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The Role of Science and Faith in the Human Mission. Adel Sharif University of Surrey a.sharif@surrey.ac.uk. The Millennium Development Goals. 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2: Achieve universal primary education 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
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The Role of Science and Faith in the Human Mission Adel Sharif University of Surrey a.sharif@surrey.ac.uk
The Millennium Development Goals • 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • 2: Achieve universal primary education • 3: Promote gender equality and empower women • 4: Reduce child mortality • 5: Improve maternal health • 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases • 7: Ensure environmental sustainability • 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
The Ages of Human Development Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction
Is there any human mission ? • Scientists have not attempted to answer this question, as they thought it is of a philosophical nature. • Philosophy and religion, are interested in such a subject.
Prophecy & Inspiration • Knowledge of the future (usually said to be obtained from a divine source) • A prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration. • Bible prophecy, or "biblical prophecy" refers to prophecies in the Bible, to passages in the Bible which predict future events, which are believed • Islamic Prophecy is “Inspiration”
Knowledge & Science • Knowledge, information, learning, erudition, lore, scholarship • Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study. • “Science is organized knowledge’’ (Herbert Spencer). • Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. • Is knowledge possessed only by humans and or God? • Do we make/create or only acquire/discover knowledge?
Scientific Knowledge • Scientific method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. • Science, and the nature of scientific knowledge have also become the subject of Philosophy. As science itself has developed, knowledge has developed a broader usage which has been developing within biology/psychology— as meta-epistemology, or genetic epistemology.
Religious Meaning of Knowledge • In Christianity (Catholicism and Anglicanism) knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. • Hindu Scriptures present two kinds of knowledge, secondhand: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. and knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself. • In Islam, knowledge (Arabic: علم, I’lm) is given great significance. "The All-Knowing" (al-’Alīm). The Qur'an asserts that knowledge comes from God (2:239). Islamic scholars, theologians and jurists are often given the title alim, meaning "knowledgeable".
Science & Belief • Belief is a subjective personal basis for individual behavior, while • Truth is an objective state independent of the individual. • Philosophy has traditionally defined knowledge as justified true belief • The relationship between belief and knowledge is that a belief is knowledge if the belief is true. • A false belief is not considered to be knowledge, even if it is sincere. • ‘’Science is organized knowledge’’ (Herbert Spencer). • A True Belief, therefore, is Science
Science & Religion • Science is a system where beliefs are derived from objectivemethodologies. • Religion is a system of beliefs based on faith. • If the beliefs are true; then science and religion are compatible. • “Religion is submission to God and service to His creation’’ Prophet Mohammed [AD 570 –632] • Science is True Beliefs (submission) • Technology provides tools to serve mankind. • Science & Technology is therefore compatible with religion
Miracles, Discoveries & Inventions • Miracle: an event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs; an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. • an extraordinary event which follows natural laws and principles that we have not discovered yet. (.e.g. prophecies) • Discovery:A making known; revelation; disclosure; Finding out or ascertaining something previously unknown or unrecognized. It is a new knowledge. • Invention:A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation. It is an incremental development of known knowledge.
The relationship between science & religion • Conflict: when either discipline threatens to take over the legitimate concerns of the other. • e.g., J. W. Draper and A. D. White's conflict thesis. • Independence treating each as quite separate realms of enquiry. • e.g., S. J. Gould's Non-Overlapping Magisteria. • Dialogue suggesting that each field has things to say to each other about phenomena in which their interests overlap. • e.g., W. G. Pollard's studies in Physicist and Christian: A dialogue between the communities • Integration: aiming to unify both fields into a single discourse. • e.g., P. T. de Chardin's Omega point and Ian Barbour's sympathy towards process philosophy/process theology
The Birth of Civilisation 3500 B.C. The first cities are built in Mesopotamia. (Uruk and Ur on the banks of Euphrates, Iraq.) Mentioned in the Bible (as Ur of the Chaldees) is the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham (2000 B.C.). The first government. The first writing. The first religious temple center. The first people with manners and taste.
Arabic – Islamic civilization Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion originated with the teachings of prophet Mohammed (AD 570 –632). The faith in Islam led to many great consequences in science and social life in golden age (750–1100).
BAYT AL-HIKMA-Center for Study and Research [in Baghdad (Gift of God) in the early ninth century] Baghdad at that time was at cultural crossroads, and, under the patronage of the Abbasid caliphs, the so-called House of Wisdom at Baghdad, produced a Golden Age of Arabic science and mathematics. In Baghdad, scholars encountered and built upon the ideas of ancient Greek and Indian mathematicians
Faith’s Inspired Discoveries & Inventions • Algebra: by Al'Khwarizmi (780-850) theIslamic mathematician • adopted Arab-Hindu numerals and zero • The word algorithm derives from his name. • The complex laws of inheritance in Islam • The constant need to find the direction of Ka’ba in Mecca, made algebra, like geometry a tool worth developing
Al-KhawarzmiMain worksMaths, Astronomy, Astrology, Geography and History A page from Algebra
Chemistry: by Jaber Ibn Hayyan, ( c. 721- c. 815) • a prominent polymath: a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, geologist, philosopher, physicist, and pharmacist and physician. • He is considered by many to be the "father of chemistry” • Distillation, and nitric acids, and crystallisation – that have become the foundation of today's chemistry and chemical engineering. • In response to Imam Jafar al-Sadik’s wishes, • Jaber invented a kind of paper that resisted fire, and an ink that could be read at night. • He invented an additive which, when applied to an iron surface, inhibited rust and when applied to a textile, would make it water repellent
Optics: Ibn al Haytham (965-c. 1040) – (Alhazen) • The First Scientist to test hypotheses with verifiable experiments, developing the scientific method. • In his massive study of light and vision, Kitâb al-Manâzir (Book of Optics ), he devised the world's first camera obscura. • To discover the truth about nature, Ibn a-Haitham reasoned, one had to eliminate human opinion and allow the universe to speak for itself through physical experiments.
Western Civilisation • Christianity is amonotheistic Abrahamic religionbased on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament • In the west and on 27 February 380, Emperor Theodosius I enacted a law establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. • From at least the 4th century, Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of western civilization.
Christianity inspired, philosophy, art and science in the west.
Great Scientists • Albert Einstein: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 • "In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.“ • "I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist’’. • "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.“ • "God does not play dice with the universe." • “When the answer is simple, the provider is God’’
Sir Isaac Newton FRS (1643-1727)English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian • One of the most influential men in human history • Newton wrote more on religion than he did on natural science. • "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done.“ He saw evidence of design in the system of the world: • "Such a wonderful uniformity in the planetary system must be allowed the effect of choice". But Newton insisted that divine intervention would eventually be required to reform the system, due to the slow growth of instabilities”.
The Human Mission Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction
The mission Let us not forget that human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth. What humanity owes to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the enquiring and constructive mind. What these blessed men have given us we must guard and try to keep alive with all our strength if humanity is not to lose its dignity, the security of its existence, and its joy in living. (Albert Einstein)
Concluding words • There is no conflict between faith and science • 'Science cannot provide all the answers' • Our current understanding of both science and religion are not complete, i.e. we do not have the ultimate truth on both. Hence, the learning journey should go on.. • It is the faith inspired science that would allow us to enhance our understanding of both to advance the human mission. • Human mission will reach its goal in achieving the Sustainable Age.
It is the inspiration of my faith and the events in my home country Iraq as well as the opportunity given to me in my host country, the UK, that influenced and allowed me to apply the knowledge I acquired, and to focus my research on water and energy for the benefit of society and the wellbeing of mankind.
