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Introduction: Rethinking

Science and Religion

James D. Proctor

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
—Albert Einstein

Prolegomenon: “Science”? “Religion”?

Is science without religion lame, and religion without science blind?
Einstein’s famous statement^1 finds many supporters: here, at last,
the conflict between science and religion is laid to rest, and both are
upheld for their different yet complementary roles. Others, however,
may be less enthusiastic with Einstein’s proposition that religion is
necessary to give legs to science, or science to give eyes to religion.
For them, the issue is indeed one of science versus religion, reason
versus faith, realism versus idealism, matter versus spirit. Still oth-
ers may wish Einstein had made the stronger statement that science
and religion are parallel quests revealing similar truths. To this
group of people, declaring science and religion to be separate but
equal is to miss their metaphysical common ground. Reminiscent of
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” then, some may find Einstein’s
position to be just right, while others may find it to be too hot or too
cold.
This volume reconsiders these and other major positions on the
relationship between science and religion. But a fundamental ques-
tion underlies any such position: what is meant by science and by
religion? Einstein’s argument is illustrative. In the same text where
the above statement is found, Einstein defines science as “the century-