Keeping the Faith: Religious Belief in an Age of Science

by Thomas J. Schoenbaum

Overview

This book explores the modern relationship between religion and science, highlighting the public backlash over teaching evolution in U.S. public schools as an example of the conflict between religious faith and scientific reason. The author explores the middle ground between the two most extreme arguments, arguing that it is possible for science and religion to exist in harmony. The book also provides an analysis of 10 world religions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, revealing how each finds compatibility with differing religions and scientific doctrine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786431731
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	12/11/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas J. Schoenbaum is research professor at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. He is the author of many books and articles on legal and international topics.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface     

1. The Controversy Between Science and Religion     
2. Creationism and the Constitution     
The Cultural Wars of Religion     
The Scopes Case     
Evolution Eclipsed     
Science Makes a Comeback     
Equal Time for Creation Science     
Enter Intelligent Design     
A Fundamental Flaw     
3. The World of Science     
Categories of Reality     
The Scientific Method     
Classical Physics     
Energy and Force     
1. HEAT     
2. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM     
3. LIGHT     
4. SCIENTIFIC MATERIALISM     
A New Frame of Reference: Relativity     
1. SPECIAL RELATIVITY     
2. GENERAL RELATIVITY     
Another Frame of Reference: The Very Small     
1. ATOMS AND MOLECULES     
2. CHEMISTRY COMES OF AGE     
3. ATOMIC PHYSICS     
The Quantum Revolution     
1. QUANTUM MECHANICS     
2. QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS     
3. QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS     
Astronomy     
1. STARS     
2. GALAXIES     
3. COSMOLOGY     
Theories of the Earth     
The Life Sciences     
1. THE BIRTH OF BIOLOGY     
2. DARWINISM     
3. THE DESCENT OF MAN     
Scientific Truth: An Evaluation     
4. The World of Religion     
What Is Religion?     
Religious Knowledge     
Homo Religiosus     
Mythic Discourse     
Ritual, Community and Culture     
Sacred Places     
Science and Religion: Independence or Conflict?     
How Science Influences Religion: Four Paradigms     
1. DANTE’S MEDIEVAL SYNTHESIS     
2. DEISM     
3. DESIGN AND THE WORLD SOUL     
4. THE TRIUMPH OF RANDOMNESS AND CHANCE     
Lessons from Science about Religion     
Mysterium Tremendum: Our A Priori Knowledge of the Holy     
The Necessity to Choose     
1. NIETZSCHE     
2. KIERKEGAARD     
Religion and Faith: Is There a Di›erence?     
Mystical Experiences     
The Quest for God: The Content of Religious Belief     
1. HINDUISM     
2. JUDAISM     
3. ZOROASTRIANISM     
4. JAINISM     
5. BUDDHISM     
6. RELIGIONS OF CHINA     
7. RELIGIONS OF JAPAN     
8. CHRISTIANITY     
9. ISLAM     
10. SIKHISM     
Some Problems of Religious Pluralism     
Religious Freedom     
1. FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION     
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION     
Summing Up: Final Thoughts about Religious Knowledge     
5. The World of Philosophy     
The Importance of Philosophy     
The Limits of Knowledge     
Intelligent Design: Rational Arguments for the Existence of God     
1. COSMOLOGICAL PROOFS     
2. TELEOLOGICAL PROOFS     
3. THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT     
A New Idea of God     
Expressing the Transcendent     
1. MYTH     
2. ANALOGY     
3. SYMBOLISM     
4. HERMENEUTICS     
The Genesis Creation Story     
The Mystery of Existence     
Ethics: How We Should Live     
Ethics and Religion     
Systems of Ethics     
A Better Alternative: Virtue Ethics     
Practical Reason and Objective Goods     
Existentialism     
Summing Up     
6. Faith and Reason     
Setting the Stage     
Pope Benedict XVI and Islam     
Critical Evaluation of Religion     
Religion and Values     
Theories of Right Action     
Religion and Violence     
Suppression of Minorities     
The Status of Women     
Religion and Law     
The Concept of Law     
Three Conceptions of Law     
Which Is Best?     
The Function of Law     
The Constraint of Natural Law     
Enter Positivism     
A New Concept of Natural Law     

Summing Up     
Concluding Remarks     
Bibliography     
Index