Topic > Evolutionary Theory According to Science and Religion

Charles Darwin was a scientist and naturalist, primarily recognized as the first and most influential proponent of evolutionary theory through natural selection. After the publication of his book in 1859, “The Origin of Species,” people began to identify the foundations of humanity very differently. However, even as scientific approval of his theory was about to become worldwide, there were countless opposition groups, especially among religious believers. (Darwin, 2008)According to Darwin, the relationship between science and religion is commonly represented as an irreconcilable issue where one party claims something, the other cannot accept; the inconsistencies between the two lead them to deny each other. The popular view of what constitutes science, held by most scientists, including Darwin himself, was that science was the methodical study of the organization and conduct of the natural and material world through experimental investigation and empirical observation . While religion was primarily concerned with spiritual, immaterial substance that could not be empirically verified and therefore could not amount to knowledge in the same way as science; he recognized religion as a simple social construction that evolved over time. Consequently, he considered those who believe in religion rather than science ignorant, as clearly stated in his book “The Descent of Man” (1871), where he observed that: “Ignorance breeds confidence more often than knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, to affirm with such certainty that this or that problem will never be solved by science”. (Darwin, 2010) In this case, it is evident that... half of the document... downright stupid, otherwise the science of Darwinism is fully compatible with conventional religious beliefs - and equally compatible with atheism, thus proving that the two great realms of the factuality of nature and the source of human morality do not overlap strongly.” (Gould, 1992) This means that there is always room for both scientists and religious thinkers to pursue religion and science harmoniously. Despite the numerous ethical and moral views that oppose science, in fact scientific assumptions that obtain empirical verification to support hypotheses always hold true over religious beliefs by most of the world. Therefore, science will likely continue to govern our understanding of the world and so religious believers and secular thinkers are expected to discover ways to incorporate their views into a coherent narrative of how we as humans came to be..