In the second half of the twentieth century, science-religion dialogues became a possibility in the West, and are slowly spreading elsewhere also. In 1953, the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) was established [13]. Zygon, a journal devoted to scholarly discussions on science and religion, was initiated at about the same time…
What is beyond question is that ever since the Copernican revolution there have been confrontations between scientific theories and traditional Christian religious worldviews. Galileo’s trial by the Roman Catholic Church is only the most famous of them all. Martin Luther’s opposition to Copernicus is not as well publicized. Speaking about the author of the Copernican…
Introduction Most serious scientists spend the good part of their waking hours amidst papers and preprints, equations and equipments, talking about graphs and data, arguing about ideas and theories, and writing grant proposals. But if they browse in bookstores or glance in the book review sections of journals, they cannot escape a fascinating phenomenon in…
Both science and religion spring from the same inner urge to understand and unravel the mystery of the existence of a world with all its splendor, and of a mind that reflects, a heart that feels, and a spirit that experiences it all. Science and religion once went hand in hand: The same people who…
Reductionism as Philosophy Reductionism is a philosophical tenet which states that by analyzing a system to its ultimate component parts, we will be able to unravel it at deeper and deeper levels. It is the process of reducing any feature of the perceived world to its final elements with the hope of exposing all the…
When one considers the variety of motions in the world one might wonder: what causes such variety? Why do some bodies remain unchanging in motion, altering neither speed nor direction, while others undergo changes now and again? The box can be moved by giving it a push, and the cart by pulling it. We affect…
“Motion, motion, everywhere! Now here, now there, now to, now fro, Now up, now down, the world goeth so, And ever hath done and ever shall.” – John Gower The most ubiquitous aspect of perceived reality is movement. The tree branch is gently heaving at the soft touch of the breeze, the cat is running…
Matter is the most striking feature of perceived reality. It is all around us and within us too. Bereft of it the world would be insubstantial nothingness: a metaphysical thought with no physical correspondence. We see things, touch things, taste things, hear and smell things: all these make up much of perceived reality. Matter requires…
Whether by cultural indoctrination, genetic coding, evolutionary quirk, emergent property of the brain, divine grace, or whatever, most of us tend to express our gratitude when we receive something good and pleasant that we did not ask for, or which, we feel, need not have been given to us. Every day that we rise from…
We interact with the world on several planes and in different modes: the psychological, the spiritual, the emotional, the rational, and the sensual. These are not fully separable aspects of our being, and we all of us have a minimum of each of these potentials. During life’s experiences, depending on the context, one or more…