Sience and faith in a historical perspective

23 Clips from an interview with Prof. Peter Harrison, former Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and director of the Centre of the History of European Discourses at the University of Queensland. Harrison gives a nuanced answers to questions on the differences and the interplay between science and faith from a historical perspective. He answers questions about the presumed conflict between science and faith, about Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin.

1. Are Science and Religion Fundamentally Different? Harrison gives a nuanced answer to the question, ‘Don’t scientists deal with facts and believers with faith?’
2. Has Christianity Played a Role in Science? Harrison says that Christianity has played an important role in the development of science in the West.
3. Can Religious Ideas play a Significant Role in Science Today? Harrison says that while religion might be related to why certain people do science, religious explanations don’t form a part of scientific explanation.
4. Why do many people think there is conflict? Harrison explains that, while the idea that there is conflict between science and Christianity is generally false, there have been key moments where is has been advantageous to act as if there is conflict, and this has led to the public perception of conflict.
5. Why are You in this Debate? Harrison tells us why he began to study the history of science, and how he came to be involved about dialogue between science and Christianity.
6. Contextual Differences in the Science/Religion Debate. Harrison talks about differences in the relationship between science and Christianity in the UK, USA, and Australia.
7. How have the Boundaries of Science Shifted? Harrison discusses the way scholars have revised their opinions about science in the middle ages, and the way Christianity has been related to science in later periods.
8. Harrison on  Andrew Dixon White. Harrison talks about Andrew Dixon White’s influential book ‘The History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom’, which put forward the idea that there is conflict between science and Christianity.
9. How many Early Scientists were Christians? Harrison discusses the idea that most early scientists were really proto-atheists, and says that it is almost certainly false.
10. Theology and Astronomy. Harrison reflects on the historic connection between Theology and astronomy, and how that has impacted the development of our science.
11. How can Science help Religion? Harrison talks about the possibility of science being helpful to religion.
12. Why does the History and Philosophy of Science Matter? Harrison talks about the importance of the history and philosophy of science.
13. Which Scientist would You Like to be? Harrison, after some initial doubt, says he would like to be like Johannes Kepler.
14. What do You Find Interesting about Science and religion? Harrison describes his journey from teaching science to becoming a professor of history. In his research, he is fascinated by the way that things which were quite common and uncontroversial in their own times now seem bizarre to people in ours.
15. Why does the Science & Religion Debate Matter? Harrison highlights the science-religion debate as a symptom of the more general split between the sciences and the humanities. He acknowledges the problems that religion has caused in our society and discusses where the solutions might be found.
16. How useful is the Science & Religion Debate in the UK? Harrison talks about the way that the media report science-religion issues in the UK.
17. Why does Science have so much Cultural Authority? Harrison explains how the role of science in our culture has changed over time.
18. If Christianity was so Important for Science, where did Materialism come from? From Ancient Greece, to Descartes, to today – Peter Harrison recounts the development of materialism.
19. How has Religion Been a Positive Influence on Science? Harrison talks about three ways that Christianity has positively impacted the development of science throughout history.
20. How was Darwin Received? Harrison talks about the response to Darwin’s theory in the Church at the time when it was published.
21. Galileo and the Two Books. Harrison discusses the idea of the two books of nature and scripture, both pointing to the same truth, but this idea can be taken in several different ways.
22. Was Galileo Right? Harrison talks about the interesting phenomenon, that Galileo went beyond the empirical evidence of his time, and speculated, while the Church supported the scientific evidence it had. However, ultimately Galileo was proved right.
23. Galileo: Science vs. the Church? Harrison retells the story of Galileo, and says that it is not so straightforward as “the Church opposing science”.

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