History of the Conflict between Religion and Science

Abstract

This fascinating text, first published in 1875, is a key early example of the conflict thesis. This theory expounds the premise of an intrinsic conflict between science and religion, and is archetypal of one aspect of this late-Victorian debate. Draper asserts that science has reached a point where its threat to traditional teachings can no longer be ignored, and he offers this history as a means to understanding both the interaction between religion and science and their perpetual opposition. He covers examples of this relationship, from Christianity's origins to the then contemporary crisis of church division and the Prussian–Austrian war, and also examines in turn what both Christianity and science have done for modern civilisation. Discussions of the central points of crossover and change in the history of science and Christianity lead to the conclusion that for religion to survive it must accept fact and reason.

Exploring the Non-Religious

“…Draper, 2009Draper, [1874). The formulation of this critique takes shape in relation to disseminating positions within the religious sphere that are incompatible with scientific insights.…”

Defending Copernicus and Galileo

“…My first reason is that insufficient attention has been paid to the fact that there is a minimal but irreducible conflict in the history of the original trial: it is the conflict between those (like galileo) who claimed that Copernicanism was not contrary to scripture, and those (like the Index and the Inquisition) who declared that the earth's motion was contrary to the Bible. 33 White (1869;1896;1915;, Draper (1875). the irony of the situation is that it was the erstwhile loser or victim who held the view which the erstwhile winner of that battle would now like to advocate; and insofar as galileo may be said to have become the historical and final winner of the war, then his view suggests an important harmonious element in the original affair.…”

A Novel Society

“…Though John Draper (1874) and Andrew W hite (1896) did much to convince the Western world that reli gion and science stand in conflict, subsequent research has pointed to the ways in which religion has aided and continues to aid in scientific explora tion (e.g. Indeed, as any student of their interaction will tell, those conflicts are no more common than the moments where religion and science-assuming that we force such rich, multivalent enterprises into monolithic words-operate in tandem.…”