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Religion and Science in America
Author(s) -
Zeller Benjamin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2011.00265.x
Subject(s) - fundamentalism , natural science , variety (cybernetics) , history of science , einstein , religious studies , philosophy of science , epistemology , sociology , environmental ethics , social science , political science , philosophy , politics , law , mathematics , statistics , mathematical physics
Many people assume that the history of religion and science in America is one of conflict. However, this is not the case. While an examination of the relationship between religion and science in America shows a variety of ways that they have related, there are few cases of outright conflict. This article takes a historical approach to the topic of religion and science in America. It looks to how both Native Americans and colonial‐era Americans fused religion and science into a single system, the reasons that this approach began to falter during the early republic and antebellum era, and the twentieth‐century repercussions. It treats the history of natural theology, natural philosophy, Baconian science, fundamentalism, and the post‐Einstein “new physics” of relativity and quantum science. Special attention is paid the famous Scopes Trial, as well as the contemporary Intelligent Design movement.