What is the essential relationship between religion and science?

Science is a knowledge system that reflects objective laws, scientific knowledge germinated in the early social practice of human beings, and ancient civilization has included many factors for the development of modern science. Due to the historical limitations of human social practice and understanding, ancient scientific knowledge has been attached to the natural philosophical system that has not yet gotten rid of imagination and speculation in the way of thinking for a long historical period, and has even been parasitic in religious mythology. In the Middle Ages, science became a branch of theology.

The historical mixed state of science and religion gradually disintegrated with the development of human social practice and understanding, and science differentiated from the natural philosophical system and religious mythology and became an empirical science. In 1543, Copernicus's book The Motions of the Heavenly Bodies was published, which was the first proclamation of a complete break between the worldview of modern science and religion. Since then, natural science has begun to emancipate itself from religious theology, the development of science has made great strides, and science and religion have embarked on the road of open conflict.

Science and religion are essentially opposites. Science does not recognize any supernatural forces, and opposes the use of supernatural causes and forces to prove any natural phenomenon and its development. Religion, by its very nature, is the worship of supernatural forces, the belief that supernatural gods and gods dominate the world.

The nature of religion determines that it denies the inevitability and laws of objective existence. The affirmation and denial of supernatural forces determine that the opposition between religion and science is irreconcilable. In terms of methods of understanding, religion and science are also fundamentally different.

The natural sciences start from the various forms of reality and motion of matter, to understand the various connections of things, and to prove them empirically as much as possible. The basic method by which religions recognize the object of their belief is bereavement, relying on supra-experience, super-rational revelation or mystical intuition. Religion and science are also very different in terms of their role in society.

The development of science and technology has created huge social productive forces, thus promoting the development of society. Marxism regards science as a revolutionary force in the highest sense. Although religion has also played a special role in promoting social development through religious movements under specific historical conditions, generally speaking, religion is a conservative factor in historical development.

Because religion tends to regard the existing social system as the embodiment of divine will, as something sacrosanct.

Generally speaking, science + faith = religion and culture. But some religious sciences have little to offer. For example, Confucianism.

Science and religion are broadly linked, and at the same time, they are mutually restrictive and mutually supportive.

Science is based on facts, constantly seeking verification and self-refuting in order to find the origin of events.

Religion is based on doctrine, constantly looking for evidence in the real world that conforms to the doctrine, and searching for reasonable explanations for the parts that do not conform to it.

The two sides can adhere to their respective concepts and respect each other, "harmony but difference", and unite and make their own contributions to the common cause of building a harmonious society and seeking people's happiness.

From the perspective of the historical development of human society and multicultural dialogue, religion is a social consciousness different from science and has a practical basis for its long-term existence. Acknowledging the differences between the two is a prerequisite for dialogue between the two.

Religion plays different roles in different socio-historical conditions.

1. Religion usually originates from the lower strata of the masses and is a "way out" for them to get rid of suffering, resist domination, and seek spiritual sustenance, but later it gradually evolved into a tool used by the ruling class to incite religious fanaticism, enslave the lower strata of the masses, and deify the ruling regime.

2. Religion initially contained a large number of scientific, cultural, artistic and other contents, and played a huge role in promoting its development and dissemination.

However, with the further development of science, religion's ability to accommodate science has become worse and worse, the false shell of religion has increasingly exposed its fatal weakness, and religion has gradually degenerated into a destructive force in the development of science and technology.

3. Religion often plays an irreplaceable role in unifying social will, enhancing social cohesion, coordinating social relations, reducing social internal friction, and stabilizing social order.

The social role of science and technology:

1. Science and technology are the main driving force for today's economic and social development.

2. The scientific and technological revolution has had a profound impact on the mode of production.

3. The development of science and technology promotes the transformation of labor materials.

4. Science and technology promote the transformation of labor objects.

5. The development of science and technology promotes the improvement of the scientific and cultural quality of workers.

Religion can be said to be man's initial thinking about the world, the world has too many unknowns and uncontrollable for man, and finally man replaces all his thinking with one thing, after all, there is no instrument at that time, and when we want to 'prove', we often can't get the answer. We can even sometimes think of religion as a combination of science and morality.

At this point, we may be able to come back to 'science'Science is logical, empirical, and well-founded. It can accept assumptions, but it does not mean that it can 'talk nonsense' without substantiation, at least there must be some basis.

Its essence is also the nature of the universe, but it also has usability, to put it bluntly, most of it has a purpose, at least it is responsible for its investors.

Philosophy is often somewhere in between. As Mr. Cai Yuanpei said: beauty can replace religion. Beauty here is aesthetics, a branch of Western philosophy.

Or, to put it another way, 'truth' may be the God of philosophy, but we can challenge him.

On the basis of science, philosophy has added a lot of propositions that belong to human beings, such as life and society. Compared with the indirectness of science to life, it has a more direct effect on human life, and at the same time, it also has a negative effect on science and other fields.