{"id":22377,"date":"2014-03-19T12:52:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T16:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=22377"},"modified":"2014-03-19T12:52:39","modified_gmt":"2014-03-19T16:52:39","slug":"nuance-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/03\/nuance-needed.html","title":{"rendered":"Nuance Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Jason Rosenhouse posted<\/a> on the series Cosmos and some reactions to it. In it, he complains about what he calls \u201cthe script,\u201d an emphasis that the conflict model of the view of the relationship between religion and science is not the only or even the predominant one, historically speaking. He writes: \u201cPrior to reading any essay about science and religion, do a search. If the words \u201cnuanced\u201d or \u201ccomplex\u201d appear then don\u2019t waste your time. You\u2019re about to get the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being nuanced and acknowledging complexity are what scholarship, and any attempt to describe things accurately, aim for. And what Rosenhouse writes next seems like it ought to support nuance and complexity:<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve noted before, one problem in discussing conflicts between science and religion is that the term \u201creligion\u201d is very broad. It covers everything from, \u201cThe Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it,\u201d at one extreme, to \u201cGosh, that sunset sure is beautiful,\u201d on the other. Moreover, many of the conflicts do not involve questions of fact that can be definitively resolved. Evolution poses serious challenges to major points of Christian doctrine, for example, but maybe those challenges can be overcome. There are lots of different arguments on offer, and everyone has to decide for themselves what they find plausible. That\u2019s why I don\u2019t generally say bluntly that science and religion must be in conflict. I think the challenges are sufficiently formidable that a reasonable person should reject all but the most liberal versions of Christianity, but many others disagree. Such is life.<\/p>\n

But there is another way of framing the question that is much more clear cut. Science and religion are not necessarily in conflict, but science and religious authority certainly are. By \u201creligious authority\u201d I mean an attitude that says that there is a non-scientific source of knowledge about the natural world, such as divine revelation or the historical teachings of a church, that trumps all other claims to knowledge. When a governing body in thrall to such an attitude has a loyal police force at its disposal, look out! The best you can hope for is that they don\u2019t do anything too sadistic to those who dissent from orthodoxy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, so close. Rosenhouse rightly acknowledges that religion covers a range of phenomena and views. But then he goes on to ignore that there are just as many different views of religious authority.<\/p>\n

What is the appropriate response to this? Presumably to call for nuance<\/em> and emphasize that this area is much more complex<\/em> than he acknowledges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Rosenhouse posted on the series Cosmos and some reactions to it. In it, he complains about what he calls \u201cthe script,\u201d an emphasis that the conflict model of the view of the relationship between religion and science is not the only or even the predominant one, historically speaking. He writes: \u201cPrior to reading any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":18740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,163,80,85],"tags":[2085,2124,2219,5582,8250,10169,10886],"class_list":["post-22377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evolution-science","category-progressive-christianity-religion","category-religion","category-science","tag-complexity","tag-conflict","tag-cosmos","tag-jason-rosenhouse","tag-nuance","tag-religion","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nNuance Needed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jason Rosenhouse posted on the series Cosmos and some reactions to it. 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