Unit 3: Do you think there is a conflict between science and religion?

Let’s consider one story that is often given as an example of conflict between science and religion

Galileo Galilei Born in Pisa, Italy a Christian… and an early scientist. He enjoyed maths, experimenting with falling objects and observing planets.

Galileo Galilei was placed under house arrest because he published his ideas about how the planets moved, even though he had promised to stop writing.

Common view Science and religion are in conflict with each other. Ouch!

What did Galileo do wrong? General belief at the time was that the earth was fixed and the sun went around it. Earth Sun

What did Galileo do wrong? By watching Jupiter and its moons with his newly built telescope, Galileo proposed that the earth went around the sun. Earth Sun

What did Galileo do wrong? This new theory challenged church teaching. Some passages in the Bible seem to suggest that the earth doesn’t move. ‘the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.’ ‘[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.’ ‘the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.’

What did Galileo do wrong? …but Galileo didn’t have enough evidence to prove his point. So the church told him to shut up until he did… …but Galileo wouldn’t… The church wouldn’t reinterpret passages from the Bible without strong evidence…

What did Galileo do wrong? Instead he wrote ‘The Dialogues’, a book that continued to present his ideas, …so the church placed him under house arrest. but this time he also included a simple-minded character called Simplicio who used words originally written by the Pope…

What was he locked up for? Getting his science wrong? Breaking an order to stop talking about the new ideas of way planets move? Being an Italian? Speaking out when he hadn’t got all the data he needed to prove his point? Defending a view that the church said was contrary to scripture?

Thomas Huxley versus Samuel Wilberforce 1860 – a debate at Oxford

The popular view An ignorant Bishop was put in his place by a knowledgeable scientist. However… the reality was more complex.

Wilberforce was keen to defend the Bible and his Christian understanding of the world. But he didn’t feel that he had been presented with compelling evidence. How much evidence do you need before you change your mind?

Huxley wanted to replace what he saw as superstitious religion with a new age of science. He was convinced that even without all the evidence, he had seen a wonderful idea. He did all he could to argue the case.

Oxford - 30 June 1860 More than 700 people came. The Bishop criticised the evidence for Darwin’s theory. Huxley was not particularly good at countering the Bishop’s points. Others in the audience did a better job of arguing for gradual change of species. Most people who came supported the Bishop.

Oxford - 30 June 1860 Conclusion It was an important debate in the history of evolution. But it was not one that at the time was seen as a case of Church versus Science. It was more a case of science under scrutiny.

Instructions for hot-seating activity

You will need to: Work in groups of 4 Choose a historical figure each and read your role cards Put one person in the hot-seat at a time The rest of the group ask questions about what happened, how you acted and what your motives were You must answer in role Nominate one person to take notes Take turns until everyone has had a turn in the hot- seat Your task is to explore the debates between pairs of historic figures.

Replay End