Christianity - God and the Scientists

Summary

This script explores the historical tension between science and Christianity, from the Scientific Revolution to modern debates on evolution and creationism. It discusses how scientific discoveries challenged religious dogma, leading to a shift in Christian views and the emergence of secular thought. The script also contemplates the impact of scientific progress on religious belief, suggesting that as science advances, it may render religion obsolete by providing comprehensive explanations for the universe and human existence.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The Scientific Revolution in the 17th century challenged the Christian view of the world, emphasizing reason, inquiry, and experiment over religious dogma.
• 🔥 The Catholic Church's response to the Scientific Revolution included silencing and punishing scientists like Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei for their ideas that contradicted Church doctrine.
• 📚 St. Augustine's approach to reconcile science and Christianity was to interpret the Bible in a way that accommodated scientific findings without threatening Church authority.
• 🌍 The heliocentric model proposed by Copernicus was a major challenge to the Christian geocentric view, suggesting the Earth was not the center of the universe.
• 👨‍🔬 The Enlightenment in the 18th century further pushed the boundaries of scientific inquiry, with figures like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin contributing to a secular approach to governance and society.
• ⚛️ Charles Darwin's theory of evolution presented a significant challenge to the belief in divine creation, suggesting life evolved through natural selection.
• 🏛️ Despite the challenges, some Christians maintained a literal interpretation of the Bible, leading to events like the Scopes Trial and the rise of scientific creationism.
• 🤔 The script explores the tension between faith and reason, questioning whether Christianity can adapt to scientific discoveries without compromising its core beliefs.
• 🧬 Modern science continues to investigate the origins of the universe and life, with projects like the CMS experiment at CERN seeking to understand the moments after the Big Bang.
• 🌐 The script suggests that as science advances, it may eventually provide a comprehensive understanding of human existence and the universe, potentially reducing the need for religious explanations.
• 🔍 The historical progression shows that science has the capacity to change its theories in light of new evidence, unlike some religious doctrines that may resist such changes.

Q & A

What was the primary source of knowledge for Christians before the 17th century?

Before the 17th century, Christians primarily saw the Bible as the main source of knowledge.

What movement emerged in the 17th century that challenged the Christian view of the world?

The Scientific Revolution emerged in the 17th century, challenging the Christian view of the world and promoting a new way of thinking.

How did the Catholic Church respond to the rise of science during the Renaissance?

The Catholic Church forced rebellious scientists into silence and used the Inquisition to suppress those who questioned their authority and the divinity of Jesus.

What was the impact of the Enlightenment on the relationship between science and Christianity?

The Enlightenment gave rise to a new generation of scientists who pushed Christianity into retreat, with figures like Darwin challenging the main argument for God's existence.

How did the Scientific Revolution change the approach to knowledge acquisition compared to religious dogma?

The Scientific Revolution prioritized individual curiosity, inquiry, reason, and experiment above religious dogma in the pursuit of knowledge.

What role did the Christian Church play in the early development of science?

The Christian Church sponsored and encouraged the beginnings of science, believing that God had given humans the power of reason and assuming it would confirm their faith.

What was the significance of Nicholas Copernicus's discovery for the Scientific Revolution?

Copernicus's discovery that the Earth was not the center of the universe was the first major challenge to Christian belief and marked the beginning of the tension between religious authority and human inquiry.

How did the Catholic Church's response to scientific ideas affect the progress of science in the 16th century?

The Catholic Church's intolerance for ideas contradicting Catholic doctrine, especially during the Inquisition, stifled scientific progress by silencing scientists and making the publication of controversial ideas dangerous.

What was the impact of Galileo Galilei's support for Copernicus's heliocentric model on his relationship with the Catholic Church?

Galileo's support for the heliocentric model led to his trial for heresy, where he was found guilty and forced to abjure his errors, illustrating the conflict between scientific evidence and religious dogma.

How did the Protestant Reformation influence the Catholic Church's stance on scientific ideas?

The Protestant Reformation, which accused the Catholics of forsaking the true Word of God, led the Vatican to rule that anyone contradicting Catholic doctrine was a heretic, intensifying the Church's opposition to scientific ideas that challenged their views.

What role did William Harvey play in the development of scientific methods in Protestant Britain?

William Harvey, a physician who studied in Italy, brought back techniques of observation, conclusion drawing, and further observation testing, which contributed to the development of the scientific method and the advancement of science in Protestant Britain.

Outlines

00:00

🛕 The Clash of Science and Religion

This paragraph discusses the historical conflict between scientific discovery and religious doctrine, beginning with the creation story and moving through the Scientific Revolution. It highlights the shift from religious dogma to empirical inquiry and the challenges this posed to Christianity. Notable events include the Catholic Church's response to rebellious scientists and the Enlightenment's promotion of reason over faith. The paragraph also introduces the speaker's personal view that science is the primary route to knowledge and hints at the ongoing tension between science and religious orthodoxy.

05:01

🌟 The Astronomical Challenge to Christianity

This paragraph delves into the astronomical theories that contradicted the Christian view of a geocentric universe. It discusses St. Augustine's approach to reconciling biblical narratives with scientific findings and the subsequent dominance of Christianity over knowledge for a millennium. The Renaissance is presented as a turning point, with figures like Copernicus challenging the status quo and setting the stage for a scientific revolution. The paragraph also touches on the tragic consequences for those who dared to challenge the Church's authority, such as Giordano Bruno.

