The Metaphorical Model: The Bridge between Science and Religion

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

The relationship between science and religion has always been one of the most thought and provoking areas of human knowledge. Science and religion can be seen as mutually supporting. However, they also promote separate paths of thought with profound and seemingly unavoidable, logical incompatibilities, which many consider to be irreconcilable. The pragmatic character of both science and religion presents a neat point in favor of acknowledging their complementary relationship. In this work, both science and religion are defined as pragmatic, explanatory models applied in the coordination of human experiences. With setting the common ground for both scientific and religious studies, a mutually supporting and reinforcing interaction among them may become obvious. The fact that any results of physical measurements are products of an interaction between a measuring device and a measured system is used further to deepen links between scientific and religious views of existence. The fact that implicit assumptions are a necessary precondition of any reasoning is used to propose that faith permeated, questioning qualities are all basal to religious and scientific frames of mind. I argue that comprehending both scientific constructions and religious narratives as analogies, instead of de facto representations, can solve many contemporary problems arising from religious or scientific fundamentalism and intolerance. These conclusions suggest that science and religion are practical tools when represented as sets of metaphoric pointers. When used in the coordination of human experiences, they point to the foundations of love as underlying scientific creativity and religious understanding.

Comments

This article was originally published in Journal for Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science, volume 6, in 2010.

Copyright

Journal for Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science

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