Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This paper makes a case for the religious elements of the modern natural sciences, through reference to science’s religious history, before considering which of these elements might exist in the science of Ecology. The case is made that in centuries past, when scientists were “Natural Philosophers,” Western science was undertaken as a religious activity. The paper argues that, by exploring the phenomenal world, natural philosophers saw themselves as performing the profoundly theological task of understanding the mind of the God that they believed created it. It maintains that, just as one might study a watch to understand the methods of its maker, so the natural philosophers studied the natural world in search of God’s methods. Following these preliminary remarks, this paper asserts that this religious history opens up a line of enquiry into the potential religious elements that might still exist in modern-day science. Furthermore, it asserts that the Christian notion of stewardship and the respect owed to God’s creations is evident in the study of Ecology. This assertion is supported by an argument that maintains that Ecology goes beyond the purely phenomenal observations provided by the other sciences to provide us with imperatives to protect the natural world that we must all watch over. Through this argument, a conclusion is drawn in favour of the existence of the religious notion of stewardship in the modern sciences as exemplified by Ecology.