10:05

🔍 The Inquisition and the Suppression of Scientific Thought

The paragraph explores the dark period of the Inquisition, which sought to suppress scientific ideas that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. It describes the Church's intolerance towards heresy and the establishment of the Inquisition to root out dissent. The tragic story of Giordano Bruno is revisited, and his execution is highlighted as a significant setback for the scientific movement. The paragraph also details the methods of torture used by the Inquisition and the chilling effect this had on scientific inquiry.

15:05

📚 The Evolution of Scientific Thought and Religious Tension

This paragraph continues the narrative of scientific progress and its impact on religious authority. It introduces Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit brother and Vatican astronomer, who represents a modern, more accommodating view of science within the Church. The story of Galileo Galilei is recounted, including his support for the heliocentric model and his subsequent trial for heresy. The paragraph underscores the shift from ideas to evidence-based theories and the Church's struggle to adapt to these new realities.

20:08

🏥 William Harvey: The Bridge Between Italy and England

The paragraph shifts focus to William Harvey, an English physician who studied in Italy and brought back the scientific method to England. Harvey's work on the circulatory system is highlighted as a significant contribution to biology, challenging the Church's views on human anatomy. The establishment of the Royal Society and the rise of scientific thought in England are discussed, setting the stage for the Enlightenment and the further integration of science into society.

25:10

🏛️ The Enlightenment and the Shift from Religious to Rational Authority

This paragraph discusses the Enlightenment, a period characterized by a move towards reason and democracy, with science at its core. Figures like Isaac Newton and John Locke are mentioned as influential thinkers of the time. The paragraph also touches on Benjamin Franklin's contributions to science and his role in the founding of the United States as a secular state, separate from religious influence.

30:11

🦠 Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the Challenge to Creationism

The paragraph focuses on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and its impact on religious beliefs. It describes the challenge that evolution posed to the idea of divine creation and the subsequent debate between religion and science. The Scopes Trial is mentioned as a pivotal moment in the struggle over the teaching of evolution. The paragraph also explores the views of modern critics of religion, like Richard Dawkins, and the ongoing tension between science and religious fundamentalism.

35:14

🦕 The Persistence of Creationism in the Face of Scientific Advancement

This paragraph examines the persistence of creationist beliefs in the United States, particularly in the Bible Belt. It discusses the historical context of the Scopes Trial and the rise of scientific creationism, which seeks to reconcile biblical accounts with scientific findings. The Creation Museum in Kentucky is highlighted as an example of how some Christians attempt to integrate dinosaurs and the biblical narrative, despite contradictions with scientific evidence.

40:17

🤔 The Reconciliation of Faith and Science in Modern Christianity

The paragraph explores the various ways in which modern Christians reconcile their faith with scientific knowledge. It discusses the mainstream churches' acceptance of evolution while maintaining belief in a divine creator. The paragraph also touches on the views of Christians who question the literal interpretation of the Bible and those who see religion as a source of moral and spiritual guidance rather than a provider of scientific truth.

45:18

🧬 The Future of Religion in the Face of Scientific Discovery

In this final paragraph, the speaker contemplates the future of religion as science continues to advance and provide explanations for phenomena that were once considered the domain of the divine. The speaker suggests that science may eventually make religion redundant by providing a comprehensive understanding of the universe and human existence, including the origins of religious belief itself. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the transformative power of science over the past four centuries and its potential to reshape our understanding of reality.

Keywords

💡Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution refers to a period in the 16th and 17th centuries when a fundamental transformation in scientific thinking and methodology took place. It marked a shift away from religious dogma and towards empirical observation and experimentation. In the video, the Scientific Revolution is depicted as a pivotal moment challenging traditional Christian views of the world, exemplified by the conflict between the Church and scientists like Galileo Galilei.

💡Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement in the 18th century that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority, including religious doctrines. The video discusses how the Enlightenment led to a new generation of scientists who pushed Christianity into retreat, advocating for the use of reason and scientific inquiry over religious dogma.

💡Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is a fundamental concept in biology, introduced by Charles Darwin in his work 'On the Origin of Species'. It posits that species evolve over time through a process of natural selection. In the video, Darwin's theory is highlighted as a major challenge to the belief in divine creation, suggesting that life evolved without the need for a creator.

💡Religious Dogma

Religious dogma refers to the established beliefs or doctrines that are accepted by the members of a religion without question. The video script discusses how the rise of science challenged religious dogma, particularly in the context of the Catholic Church's resistance to new scientific ideas that contradicted their teachings.

💡Inquisition

The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. In the video, the Inquisition is mentioned as a tool of the Church to silence and punish those who challenged its authority and teachings, such as Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei.

💡Copernicus

Copernicus, or Nicolaus Copernicus, was a Renaissance astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the solar system, placing the Sun at the center instead of the Earth. His theory was revolutionary and is discussed in the video as the first major challenge to Christian belief, as it contradicted the Church's geocentric view of the universe.

💡Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer and physicist who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His support for the heliocentric model and his conflict with the Catholic Church exemplify the tension between scientific discovery and religious authority, as depicted in the video.

