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Flora Teckie-Correspondent
Science and religion are like two wings of a bird complementing each other and the advantages of both need to be used together, if we are to build a progressive and peaceful society.
However, there has often been a conflict between advocates of science and those of religion.
There has been a belief that scientific truth contradicts religion, and one was obliged to choose between being a religious person and follow the teachings of God, or a scientist and be a follower of reason.
The Bahá’í Writings state “that science and religion are two complementary systems of knowledge and practice by which human beings come to understand the world around them and through which civilisation advances; that religion without science soon degenerates into superstition and fanaticism, while science without religion becomes the tool of crude materialism” and “far from being in conflict with one another, these fundamental modes of the mind’s exploration of reality are mutually dependent”.
We need both science and religion
Science and religion are both necessary for our development and progress and together they provide the fundamental organising principles by which individuals, communities and institutions function and evolve.
Through scientific methods we understand the physical side of the universe. Science is the knowledge system, which studies the material universe and teaches us how to generate material means for the advancement of humanity.
Science is described in the Bahá’í Writings as the “most noble” of all human virtues and “the discoverer of all things”. Science has enabled society to separate fact from conjecture.
Religion is the knowledge system that studies the powers of the human spirit and is concerned with the demands and the desires of the higher nature of the human being.
It is the fruit of the creative Word of God, which has the power to transform human thought and action. God’s teachings offer to humanity a basis for values and provide answers — to moral questions, human purpose, and our relationship to God — that science cannot provide.
Religion and science are mutually dependent. Science without religion becomes merely an instrument of crude materialism, and religion without science falls prey to superstition and fanaticism.
If we look at the religion in its purest form (the way it was revealed through God’s Messengers) it is not opposed to scientific facts. God, Who has given us the gift of the intellect, does not expect us to lay it aside when investigating religious truth.
According to the Universal House of Justice, the governing council of the Bahá’í International Community: “The insights and skills generated by scientific advance will have always to look to the guidance of spiritual and moral commitment to ensure their appropriate application; religious convictions, no matter how cherished they may be, must submit, willingly and gratefully, to impartial testing by scientific methods”.
Science is important for our welfare and well-being. However, only by the spiritual transformation of human beings can life be filled with moral purpose. It is only through spiritual transformation that a high ideal such as the unity of humanity can become a practical objective.
The Bahá’í Writings state: “Put all your beliefs into harmony with science; there can be no opposition, for truth is one.
When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great unifying, cleansing force in the world which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles — and then will mankind be united in the power of the Love of God”.
Science and religion must closely and continuously interact
Science provides us with tools and means, and religion teaches us how to use them to the best advantage of all humanity.
A knife, for example, is a useful tool, but it can also be used to kill someone.
Religion teaches us to put this tool to good use and not to use it to hurt anyone.
Atomic energy is useful, but without the guidance given by God through religion, it can become one of the most destructive forces produced by science.
In one of its statements, the Bahá’í International Community says: “In the quest for truth, science and religion — the two systems of knowledge available to humankind — must closely and continuously interact.
The insights and skills that represent scientific accomplishment must look to the force of spiritual commitment and moral principle to ensure their appropriate application”.
The independent investigation of reality, whether scientific or religious, is strongly encouraged in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Individuals should strive, He said, to free themselves from prejudices and preconceptions.
According to the Bahá’í Writings: “ . . . in the search for truth man must weigh religious questions in the balance of science and reason. God has given us rational minds for this purpose, to penetrate all things, to find truth”.
At the same time “ . . . the principle of harmony between religion and science, while it enables us, with the help of reason, to see through the falsity of superstitions, does not imply that truth is limited to what can be explained by current scientific concepts”.
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