New York, USA - Prompted by what he called the increasingly vocal hostility of some religions to science, and some scientists to religion, the president of the United Church of Christ has appealed for both groups to communicate more openly and to recognize, as he put it, that each has something to contribute to the other.
Faith is not a matter of “clinging to ancient misconceptions,” the leader, the Rev. John H. Thomas, wrote Tuesday in a letter to the church’s 1.2 million adherents, in 5,700 American congregations. “Today one of God’s most provocative voices is science.”
But, Mr. Thomas continued, scientific advances produce new technology, “and technology raises new questions of its own, conceptual and moral” that faith can address.
In an interview, he said he wanted to encourage engagement between science and religion “in ways that can enrich each other and challenge each other, particularly at a time when the prevailing public impression is that faith is an enemy of science or vice versa.” He said he was referring to recent books attacking religion but also “the creationist approach, the continuing caricature of the opposition of evolution and religion.”
Mr. Thomas also said he hoped congregations would “acknowledge and honor the scientists who are sitting in their pews.”
“Their vocation ought not to be ignored,” he said.
His letter is posted at ucc.org/not-mutually-exclusive.