💡William Harvey

William Harvey was an English physician who is known for his work on the circulation of blood, which challenged the traditional beliefs about the human body and its functions. In the video, Harvey's discoveries are presented as part of the shift towards a mechanistic view of the body, distinct from religious interpretations.

💡Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath who contributed to the scientific understanding of electricity and developed the lightning rod. The video mentions Franklin as a symbol of the Enlightenment, emphasizing his role in promoting reason and scientific inquiry over religious dogma.

💡Creationism

Creationism is the belief that the universe and life originated from specific acts of divine creation, as described in religious texts. The video discusses creationism in the context of the Scopes Trial and the ongoing debate over the teaching of evolution in schools, reflecting the resistance to scientific theories that challenge literal interpretations of the Bible.

💡Higgs Boson

The Higgs Boson, often referred to as the 'God particle', is a subatomic particle associated with the Higgs field, which is theorized to give other particles mass. In the video, the search for the Higgs Boson is presented as an example of modern scientific inquiry, aiming to understand the fundamental nature of the universe without necessarily invoking divine intervention.

Highlights

The historical transition from viewing the Bible as the primary source of knowledge to the emergence of the Scientific Revolution.

The conflict between the Catholic Church and rebellious scientists during the Renaissance, leading to the silencing of scientific inquiry.

The 19th-century Enlightenment fostering a new generation of scientists, pushing back against religious doctrine.

Darwin's theory of evolution challenging the existence of God and impacting Christian doctrine.

The rise of science as a result of European thinkers discovering new ways to interpret the world, independent of religious texts.

The role of individual curiosity, inquiry, reason, and experiment in the Scientific Revolution, superseding religious dogma.

The challenges faced by scientists, including a personal account of hostility from animal rights activists.

The historical role of Oxford as a center for scientific discussion and debate, initially sponsored by the Christian Church.

The conflict between the eternal cosmos theory of Aristotle and the Christian notion of God creating the world.

St. Augustine's solution to reconcile圣经 and scientific findings, suggesting the Bible is written in human-understandable language.

The impact of the Protestant Reformation on the Catholic Church's stance towards science and the rise of the Inquisition.

The tragic story of Giordano Bruno, an original thinker executed for heresy, and its chilling effect on scientific progress.

The shift in the 17th century where the Catholic Church began to fight against scientific facts that contradicted its doctrines.

The story of Galileo Galilei, his conflict with the Vatican, and the tragic consequences of his heliocentrism support.

The contrast between the Catholic Church's resistance to scientific ideas and the Protestant Britain's embrace of the Scientific Revolution.

William Harvey's discovery of blood circulation, challenging the Church's view of the body as a divine creation.

The Enlightenment's promotion of reason and democracy, with science at the heart of societal progress.

Benjamin Franklin's contributions to science and the founding of a secular state in America.

The ongoing debate over the teaching of evolution and the Scopes Trial, highlighting the struggle between science and religious fundamentalism.

The rise of scientific creationism as a response to evolution, an attempt to reconcile the Bible with scientific method.

The exploration of the Higgs boson and its significance in understanding the origins of the universe post-Big Bang.

The belief that science will eventually make religion redundant by providing a comprehensive understanding of our universe and ourselves.

