History of the Conflict between Religion and Science

by John William Draper

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108000697
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/20/2009
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Science and Religion
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

1. The origin of science; 2. The origin of Christianity – its transformation on attaining Imperial power – its relations to Science; 3. Conflict respecting the doctrine of the unity of God – the first of southern Reformation; 4. The restoration of science in the south; 5. Conflict respecting the nature of the soul – doctrine of emanation and absorption; 6. Conflict respecting the nature of the world; 7. Controversy respecting the age of the Earth; 8. Conflict respecting the criterion of truth; 9. Controversy respecting the government of the universe; 10. Latin Christianity in relation to modern civilisation; 11. Science in relation to modern civilisation; 12. The impending crisis.