Will science eventually destroy religion? Or will religion continue to "reinterpret" scripture to fit science

Answer 1

I think as science grows further and more complicated we'll have some more educated people turning towards Atheism but todays science is very complicated for normal day to day people so we'll still have our normal Religious people who will argue!

Answer 2

Until science can answer AND SOLVE the questions that matter to human beings such as the inequities of development mentally physically socially economically and make them feel better, NO, science will never destroy religion.

And check this out now. I'm not religious. I'm not Christian or Muslim or Hindu or anything. I'm almost atheist but atheists can't really answer the question of why does matter exist? What created all this? The Big Bang is the aftermath, the effect. What was the cause? This thing has a plan, an order and religious folks' example of the the broken watch parts never being able to randomly form a watch makes logical sense. Something ordered all this to be the way it is but what? Something is in control of all this but what?

That's the only sticking point I have with the atheists because everything else I agree with them on. Logical sense. I don't believe in the gods of modern day religions and the attributes ascribed to them but I don't believe this whole place formed by chance either. I don't believe in heaven or hell or reincarnation but I can't follow blind belief in man either because he is very flawed and gets it wrong many times.

Religion has been shaped by science over the years, of course. Reading the books as is won't allow anyone to follow it without a reinterpretation from a "translator" also known as pastor, preacher, priest, rabbi, shaman, etc. in this current age.

Science is not contrary to "God" or the Creator of the universe. It only explains in detail how the objects of creation work. We all use science and have used science since our beginnings. Measuring systems are from science. Cubits anyone? Creating wheels, understanding fire, making boats to sail oceans. Science, science, science. Sanitation implementations in societies ancient and current. Medicine. Cooking. All science.

But man's ability to understand its universe has limits. While the science of things is infallible man is not and often omits or misreads information. Maybe he set up the wrong study and came to a plausible but erroneous conclusion. Whenever something happens like say doctors predict a person will die from an illness and the person lives, then that means the doctors are missing information and their scientific studies while exhaustive are incomplete. Whenever mankind doesn't know all outcomes of a certain situation there are gaps of understanding and full confidence cannot be granted to mankind.

Man is missing most of the answers even though he knows way more than he used to long ago and is still learning. Until he can answer all questions satisfactorily and in a way that shows hope and an ability to take a person out of a bad situation then religion will continue mythologically filling in those gaps.

Science answers the What and the How. But does it answer the Why? And the Why Not? And if it does are these answers making anyone feel better? And will it solve their problem to a better end?

Religion is about feelings.
Science is about knowings.

As man's grip on science expands, religion will adjust so as to not become irrelevant. But science will be a long way away from eradicating it because it cannot explain or more importantly solve people's pain.

Why DO people in Sudan suffer so much at no fault of their own while we in the USA live comparatively better at no cause of our own? Can science explain the inequity and unfairness? Can it do it in a way that allows the Sudanese to win and simultaneously be scientifically correct? Can that answer provide a positive solution of hope?

Now you understand why religion exists and while it is good that atheists question religion they must understand that with all of religion's faults it still serves a purpose for humanity in this day and age myth or not. In its best light, it simply makes people feel better.

Face it guys, reality sucks. I can deal with reality. Most people cannot. Religion is there to cover them.

John Lucas

Answer 3

Science is not out to destroy anything. Religions have come and gone as knowledge advances and worldviews change. No rational person today believes that Atlas holds the Earth on his shoulders, that Helios carries the sun across the sky, that the Greek pantheon, led by Zeus, rules from Mount Olympus, or that the head of Medusa turned men into stone.

Yet still some believe that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back at the devastation of Sodom, that God created everything in six days, that the earth is only 6,000 years old, and that dinosaurs walked alongside men.

Humans have always attributed everything they couldn't understand to super-human gods, and most still do. As mankind's knowledge and understanding progress through science, we begin to understand the world and the universe. The more our knowledge progresses, the less need there is for a god to explain puzzling physical phenomenon. Gravity, not Atlas, holds the Earth in place. The motion of the Earth (arguably denied in the Bible), not Helios' fiery chariot, causes the sun to move across the sky. The Earth is billions, not thousands of years old.

One can exercise a lot of power over people if they can convince them that God has appointed them as their leader and teacher, and that they have the answers. Advances in science threaten that power, so many religious leaders convince their followers to cling to what they, not science, have told them is the truth. Some such leaders go to absurd extremes, including intentional logical errors, and downright lying, to maintain their power over the flock. Such tactics, including lying, very common in today's fundamentalist evangelical movement.

As obvious as the reality of scientific fact is, and no matter how much evidence is presented, some will always believe their religious leaders instead of what is plainly obvious to everyone else. So, I don't think science will ever be able to do away with religion. After all, there are still people who believe that mentally ill people are actually demon possessed. 'Nuff said...

ADDED: Godshew wrote: "Funny thing about many scientists is: they change findings to get more grant $." Besides being totally false, that is just dumb. Scientists change their findings because new facts are discovered and they find that their original findings are in error. Scientific findings and theory were changing long before government grants were ever thought of, and will always continue to change. That is called learning. Saying that you already know the truth so your beliefs will not change is the opposite of learning.

Answer 4

It does not matter to me, but there is nothing wrong with a religion 'reinterpreting' its ideas to fit science. Science itself does this all the time.

That said, the thing science does not try to do is define a cohesive way to live your life. Could all people some day not care about having a cohesive belief system? Sure, but that would not necessarily be the result of science.

It could also be the result of laziness ;-)

Answer 5

Some religions will fall, others will rise. Those who reject science will weaken as those who accept it grow stronger. There is already such a trend in the world today.

A generic belief in God may never lose its hold over humanity, but eventually, I think, this belief will not get in the way of science. Our ideas of what the unknown contains will mold themselves around the strong core of science.

Answer 6

science will destroy religion and it will show the world what a fairy tale lie it is it will make no difrence how hard thay try to prove there fiary tale it will never work look at all the daft thing the usa have tried just to try and make it true the creation fairy land in kentucky and when thay tried to put god into science education is a good thing for the people bad thing for relgion

Answer 7

It shouldn't destroy religion because it's followers are suppose to have faith. If science could actually prove religion wrong, I'd say half would jump ship to science and half would still say science is wrong, but only out of spite, not faith.

Answer 8

What I hope happens is that Religion finally realizes that the only realm that science cannot touch is morality and religion becomes more and more of a purely philosophical entity.

I think this will happen. check out the reconstructionist Judaism movement, that is the future of religion.

Answer 9

Yes and big YES. Education and logic will eventually replace superstition, there is strong evidence that it is already happening. The Bible and religious `truth` has constantly changed, and today`s Christianity bears little resemblance to `early church` beliefs. ALL religions die, it is only a matter of when.

Answer 10

No, most major religions have said that religion and science are not mutually exclusive and that science is simply proving more of God's magnificence. This is what my old Catholic school teachers taught me at least.