Transcripts

in the beginning God created the heavens

and the earth and God said let there be

light the gathering together of the

waters called he seas God created man in

his own image

for more than 1500 years Christian saw

the Bible as the primary source of

knowledge but in the 17th century a new

movement emerged that challenged the

Christian view of the world the

Scientific Revolution it was a time when

people were looking towards a new way of

thinking about the world during the

Renaissance the rising power of science

forced the Catholic Church to silence

rebellious scientists the sentence says

the reason that you're burning is

because you've denied the divinity of

Jesus and because you questioned our

authority by the 19th century the

Enlightenment had given rise to a new

generation of scientists who pushed

Christianity into retreat

Darwin removed the main argument for

God's existence if science continues to

make discoveries that conflict with

Christian doctrine I wonder will the

Scientific Revolution ultimately make

Christianity redundant

what we now call science emerged about

four hundred years ago through the work

of a group of European thinkers who

discovered new ways of interpreting the

world they no longer relied on the

delivered Word of God the Scientific

Revolution put individual curiosity

inquiry reason and experiment above

religious dogma to my mind science is

quite simply the biggest challenge that

Christianity will ever have to face

I don't believe in God some scientists

managed to retain their faith but I

think science is our only route to

knowledge an idea that some people still

find threatening nowadays we all

recognize the power of science we look

to science to explain the world to solve

our problems but science also has its

enemies

I myself was subjected for 15 years to a

campaign of hatred and terror from

animal rights activists because of the

research that I did perhaps it's because

science necessarily challenges the

Orthodox view of the day in order to

make progress and often that orthodoxy

is fundamentally religious

today I'm professor of neuroscience here

at Oxford when the first colleges were

founded in the 12th century the

Christian Church was planting the seeds

of science

Oxford's been a seat of learning for

more than 900 years just 30 years after

the Norman invasion in 1066 scholars

were teaching here

Oxford became a center for discussion

for debate for investigation all of it

sponsored and encouraged by the

Christian Church the motto of the

University says it all really

dominus Illuminati Oh mayor God is my

light believing that God had given

humans the power of reason the church

championed the beginnings of science

assuming it would confirm their faith

this is the old school's quadrangle was

built in the early 17th century and it

was the focus of all the teaching of the

university is it's dominated by the

Divinity School there's logic

metaphysics grammar and history

there's mathematics there's astronomy

and here the school of natural

philosophy natural philosophy was a 17th

century word for science science being

nurtured in an ecclesiastical

environment as part of a religious and

classical education for hundreds of

years Christians had looked to the

leading experts on the natural world the

ancient Greeks to explain God's creation

in Christianity there is a central

notion that God created the world

Aristotle however probably the most

important of the Greek natural

philosophers argue that the cosmos was

eternal they thought that many Christian

ideas were rather silly

right from the start rational thinkers

forced Christians to consider the

possibility that the biblical

explanation of the world was wrong in

the 5th century the Christian theologian

st. Augustine came up with a solution

he says the message we find in the Bible

is accommodated to human capacities

which is to say that the Bible speaks in

language that we can understand and this

thing will account for some of the

discrepancies between what we find in

Genesis and what we find in the the

current or contemporary science

st. Augustine laid down the rules for

the relationship between science and

Christianity

the church would accommodate science

findings as long as they didn't threaten

its authority

for the next thousand years Christianity

remained firmly in control of all

knowledge and helped generate the first

glorious period of the Scientific

Revolution the Renaissance hard to

believe but in about fifteen hundred and

ten one of the most significant

developments with RNA saans took place

not in glorious Rome or in Venice or in

Florence but here in a sleepy little

town on the Baltic coast in Poland while

Italy was the center of Renaissance art

and literature a local priest made

Poland the focal point for science

Nicholas Copernicus came here in the mid

16th century after studying in Italy and

took services at from Bach Cathedral but

he spent most of his time watching the

sky and studying the movements of

planets in this tower in the cathedral

grounds Copernicus made an extraordinary

discovery that led to science his first

major challenge to Christian belief so

Margaret what was the standard dogma in

astronomy at the time that Copernicus

began to study astronomy no Barbara

homophobics yet the earth was thought to

be surrounded by unchanging stars and

Christians believed it was the center of

the universe why they thought the Sun

and the planets circled around a

supposedly stationary earth is one for

closure of a goonie

but in his study Copernicus wrote a book

that argued against this Christian view

he claimed that the earth was actually

one of the planets orbiting the Sun open

canopy cells for Yugi or Copernicus

finished his masterpiece in 1533 and he

knew his ideas were revolutionary

Opelika Vineeta Gogia the Vatican

realized that Copernicus his

speculations contradicted the biblical

view that the earth is stationary at the

center of the universe but it was

willing to tolerate his ideas for now Co

Co Co da get skittish Vilna the Catholic

Church was a powerful institution how

could it be threatened by one person

even if his ideas were revolutionary

saying let me bug on them Amazo dijo the

Pope was hoping that despite all his

research Copernicus's conclusions would

be proved wrong about that that's also

be the issue

there's no doubt that here in from book

in the heart of the church

Copernicus planted a seed a seed of

tension between religious authority and

human inquiry which has grown over the

following five hundred years it was

others who followed Copernicus who

invented science to test his rooms who

suffered for championing his dangerous

idea

Copernicus's new theory soon pitted

science and christianity against each

other in the scientific revolutions

darkest hour this was a true tragedy

because the church is made of human

beings who don't want to admit they're

wrong

you

as a scientist today I'm free to put

forward any idea as long as I can back

it up with evidence but in Italy 400

years ago I would also needed the

approval of the Vatican

until the 16th century the papacy

tolerated scientific ideas that

contradicted the Bible but by the late

1500s the Protestant Reformation had

emerged and was accusing the Catholics

