Butler

Act prohibited public school teachers to teach about “any theory that denies the

story of divine creation of man as taught in the Bible” (Graf 20).

Nowadays, the church has changed its closed thinking in some ways.

According to the Catholic religion, medicine and new technological advances are the

work of our God. He sends knowledge and wisdom to all scientists and influences

them to cure and prevent diseases that can affect our community. Also, the church is

investigating new ways of finding out and proving miracle explanation. People who

claim to have been cured by a divine god have to prove it that it was a miraculous

act and it was not by medication or surgical treatments. Likewise, The Vatican
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observatory built in 1582 in the Palace of Castel Gandolfo in Italy hosted the

Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona to try to find new life in outer

space and new ways of communication with UFOs by sending radio waves and

receiving them back. Also, the Vatican now uses new ways of spreading the word

and thoughts of God and the Pope. Vatican drivers control the internet pages,

broadcasters, international television channels, etc. In other words, the Catholic

religion has changed enormously over the past 20 years. Many inventions developed

are being adopted by the Vatican to communicate and spread the word of god. Also,

they are seeking new ways of life on other planets to see if someday we can have

extraterrestrial contact. As the Argentine Jesuit priest, astronomer, and current

director of the Vatican Observatory, José Gabriel Funes says, “In a universe that has

100 billion galaxies, each galaxy with 100 billion stars, each of which could have

potential to host planet’s life. So there may be extraterrestrial life. But so far, we

have no scientific proof of the existence of life and also intelligent life. But if it ever

happens, it would not, in my opinion, be very difficult for Christian theology. Creator

God, in his freedom, could have created other beings.”

To conclude, throughout history, science and religion have never been

compatible. There have always been conflicts over health issues, technological -

scientific discoveries, and astronomy. The Catholic Church cruelly punished those

who opposed and originated new theories and inventions. Believers always thought

that all the miracles and divine actions were nothing more than works of God.

Nowadays, the Catholic religion has begun to change their thinking. The Vatican has

begun using new inventions, to help prove new miracles. The church no longer
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cruelly punishes inventors and researchers who only look for new ways to help

their community. In my view, religion should continue adopting more scientific

advances that have excelled throughout history. By that fact, it can improve our

society and most likely prove that science and religion can interact harmoniously.
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Works Cited

Graf, Christine. "When Science And Religion Collide." Faces (07491387) 29.3 (2012):
20. TOPICsearch. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Desmond, Adrian, James Moore, and Janet Browne. "Darwin, Charles Robert 1809 –
1882." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2010): 1. Biography
reference Center. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Works Consulted

Moraczewski, Albert. "The Contribution of Science To Religion." Bulletin of The

Atomic Scientists 13.1 (1957): 27. Science Reference Center. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Marshall, David. “Science and Religion.” Washington D.C: Georgetown University

press, 2012. December 6, 2013 t
<http://site.ebrary.com/lib/yln/docDetail.action?docID=10614234>.

Frank, Adam. “The Constant Fire beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate.” Berkeley:
university of California Press, 2009. December 6, 2013 <
<http://site.ebrary.com/lib/yln/docDetail.action?docID=10675758>.