Culture | Intellectual history

Are science and religion fated to be adversaries?

No, says Nicholas Spencer in “Magisteria”, an arresting history of their relationship

2H45DAC A portrait of the biologist Charles Darwin who pioneered the study of evolution
Darwin’s childrenImage: Alamy

In the late 19th century two books on science and religion were published within a decade of each other. In “The Creed of Science” William Graham tried to reconcile new scientific ideas with faith. In 1881 Charles Darwin, by then an agnostic, told him: “You have expressed my inward conviction, though far more vividly and clearly than I could have done, that the Universe is not the result of chance.”

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Leaps of faith”

From the March 18th 2023 edition

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