of forsaking the true Word of God

in response the Vatican ruled that

anyone who contradicted Catholic

doctrine was a heretic

and so began Sciences darkness down

just a stone's throw from sant peter's

this forbidding building is the papal

police station it's the notorious

Inquisition set up in the 16th century

to defend against heresy

scholars who speculated about the nature

of the world could find themselves

branded heretics in the late 1500s one

of the most original thinkers was a man

named Giordano Bruno while studying for

the priesthood Bruna became captivated

by Copernicus his theory that the Earth

orbits the Sun is it fair to say that

reading Copernicus's book set the stage

as it were for Bruno's own ideas

it must have because the Copernicus in a

way opens up a new world for knowledge

and Bruno says Copernicus stopped at the

sphere of the fake stars and Bruno goes

past the eighth ninth tenth and however

many spheres you'd like to name he

thought there were other Earth's he

thought there might be creatures on

these other Earth's and that's one of

the issues that gets him in trouble with

the church because if there are multiple

earths how many earths is the Pope Pope

of in 1600 the Inquisition had Bruno

burnt at the stake he wasn't a real

scientist but his death was a huge blow

to the emerging scientific movement

would it be fair to say that what

happened in this Square the execution of

Bruno had a very serious impact on

Italian science it's devastating I think

for both science and for the church one

it makes controversial ideas dangerous

secondly it makes publication of

controversial ideas dangerous

I think Bruno's execution marked the

beginning of a battle between faith and

reason the dangers I faced for my

science came from a small group of

fanatics but during the Renaissance most

threats to scientists had the backing of

the mighty Catholic Church this is the

Inquisition handbook of torture 1643

it's volume 1 actually you know the

Inquisition might not have invented

these kinds of horrendous techniques but

they certainly adopted them with relish

not only to force confessions from those

who are accused but quite frankly to put

the fear of God into everyone else

questioning Catholic dogma could have

fatal consequences in Italy fear of the

Inquisition forced scientists

underground those brave enough to speak

out were quickly silenced

seems very likely that poor Brunel had a

contraption like this clamped on his

head just before he was burnt at the

stake it's an interesting device really

it clamps around the neck like rat and

and this thing pushes down on the tongue

to stop the victim proclaiming against

the church at the moment of death and

what is resting on is a papal whipping

block knowledge of things like this must

surely have terrified people I mean the

worst that a scientist could expect

these days is they get their paper

rejected from the journal they send it

to maybe their grant application gets

turned down well in poor Bruno's day

this is what might have happened to you

in the 17th century the Catholic Church

still insisted that the earth was the

center of a universe that was only a few

thousand years old

but today scientific evidence has forced

it to change its views

after a successful academic career guy

Consolmagno became a Jesuit brother and

is now one of the Vatican's official

astronomers so this is the meteorite lab

and this is where the working culture is

yeah we think these things were made

four and a half billion years ago in a

solar nebula of gas and dust but what

turned the dust into a solid rock nobody

knows can just pick you up on one thing

you said just a throwaway remark about

events that were happening

four-and-a-half billion years ago right

to say that doesn't raise the slightest

concerns in your mind the slightest

doubt you're totally aligned with

cosmological estimates of the age of the

universe absolutely of course the point

of the Bible is not the science of the

Bible is not a science book I've written

science books the one thing you know

about a science book is that it goes out

of date after about three years Bible's

been around for 2,500 years for what it

says it's not out of date well though

but it's not a science book is it the

Word of God it is not the dictated Word

of God God whispering this into some

scribes hand who's writing it down we're

not Muslims it's not the Koran it is a

human interpretation of divine

inspiration 400 years ago it was another

astronomer who'd caught the Vatican's

attention

Galileo Galilei was one of the most

respected scientists in Europe he helped

the Vatican set up its first observatory

in Rome and taught astronomy at the

finest universities in the Catholic

world in 1609 he even introduced the

church to a new invention the telescope

the telescope of course was first really

demonstrated to the world by Galileo as

an astronomical telescope in January of

1609 and one of the first things he did

was to bring it to the Jesuits at the

Roman College and Galileo is fated as a

great conquering hero what the Vatican

didn't realize was that Galileo's new

observations of the stars planets and

their moons supported the heretical

views of Copernicus they confirmed that

the earth was not at the center of God's

universe Galileo announced his

controversial discoveries hoping that

his friend the Pope would protect him

instead he was tried for heresy

by a vote of seven to three Galileo was

found guilty he was shown the

instruments of torture he was a 69 year

old man with severe arthritis and he

decided to confess he said I abjure

curse and detest my errors

Galileo arguably the first true

scientist was condemned as a heretic it

was a disaster for science

the real tragedy of Galileo wasn't just

that he was put on trial for something

that was not a religious issue but that

the church was so slow in accommodating

itself to the evidence as it piled up

because the church is made of human

beings who don't want to admit they're

wrong this was a true tragedy

the real problem was that Galileo had

changed the rules of the game he was the

first astronomer to base his theories on

evidence the church didn't like that one

bit the Catholic Church sponsored and

encouraged philosophers and thinkers

including Galileo as long as what they

delivered was simply ideas but then

Galileo arguably the very first

scientist discovered a way through

experiments of testing ideas and knowing

whether they were wrong when science

started to produce facts not just ideas

the church just didn't know what to do

they fought against it

while the Inquisition's iron grip was

stifling science in Catholic Italy in

Protestant Britain scholars were laying

foundations for the next phase of the

Scientific Revolution the beginning of

an explosion of knowledge in 1609 an

Englishman made his way to take up an

appointment here at some Bartholomew's

Hospital in life

his name was William Harvey a physician

who studied at Padua in Italy where

Galileo was a professor you can almost

see Harvey carrying the baton of science

from Italy yes the tradition of Galileo

and so on across to to England yes and

of course it was an extremely exciting

time for science in this country and we

