Article July 5, 1993 Issue

"What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."—Jesus

Original in Portuguese

"Science versus religion" by Ivan Amaral Guerrini—(Brazil), July 17, 1992

O Estado de Sāo Paulo

"What would be the link between science and religion, if indeed one exists? For some time I have been writing articles on this subject and I believe people have started looking at me askance. However, in other parts of the world personal and group efforts have been made to establish such a link.

"... in the December 1991 issue of the American Journal of Physics, Professor of Philosophy E. E. Selk reviews a book by I. G. Barbour, titled Religion in an Age of Science. According to Selk, one of the questions Barbour asks in his book, and which he tries to investigate and answer, is: what vision of God is consistent with the current scientific understanding of the world? Also, what should be the place of religion in a scientific world? ...

"Barbour [proposes] that religion utilize criteria similar to those used by the scientific method when it analyzes phenomena that, in principle, only have to do with religion. He believes that science and religion can be integrated by means of a metaphysical process which emphasizes God's plan in action in the world through a continuous and creative participation. For Barbour, who analyzed several controversial scientific subjects in his book, the intelligent and mature Christian must build an extremely consistent vision of the world in which science and religion are allies, not enemies, nor indifferent to each other. The same reasoning would hold true for non-Christian religions. This position is, at the very least, interesting and promising, in the sense that it would encourage a positive relationship between the scientific and religious communities. ...

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