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Religion In The Age Of Enlightenment

604 Words3 Pages

The Age of Enlightenment brought to the Western society a new vision of the world in which states became secular and Science became the pillar of knowledge. Despite these changes, Religion and Science still fight for the throne in today’s age. One of the most occurring debates revolves around the idea of God, its interference in the Universe and its authority in scientific realms.
Before stating my thesis, it is important to clarify what is understood by Religion and Science. All religions are organized systems of beliefs that serve a specific agenda and relies on moral and spiritual guidance through rituals, devotion and faith. Furthermore, this system oftentimes relies on the intervention of a deity to answer some difficult existential questions. In this sense, religion focuses on what is believed, instead of what is empirically true.
Science, on the other hand, focuses on facts and everything that can be tested, using the scientific method of observation, hypothesis and experiment. A theory is only worth its name when it can be repeatedly tested and verified. Thus, scientists’ main concern is testable …show more content…

Religion implies an idea of God but that same idea does not imply a religion in return. In other words, all religions are based on the idea of a deity, but the idea itself does not depend on a systematic organization. This is the ontological part of the debate: when religion evokes a deity to answer empirical problems, it uses the wrong tools for the right questions. For example, religions frequently depend on sacred scriptures to guide their faith. However, these scriptures generate a wide range of interpretations, which means that the original message of the text is long-lost. It is safe to assume that religion should not use ontological arguments to explain natural phenomena. That being the case, one may say that the spiritual cannot answer for the physical with

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