have the birth of the Royal Society in

1660 s it was a time really when people

were were looking towards a new way of

thinking about the world and you can see

Harvey as a sort of a crucial figure at

the beginning of this movement

the church based its views of biology on

the writings of ancient philosophers and

the biblical teaching that man was made

in God's image but Harvey's

revolutionary observations suggested the

body was made like a machine there was

this concept that the parts of the body

didn't necessarily actually have a

function but they were simply there

because that's the way that God had

designed them and you know that was it

that was the end of the argument but one

of Harvey's genius moments was the

discovery and the demonstration that all

the parts of the vascular system played

a very important mechanical role he was

able to show that blood moved around in

two closed loops and of course this is

the fundamental basis of all

cardiovascular physiology ever since

william harvey himself was still half a

mystic he wrote about the heart as the

son of the microcosm as a household god

that serves the rest of the body but the

techniques that he brought back from

italy of making observations drawing

conclusions and then testing those

conclusions with further observations

that was certainly the beginning of the

scientific method it helped to fuel the

explosion of science that happened in

this country in the 17th century giving

those early scientists methods to allow

them to challenge the written word

whether it was the words of Aristotle or

the words of Scripture

in the 18th century a new movement swept

through the Western world thinkers such

as Isaac Newton and John Locke realized

that the laws of the universe were there

to be discovered not read about in Bible

it was the age of enlightened democracy

freedom and science replaced religion at

the heart of society for me the person

who epitomizes the Enlightenment is an

American Benjamin Franklin he was not

only a statesman but also a celebrated

scientist who found a rational

explanation for the wrath of God

thank you very much

in 1750 Franklin suggested that

lightning was just a form of electricity

in a Georgian period churches were

always the tallest building around and a

lot of them had a lot of wood in them so

they when they were struck by lightning

they would just burn down and it'll be

awful for your community not only

because your largest Civic building had

you know burnt to the ground but also

because it would show that someone in

your community had done something pretty

bad because God did it exactly exactly

so Franklin decided that he would

protect churches from this from the

electrical fluid so he went on to

develop the lightning rods so if I just

shot this in I would ask you not to

touch the table for reasons that will

become apparent very quickly hmm

churches weren't always keen to have

science mix with religion and quite this

level and they did see that it was

Franklin trying to circumvent God and

God's will

Franklin did say that if you really want

to circumvent if you don't want to

circumvent God's wishes you should

actually not have a roof on your church

because rain is also a natural

phenomenon but obviously now all

churches have lightning rods on them so

does work I imagine if God wishes to

punish you can find it other ways

Franklin was also the first scientist to

help found a nation with a new form of

government

his championing of scientific

rationality inspired the first country

built on Enlightenment principles but in

many ways Franklin was was really if not

the father of the United States

certainly one of the principal thinkers

behind the secular state absolutely he

was one of the founding fathers he did

not want the organized church ticket

have anything to do with the running of

a nation he thought it was a bad idea to

have church estate combined and

therefore split it off so creating a

secular state in America

Ben Franklin was the son of a Puritan

immigrant he intended to go into the

church himself but here in London at the

age of 19 he first wrote his views about

conventional religion rejecting the

ceremony the pomp the dogma for me Ben

Franklin really symbolizes the

Enlightenment the age of reason and the

free thinking the openness the rejection

of authority during that period

continued the process of undermining the

authority of the church it was

scientists brought up on these end like

movement principals who pushed

Christianity into a retreat which

continues to this day

Darwin removed the main argument for

God's existence

you

I think that Sciences biggest challenge

to Christianity was Charles Darwin's

theory of evolution in 1859 Darwin

published on the Origin of Species which

suggested that life on Earth was not

designed by God but had evolved through

a process called natural selection my

colleague Richard Dawkins has become the

best-known critic of religion some would

say the Archbishop of atheism for him

evolution is the best reason for not

believing in God Richard I guess you

could say that after Copernicus and

Galileo evolutionary theory was the

second great challenge to conventional

religious belief how did Darwin himself

deal with it

he was well aware that it was a great

challenge and he was appropriately

cautious before releasing it he delayed

for something like 20 years after

writing it out and then some people

think the main reason for his delay was

caution because of the effect would have

on the religious establishment

Christians had always believed that

human beings were made in God's image

but Darwin's theory implied that we are

in fact Apes Darwin removed the main

argument for God's existence because

before before Darwin it looked as though

the evident apparent design of living

things could only be interpreted as as

actual design some people seem to have

come to terms with evolution as they did

with Copernicanism by saying it's just

an illumination of the wonders of God

I've had it remarkably unconvincing

because the suggestion is that that God

in deciding to create life chose to do

it in precisely the way that made it

look as though he wasn't there well you

could say that the difficulty was

creating the physics of the universe

with all its improbabilities in such a

way that it would allow evolution to

occur that's a much better way to look

at it I mean that's a that there's a

certain amount of plausibility about

that I find it ultimately implausible

because it suggests that

an intelligent creator would need an

even bigger explanation himself this

wonderful University Museum at Oxford

exudes Victorian confidence in the

special power of human beings it was

here in 1860 that Samuel Wilberforce the

Bishop of Oxford defended Christianity

against the onslaught of thomas henry

huxley a great champion of Darwin

there's no doubt that Darwin's discovery

of a natural mechanism that could

explain the origin of all life on earth

including human beings without divine

intervention was a serious challenge to

conventional religious belief Christians

are still uncertain and divided about

how to respond to evolution the

overwhelming evidence for Darwin's

theory has led the mainstream churches

to concede that humans were not

