Science Versus Religion [Hardcover]

Tad S. Clements (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1990

Clements adroitly strips away the comfortable notion that science and religion can forever be conveniently positioned in their own domains - the world of empirical analysis occupying the former, while spiritual concerns hold the attention of the latter. He effectively illustrates the ways in which those who make knowledge claims in the name of religion foist themselves upon science, while they deny reasonable people the right to challenge, evaluate, or assess the truth of these claims through the use of critical intelligence and accepted methods of verification.Clements offers compelling reasons to support the view that the aims of science - logical compatibility and clarity of explanation based upon observable data and experience - are preferable to religion's reliance on tradition, mystery, parable, and revelation. With wit and insight, Clements exposes the many absurdities inherent in biblical accounts of such concepts as heaven and hell, the fall of man, the soul, Christ's resurrection, the Trinity, and Noah's flood. Fervent fundamentalists are confronted with the unsettling fact that a literal reading of the Bible would result in complete nonsense.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879755938
• ISBN-13: 978-0879755935
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,046,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A POLEMICAL BUT INTERESTING DISCUSSION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE, July 2, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Tad Clements is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at SUNY at Brockport. He is also the author of Science and Man: The Philosophy of Scientific Humanism.

He states in the Preface to this 1990 book, "This book seeks to demonstrate, through an interconnected series of comparisons, that none of the reasons offered to deny incompatibility between science and religion is successful.... In addition, it is argued that their subject matters---the questions they address---overlap, and that therefore their epistemic differences create real intellectual and practical conflicts. So, if we hope to satisfy our human yearning to find meaning and purpose in existence, which provides a basis for our ethical precepts and practices, we should make a choice between prescientific frameworks and scientific secular humanism. This work tries unequivocally to show why the latter is the preferred choice."

He nevertheless admits, "Even scientists, who are usually quite rational and critical in their own specialized areas, have often failed to realize the deep-seated incompatibilities between their religious pretensions and their scientific cognitive ones. Scientists have usually remained religiously conservative." (pg. 27)

Some of his assertions are quite unconvincing. For example, he calls Hugh J. Schonfield (author of The Passover Plot: Special 40th Anniversary Edition) a "very prominent authority on the New Testament," whose book presents "a rather plausible case." (pg. 102) He calls Alan Watts (author of books such as Behold the Spirit: A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion and Beyond Theology) "a leading Protestant theologian with highly respected scholarly credentials." (pg. 197)

He is surprisingly pessimistic about scientists: "scientists are not likely to take on the formidable task of shaping the future of the world and, even if they do, the chances of success are far from assured." (pg. 258)