Blog Posts Archives : Page 3 of 4 : International Research Network

30th June 2020

The ‘Scientific Interpretation’ of the Bible and the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom

By James C. Ungureanu In his Autobiography, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) gave three specific reasons for his growing religious doubts. He became morally revolted by the God of the Old Testament, whom he characterised as a “revengeful tyrant.” Moreover, the discovery of the “fixed laws of nature” made belief in miracles seem “incredible” to him. Finally, he concluded that recent historical-critical scholarship—or biblical criticism—demonstrated that the Gospels were completely…

16th June 2020

Teaching evolution in Mexico: bringing creationism to the classroom?

By Juan Manuel Rodriguez-Caso UNAM Central Library, south wall, seen from the esplanade of the rectory. Source: José Miguel García Fernández, Wikimedia Commons (CC Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license) When problems related to the teaching of evolution in the classroom, and the conflicts arising from various forms of creationism – particularly scientific creationism and “intelligent design” – are discussed, the country which may…

2nd June 2020

A Brief Look at the History of Extraterrestrial Life Debate

By Parandis Tajbakhsh A lithograph of the hoax's "ruby amphitheater", as printed in The Sun. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain). In 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) began its two-year mission searching for extrasolar planets, orbiting around 200,000 stars located within 300 light-years of the Earth. TESS followed in the footsteps of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009to find Earth-sized or smaller planets around…

19th May 2020

The other Christians: Science and Orthodox Christianity

By Kostas Tampakis Science and Religion, as a field of study, is flourishing. This is an easy assessment to make, if one considers the number of conferences, articles, books and dedicated journals that operate within the broad boundaries of the field. A subtler sign of the field’s growth is to be found in the disciplines that Science and Religion scholars have brought into the field in recent years. As last…

5th May 2020

History of Science and Religion: A Historiographical Introduction

By Sarah A. Qidwai Historiography, or how historians write history, is often a tricky topic to pin down. Methods are often developed over time, or sometimes they seemingly appear out of nowhere. To that end, the field of the history of science and religion in the academic context has its own historiographical past. Understanding and engaging with scholars in the field is often difficult without this historiographical context.

21st April 2020

Are there 100,000,000 creationists in the USA?

By James Riley In June, 2019, Gallup released their most recent poll of public attitudes on evolution and creation in the USA. According to their survey, 40% of the sampled US population were creationists. That is, when asked: “Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings?” 40% of respondents selected: “God created human beings pretty…

7th April 2020

A Social Psychologist’s Journey into the Study of Science and Belief

By Jordan LaBouff Like most of us, I am often blind to my own biases - even in my research. Nothing has made that more clear to me recently than my wonderful experiences beginning to study the intersection of Science and Belief. In my first project, I was confronted by my biases about the relationship between science and religion, my expectations about the beliefs of religious westerners, and some…

24th March 2020

Uniformity, biblical criticism and supernatural activity in the 19th century

By Nathan Bossoh Mosaic of Jesus Christ on ceiling in church in Cambridge (UK). Public Domain. In June 1887 the Canadian writer Grant Allen aptly summed up the evolution of science over the preceding fifty years in an article for the Fortnightly Review entitled “The Progress of Science from 1836 to 1886”. After providing an elaborate yet succinct overview of the immense expansion of science, Allen concluded that…

22nd October 2019

Drawing boundaries: Reflections on the Science and Belief in Society conference, Birmingham 4th – 6th July, 2019

By James Riley A version of this article initially appeared on the International Society for Science & Religion website. Featured image credit: @CarolaLeicht From the 4th to 6th of July, 2019, the University of Birmingham, UK, hosted the inaugural conference of the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society (INSBS). It was a multidisciplinary event, with scholars from the history…

22nd November 2017

How should we respond to prejudices about belief?

By Stephen H. Jones Reflections on Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All The publication of The Runnymede Trust’s report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All in 1997 was a watershed moment in the history of recognising and opposing anti-Muslim prejudice. The first British policy report to focus on the problem of Islamophobia, it is often credited with popularising the term. Last week an updated report, Islamophobia: Still a Challenge…