literally made by God but they cling to

the idea that God made evolution

possible this kind of accommodation has

become a familiar pattern it's not a

matter of overturning what we fought

before it's more a matter of saying that

what we were taught when you're seven

years old is still true but there's so

much more going on that we couldn't

possibly have handled when we were seven

years old well I mean you seem to be

talking about a kind of plasticine God a

God that pickins stretched and deform to

fit any shape you want to informed by

science but stretched still to fit with

the changing image of the reality of the

world that science is giving us it's no

more plasticine than the universe is

plasticine as our understanding of it

shifts the plasticine is up here yes as

I'm older my mind can stretch a little

bit closer to the dimensions of the god

that was out there all the time

mainstream Christianity has been so

influenced by the enlightenment that its

views are now totally different from

those of 400 years ago but the beliefs

of some Christians in the United States

have hardly changed at all a recent poll

found that almost 1/3 of Americans still

believe that the biblical story of

creation is literally true it's

extraordinary to think of the word

fundamentalism which we nowadays

associate with extreme governments

Islamic regimes actually originated here

in the United States I'm gonna find out

how it could be that in this secular

country built on the success of Science

and Technology those kinds of

fundamental views of Christianity could

still survive this is Dayton Tennessee

in the heart of the Bible Belt in 1925 a

state law was passed that made the

teaching of human evolution illegal a

local teacher John Scopes was tried for

breaking this new law the Chicago

defense lawyer Clarence Darrow was

pitted against William Jennings Bryan a

former presidential candidate

the trial took place in this courtroom

now you have given considerable study to

the Bible how much mr. Brian yes sir I

have tried to you claimed it everything

in the Bible should be literally

interpret I believe everything in the

Bible should be accepted as it is given

there how some was illustrative for

example ye are the salt of the earth

I would not insist that man was actually

salt or had flesh of salt but it is used

in this sense of salt to saving God's

people Scopes was found guilty young his

trial marked the start of a battle over

the teaching of evolution but still

continues in some American states I am

simply trying to protect the Word of God

the greatest atheist or agnostic in the

United States professor Ron numbers who

grew up near Dayton was born into a

fundamentalist Christian family my

father was a fundamentalist preacher

here the seventh-day Adventists were the

people who gave the world young Earth

Creationism

young earth means what exactly well that

you don't believe there was anything

here more than about six thousand years

early fundamentalists were appalled by

the diluted form of Christianity that

had emerged from the Enlightenment it

was the influence of Germany German

scholarship and some English scholarship

especially that scared the bejesus out

of evangelicals in America they would

send over young scholars and they would

come back tainted with this they didn't

believe in the virgin birth or the

resurrection anymore they didn't believe

Moses had written the first five books

of the Bible it was knowledge of science

that convinced Ron to abandon his

beliefs he now lectures on every aspect

of fundamentalism including the

fundamentalist version of science almost

to a person these fundamentalist profess

to love science

they love sight back in the 1920s at the

time of the Scopes trial here

the anti evolutionist argued against

evolution on the grounds that it didn't

deserve the good name of science it was

too speculative there wasn't enough

evidence and science was something

wonderful in the 1970s American

fundamentalists came up with their own

version of science scientific

creationism creationists based their

core principles not on observation

experiment but on the Bible the Creation

Museum in Kentucky was set up in 2007 to

give Christians a history of the natural

world that fits with a literal

interpretation of the Bible amazing to

think really about one in 500 Americans

have already been to see this exhibition

even in its first year could have a lot

of influence on opinion the Lord God

said

the Bible states that God created the

universe and all life on Earth in six

days

so dinosaurs and the Garden of Eden

scary if you take the Old Testament

literally dinosaurs and humans must have

lived at the same time it's amazing

really and we've got we've got human

beings

fully clothed collecting carrots with

the friendly dinosaurs in the background

and it's a nice kind of Disneyland scene

but it really totally contradicts the

the fossil record one of the museum's

resident scientists Jason Lisle agreed

to talk to me

I was curious to know how he reconciles

his faith in the biblical account of

creation with contradictory scientific

evidence this beautiful display has lots

of dinosaur figures in it and a lot of

the implication of the creation story is

that dinosaurs and human beings

coexisted yes on the earth that's right

I don't know of any evidence for that

and know of a great deal of evidence

against it so why do you believe well

ultimately it's because God has told us

in his word that God he made all of the

land animals dinosaurs rule and animals

cuz they walk on our legs they made on

they were made on the sixth day the same

day as Adam so they definitely lived at

the same but you're a scientist yes I am

you're an astrophysicist yes and you say

you that's your position because you you

believe it because you read it

what about experiments what about

evidence well I would say that you know

I believe in experimentation in fact I

would expect that that would be possible

because God upholds the universe in the

consistent logical way and so I would

expect that science would be possible

because of my faith I'm what if

experimentation and observation yielded

evidence that appear to can contradict

the statements in the scriptures well

that can always happen but since so you

know our mind isn't perfect and since

our observations aren't always perfect

if we find some experiment that seems to

on the surface disagree with the Word of

God we go with the Word of God if you're

saying that when science contradicts the

scripture is the scripture that you have

to turn to

what's really correct then why bother

with science well the Bible tells us

that we need to care for the earth God

gave us responsibility for this earth in

order to do that we have to know some

things about it and therefore I think

that the mandate for doing science is

scriptural and so I might I might

challenge my non-christian colleagues

and say what is your basis for doing

science I have a reason to do it I have

a reason to expect that it that it can

yield reliable results because I can

tell you why I do science because I want

to find out how things work

I want to reveal the the beauty of the

natural world fair enough fair enough

but you know as a Christian I would say

