Oxford professor attempts to define role of religion
Can religion and science coexist peacefully? According to John Lennox, the question is more complex than you mightt think.
At an event hosted by the Cambridge, Mass.-based non-profit Veritas Forum on Thursday, Lennox, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University, lectured on the relationship between science and religion to a full house in the Swearingen Engineering Center. In addition to being a fellow in mathematics and the philosophy of science, Lennox is also a pastoral advisor at Green Templeton College at Oxford.
Stressing that science is not the only way to truth, Lennox gave historical background on the subject and mentioned important people involved in the debate.
“It’s not science versus God or versus atheism,” Lennox said. “It’s that there are two world views, and there are scientists holding onto each of them.”
The two main theories he discussed were the theory of theism, which is the belief that at least one deity exists, and atheism, which rejects the belief in deities.
“I’m not remotely ashamed of being a scientist and a Christian, because Christianity gave me my subject,” Lennox said.
Lennox also spoke about the connections between scientists, philosophers and historians and how different their views and opinions on the topic can be.
Detailing the “God of the gaps” from ancient Greek times, Lennox said many gods then were created to explain what people couldn’t. For example, he said, there used to be a Greek god of thunder and lightning, but science has now shown where thunder and lightning come from and how they are created.
“The idea is that the more science you do, the more gaps are filled, so in the end, there is no room for God at all,” Lennox said. “If you believe in the ‘God of gaps,’ then you have to choose between God and science, because that’s the way you define God.”
In addition, Lennox spoke about reduction and how many modern-day philosophers reduce everything to science and math. He argued that ultimately everything can be explained without the reduction of physics and chemistry and that written symbols and words can not be explained using science; instead, they were created by the mind.