Relationship Between Religion and Science - Perspectives

Perspectives

The kinds of interactions that might arise between science and religion have been classified using the following typology:

1. Conflict, stating the disciplines contradict and are incompatible with each other.
   • For example, John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White's conflict thesis
2. Independence treating each as quite separate realms of enquiry.
   • For example, Stephen Jay Gould's Non-Overlapping Magisteria (NOMA)
3. Dialogue suggesting that each field has things to say to each other about phenomena in which their interests overlap.
   • For example, William G. Pollard's studies in Physicist and Christian: A dialogue between the communities
4. Integration aiming to unify both fields into a single discourse.
   • For example, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's Omega Point and Ian Barbour's sympathy towards process philosophy/process theology.

This typology is similar to ones found in Ian Barbour and John Haught. More typologies that categorize this relationship can be found among the works of other science and religion scholars such as Arthur Peacocke.