the reason I can trust that the methods

of science for the most part are

reliable is because God has made my mind

God has made the universe I would expect

those two things would go well together

acts a is a pretty weird place really

what I found really weird though was

that Jason who's an established

scientist that's undeniable can hold

such extreme views I mean he seemed to

be saying that science is fine as long

as it generates results and findings

that fit the views of the church and

when it doesn't they simply can't be

right can they because they contradict

faith I really wonder whether that

reveals a fundamental contradiction

between Christianity religion and

science it needn't necessarily be that

way but it is a real difficulty I mean

what is the point of doing science if

it's only right when it agrees with the

Bible today only a minority of

Christians take everything in the Old

Testament as the literal truth

but for the New Testament it's a

different story when it comes to the

life of Jesus Christ all bets are off

that was a unique moment in human

history

thanks to the Scientific Revolution

most Christians now accept that much of

the old testament is metaphorical but

science has had little impact on

Christian attitudes to the new test when

it comes to the life of Jesus Christ all

bets are off that was a unique moment in

human history where God is inserted into

his creation and we can't expect that to

ever occur again but you are stating

this as an assertion you as a scientist

you have no evidence I have no evidence

and I suspect you have a good reason to

believe that there will never be

evidence to disprove what you're saying

until we invent nice things it's easy to

make those kinds of assertions until we

may invent time machine so it's an

assertion based on faith but it's also

based on the evidence we have the

recorded evidence of the people at the

time which you have dismissed as the

evidence for all the other things that

the churches have changed its views on

like creation in six days but the church

never taught this as central to its

faith this is not a core belief of the

church this is not something that's in

the Creed that's different from the life

and death and resurrection of Jesus

Christ

but science has led a few Christians to

question even these fundamental tenets

of Christianity

I was brought up in Anglican and there's

a lot I still like about churches the

hymns contemplation the sense of

community I'm here to meet an Anglican

priest David Patterson who belongs to a

group of Christians called the sea of

faith many of them doubt the divinity of

Jesus Christ and even whether God really

exists so let's just be clear

I mean God didn't make literally make

the universe no and God didn't engineer

the the virgin birth of Jesus and Jesus

perhaps didn't really exist as a person

at all I think he probably did actually

yes yes absolutely I think he did then

kind of just explore that a little more

I mean what what then is God to you um

what I fell in love with what I wanted

to give my life to and its ingredients

were well a lot about the natural world

and a lot about making relationships

with people well I mean I empathize with

all of those things but I've found the

necessity to see God reflected in those

things the existence of life is

extraordinary but for why any more

and is there any more really no there

isn't any more there is actually no

difference between the theists and the

Atheist it's only the terminology that's

different some people have this this

deep understanding of the spiritual

nature of it of reality of everything

and they want to personify it and call

it God or a God or a particular name of

God or something some don't want to do

that David thinks that the Bible was

never meant to be taken literally

all the religious stories are

mythological stories we're asking did it

happen or where did it happen or what

they did it happen is all completely

irrelevant it's actually all about this

being a story that helps you to

understand what life is all about so

according to David all those fundamental

tenets of Christianity virgin birth the

resurrection life after death didn't

happen at all it seems to me that

David's version of Christianity is

virtually atheism science provides the

facts about the world religion gives us

the music and the pictures and tells us

stories about human nature

for me it's science not religion that

provides our best hope of understanding

the workings of our universe professor

Albert de Rock has dedicated his life to

exploring the scientific equivalent of

Genesis the Big Bang

Albert practices in this nondescript

early 21st century Cathedral to science

beneath its foundations lies a crypt

containing the most elaborate scientific

instrument ever constructed the project

cost over eight billion dollars and uses

enough electricity to power a small city

we're actually now handed meters

underground

and in the main hall of the experiment

and this is it this is CMS

how extraordinary inside this particle

accelerator particles raced through a

circular tunnel 27 kilometers long close

to the speed of light and smash together

simulating conditions and millionth of a

second after the Big Bang

one goal is to find evidence for the

Higgs boson which some call the god

particle because it's thought to have

triggered the birth of the units in a

world where there would have been the

Higgs field we wouldn't think this we

wouldn't be there that is why it's like

a god pocket it's like God's giving you

know not everything is equal anymore but

you have diversity and you can create

their first base Albert has faith in

this machine's ability to find the Higgs

boson but if it doesn't another theory

will emerge unlike religion science can

change its views if the evidence demands

it that's the power of science

and do we see anything in the process

that suggests the intervention by an

intelligent being by a garden certainly

from the scientific point of view we

don't know personally I don't believe

that there has to be such an agent at

work but as a scientist as I said I work

only on data and so far that hypothesis

for me is not excluded so I keep it open

but it's not a working hypothesis coming

over the last 400 years Christianity has

been transformed by the power of science

during the Renaissance the first

scientist showed that the evidence of

nature often contradicts the word of the

Bible in the 18th century it was

scientists who are at the forefront of

the Enlightenment making reason not

religious authority for driving force in

human affairs

and Darwin's theory of evolution has

divided Christians on how to reconcile

science with their faith I believe that

science will increasingly make religion

redundant and will eventually provide us

with an understanding not only of

creation but also of ourselves

I think that the historical record shows

that the power of science to explain

what was previously mysterious is

enormous personally I think that science

will one day give us not just a very

satisfactory description of our physical

world of how we came to be here but even

of how it is that our brains give us

this need for religious belief if that

happens when that happens what will be

left for Christianity

you