ASPECTS OF THE MODERN DIALOGUE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND ORTHODOXY

Religion / Orthodox Theology & Science - 10 January 2024
 Pelagia Eleftheriadou

When we talk about Science, we usually mean things that we can see, measure and touch. But when we talk about Orthodoxy faith, divinity, then the measure is immeasurable, the image is bright and bathed in light, the word is the beginning and the end of everything

For others, faith is dull and indistinct, while for others it is smooth and clear, it is the way for man to reach fullness, to be free from the phenomena of the world.

The competition between Science and Orthodoxy begins in the 19th century.

It was then, that positivism prevailed and people associated scientific and technological development with the well-being of society. Until then, we saw the great scientists looking for God's plan for the creation of the world. They were trying to explain why and how the world was created, What they didn't understand was reduced  to a divine origin so they could have a title to ‘put’ on it.

In the 20th century this competition heats up, the search for the universe and its operation begins, the theories of things sometimes evolve and reformulate and sometimes depose one another. A race for the scientific community to put everything on paper.

However,  Orthodoxy continues to count believers. Believers who don't ask themselves to put their questions on paper, but use the paper to light candles, write names for religion, read psalms and hymns, glorify the most High.

In order to understand the creation and the image of God, perhaps we should make a parable and apply the ‘human principle’ but with faith in God as a starting point. In this way the observer sees the world that is not understood and not interpreted, things are not understood as material, but as wisdom and providence

There is no doubt that the debate unfolding in the public sphere about Science and Orthodoxy has many levels of reading and strong points of conflict.

Orthodox faith has measures and tools with which we can record and study, but it also has something else, it has faith, it has Christ, it has the word, these are not measurable elements With the stereotypical contrast between the light of science and in the darkness of religion, in the freedom of inquiry and dogma, an idealized picture of science emerges. But we forget that science changes while religion is immutable because God is immutable

It is undeniable that science is constantly evolving and trying to expand its knowledge. There is the impression that Science  has evolved so much that  has the answer to everything. But in reality we know very little. Religion on the other hand is based on the scriptures and beliefs in the Triune God. So since religion, by definition, does not work like science, why should we use the criteria of science to judge religion?

In liberal democracies, for historical, social and philosophical reasons, religion enjoys special protection and respect. Religious consciousness is given special treatment because it is linked to the individual identity, personal dignity and existential anguish of everyone. And if science comes to question the Divine and prevail as an interpretation of the world and the Universe, Theology has to answer that God has let science evolve and of course predicted its existence

Jesus Christ came to preach Eternal Truths to the world and not to get involved in the fickle and fluid political reality of the "globalized" age. Today, the gospel of the Lord is perceived as an individual and internal case, and is studied through the historical-critical, sociological and philological analysis of the sources. The science behind Orthodoxy is hidden and revealed to the believer and set forth in the Scriptures. Depending on the place that Religion has in a society, sources and interpretations are counted and translated.

Accordingly, opinions and their weight are accepted. So Science and Religion are called upon to answer the great question of the creation of the Universe and indeed with the full range of their dynamics. The study of the natural world is done through logic. But God gave the gift of reason as one of  the means to glorify Him. I believe there is no reason to torture ourselves and get into this confrontation. The content of Theology is different from that of Science. Theology talks about the Creation of the World, about God, about the fall, sickness, communion with God, salvation, while Science, as the word itself says, deals with the scientific, with what controls the senses. The problem arises when science is sanctified and Theology is secularized There is no reason for insecurity in the face of scientific achievements. The scientist knows the creations while the seer knows the god and between the created and the uncreated nature there are no similarities.

 It is perhaps God's will that we still do not understand the difference. We are not ready for the connection of soul with matter. At this point I want to submit the reflection, God foresaw and supported science and research so that man can understand and recognize His creation, scientists putting everything in rules that have a specific explanation and sequence do not find a place in inexplicable. So it is inexplicable or maybe science has not yet asked the right question and therefore does not have the answer it recognizes. If we assume that the explanation of the world is read through the prism of the science we know so far and discover every day, maybe we just haven't been in a position to see the answers because we are not yet at that level of evolution and I will go ahead and say: maybe the “Day of Reckoning” will be present when we are scientifically advanced enough to be able to see it!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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