Religion in the light of science

A science teacher once asked students in a graduate level course, “what is science?”

There were 15 students in the class. How many different responses do you think he got? Fifteen.

Science isn’t readily defined and is often misunderstood. However, it is not simply a collection of facts.

So what is science? The first question we need to ask is whose view of science are we talking about — Western science, Eastern science, Native American science?

We are all influenced by different perceptions of reality. These are all “ways of knowing”. That’s what science is; a collection of ways of knowing. Or, as the founder of the Baha’i faith, Baha’u’ llah said: “science is the use of intelligence and reason to determine the verity of questions and propositions.”

One way we determine verity is by accepting a statement as true when we have rendered it considerably more acceptable than its negation.

This isn’t always easily done. For example: if you wish to determine the truth of a proposition in the field of biology, you must first train as a biologist to establish a frame of reference with which you can assume the point of view required to understand biological phenomena.

To complicate matters, that point of view changes as new biological information is discovered. If a radically different phenomenon is discovered, and deemed considerably more acceptable than its negation, then a paradigm shift occurs. A paradigm shift is a major change in the system of beliefs in a particular field. These paradigm shifts are rare. But when they occur they change the way science perceives reality. Therefore, science is relative in that the information it finds acceptable changes through time.

For example, Albert Einstein initiated a paradigm shift from the mechanistic Newtonian view of physics. Einstein’s physics was in turn was shifted with quantum physics. Facts change, beliefs change, science changes.

Religion is also relative. It is subject to the influence of new information. This information is obtained as the result of periodic phenomena.

If we look around we see many examples of periodic phenomena. The rotation of earth on its axis; annual bird migrations. Some of these phenomena have regular and short periods, some are long-term. Baha’is believe in periodic phenomena which we call revelation; that manifestations are sent from God to educate and guide humanity. This period between revelations is very long.

These periodic manifestations build upon each other just as our teachers built on previous knowledge to educate us in school. The purpose of manifestations is to secure the development, organization and progress of human society. They are educators — teachers. A look around the world in its current condition is sufficient proof of the need for a universal educator.

Abraham, against all odds, was able to establish the principle of the oneness of God in a civilization that believed in many gods.

Moses led the Israelites out of slavery and to the Promised Land where his followers established the highest degree of civilization possible then.

Jesus brought the principle of universal peace to humanity. Those who followed his teachings prospered spiritually.

Muhammad was born into a place where people had become savage and barbaric. He succeeded in uniting the warring tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, establishing peace and reaffirmed the teachings of Moses and Christ. Under His guidance the Arab civilization advanced tremendously in the arts and sciences while European society stagnated. Greek literature, art and science were preserved under Islam and reintroduced to the West later.

Baha’ u’llah, the latest in a long line of these manifestations, appeared in Persia in the middle of the last century to establish the principles of world unity. We can look at these periodic manifestations from God and attempt to determine their veracity in the light of intelligence and reason, using similar methods that we use to evaluate scientific phenomena.

How do we know these manifestations are special; were sent by our creator to advance our civilization? If we examine available historical records we find that they possess certain common characteristics, that among them are these:

•Each of these educators was born in a corrupt and immoral society, and yet led a pure and exemplary life.

•Each possessed vastly superior and innate knowledge, i.e. not obtained through formal education. Their intellectual ability amazed scholars of the time. Observations they made of the physical world, of philosophy, and the cure for social problems were accurate and revealing.

•Each had a power that uplifted the souls of humanity.

•Art, literature and science advanced substantially upon their arrival. If we look at the advance of civilizations we can actually plot peaks that correspond to the influence of these educators.

•Each made predictions which came true, among which was that each would return in the spirit in another form.

These and other characteristics are so overwhelmingly indicative of a superior being as to fit our criterion. They can be tested. That is, the truth of their revelation is considerably more acceptable than its negation. We Baha’is believe that these manifestations were consecutive messengers advancing society one step at a time.

Abdu’l-Baha, son of Baha’u’llah, explains:

“...it is plain and evident that man needs an educator, and this educator must be unquestionably and indubitably perfect in all respects and distinguished above all men…he must educate intelligence and thought in such a way that they may attain complete development, so that knowledge and science may increase, and the reality of things, the mysteries of beings and the properties of existence may be discovered: that, day by day, instructions, inventions and institutions may be improved; and from things perceptible to the senses conclusions as to intellectual things may be deduced.”

We invite everyone to join us in this exploration of the unity of all religions online at Bahai.org.

Michael Kircher is a writer who lives in Palmer. He is the author of “Microfarming at High Latitudes, A Resource for Small-scale, Cold-climate Food Security.”