Christian Views on Science - Devolved or Devolved

My most recent "Great Course" is "Science and Religion." It examines the relationship between science and Christianity over the centuries, and while I'm not done with the course yet, there is already a remarkable point to be made. To make it, I'm going to teach us all a word: devolve. [Since I can't count on everyone to click the link, and since it will really help to have the definition close at hand, I will copy it here.]

Main Entry:

de·volve

Function:

verb

transitive verb: to pass on (as responsibility, rights, or powers) from one person or entity to another <devolving to western Europe full responsibility for its own defense — Christopher Lane>

intransitive verb 1 a: to pass by transmission or succession devolved on a distant cousin> b: to fall or be passed usually as a responsibility or obligation devolved increasingly upon women — Barbara Ehrenreich>2: to come by or as if by flowing down devolve from his belief in basic American rights — Frank Deford>3: to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution devolves into chaos — Johns Hopkins Magazine>

OK, so now that we have the definitions, let's make the point.


One of the great fathers of Christianity is St. Augustine. Augustine through his life, work, study and writings was very concerned with the relationship between reason and faith, and hence "science" and "religion" as we describe them today. To greatly simplify, it was Augustine's belief that reason and faith both lead to a description of a single unified truth. And, while "science" is sometimes hard to interpret, scripture is even harder. When scripture and "science" seem to conflict, it is because we haven't found the correct interpretation of the scripture yet.

[This is so much like my own belief system, that I might just have to read some Augustine. But that's beside the point.]

This attitude towards science, though it appears to have been cast aside at certain points in history (see Galileo) has been canon in the Christian church for centuries, and Pope John Paul II reiterated the same themes in the 1990's [Fides et Ratio - Faith and Reason.] In other words, this attitude toward the relationship between theology and science, between faith and reason, between scripture and scientific evidence, devolved (1a) from one generation to another - this is a good thing; knowledge was passed down. Further, when the theological reasoning is examined, Augustine's analysis devolves (2a) from (as a natural result of) Christian faith and the evidence of our senses. This, too, is a good thing -- it makes science consistent with faith, and vice versa.

Yet, for some reason, the Christian Right in the US has taken an attitude towards science which is devolved (3) from the progress made by its forefathers. This is not a good thing. Augustine was fighting a perception that, when science and scripture disagreed, clearly the science must be wrong. He refuted such a belief system, arguing that it makes believers and their faith subject to ridicule, and ultimately harms the cause of spreading the Gospel and bringing souls salvation. Yet this anti-science "fundamentalism" persists, and even seems to be growing today. If it's not growing in number, it is certainly well entrenched in the persistence and volume of its proponents.

I decided to buy this course precisely so I would be able to examine the science/faith relationship, better articulate my own views, and gain a deeper understanding of the history of that relationship. Clearly, just three lectures into the course, I have already begun to get what I wanted.

Now, I must figure out how to use this knowledge.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"devolve." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.

Merriam-Webster Online. 19 May 2009