144 cosmos
bly conflicting or complementary things about the same domain. The claim
that science and religion are about different domains may lead to the conclu-
sion that either or both may be valid or nonvalid, but not contradictory.
Complementarity: The Thesis
In that article I defended the thesis of the complementarity of science and
religion, arguing in favor of the position of Donald MacKay against that of
Hugo Bedau, the latter of whom insisted that the term “complementarity”
should be limited to its original use, namely, that which characterized Bohr’s
solution to the quantum dilemma.^3 Later, in 1992, Sir John Templeton intro-
duced a new kind of publication, entitledWho’s Who in Theology and Science,
with the words:^4
It is hoped that [this] publication will provide a stimulus to commu-
nication between individuals and organizations and between scien-
tific and theological communities generally. Most (but not all) of
those included see science and theology as related, complementary
avenues of truth, and seek in some sense an integration of the ideas
and concepts of these two spheres of research, often recognizing
that the God of Creation is the source of both the natural and the
spiritual.In words that are resonant with the definition of complementarity pre-
sented earlier, Templeton stated what he believes to be the contemporary con-
sensus:^5
For some scientists and theologians, the two [spheres] are seen as
complementary. Yet they are talking about the same things, with
complementary accounts, presenting different aspects of the same
event which in its full nature cannot be described adequately by ei-
ther alone.In October 1999, a conference was held at the Harvard-Smithsonian Cen-
ter for Astrophysics by the new Templeton Commission on the Future of Plan-
etary Cosmology. What was new in such a gathering of scientists was “the
emphasis on extrasolar astronomy, with an eye to its ultimate significance as
a spiritual quest.”^6 It is of special interest that one of the persons attending the
session pointed out^7
that the prestigious British science institutions are beginning to
open up to the deeper significance of scientific discovery, inviting
lectures of “God and Science” at formerly closed institutions such as