On the conflict myth

Alister McGrath finds the relationship between science and faith rich and exciting.

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Summary

Alister McGrath finds the relationship between science and faith rich and exciting.

Transcript

In academic circles, this so-called conflict between science and faith is simply dismissed as a myth. It’s something that was invented in the 1870s, and it’s still repeated, I have to say largely by the media, who just do not know their scholarship and even if they did I’m not really sure they’re interested in presenting these findings. 

So I think it’s very important we realise that scholarship has simply moved away from this idea of some conflict between science and faith. There is science, there’s faith, and actually each different generation has its own understanding of what science is, what religion is. So it’s a very complicated picture. That’s why it’s so rich and exciting, and I think we just need to set these stereotypes to one side and look at these things properly.