Q&A: On Religion and Science
On Religion and Science
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi, first of all, thank you for your wonderful books and articles, and also for your patient and enlightening responses!
I have two questions for you:
A. What do you think of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s remarks on religion and science – https://www.knowingfaith.co.il/%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%A2/%D7%93%D7%AA-%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%A2-%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%92%D7%93%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%94
B. What do you think of him in general as a thinker?
C. In your view, does science not need religion? Is it correct to say that science is what has advanced us, and religion is not involved in advancing humanity?
D. Unrelatedly – what do you think of Professor Moshe Halbertal and his views?
Thank you!
Answer
I don’t know him well enough.
If you want to discuss it, post a specific argument here and we can talk about it.
Nobody needs anybody else. Each has its own domain.
I don’t know him well enough. If there’s a specific point, raise it and we’ll discuss it.
Discussion on Answer
What do I think about what? About the claim that you need to understand diseases in order to cure them? I agree.
To the honorable Mr. Harry Potter –
The rabbis who talk about needing science in order to heal are not from our crowd. We work with spells and magic, as you learned at Hogwarts. Don’t go near them or their science.
With the blessing of Dear Balak, J. K. Rowling, Ministry of Magic
This is the gist of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s remarks:
Why, then, do we need science? Because we must understand the world if we want to honor the purpose God has hidden within it. We must understand disease if we want to cure it. We must understand the causes of poverty if we want to alleviate it. We must understand our destructive impulses if we want to rise above them.
And why do we need religion? Because it is what gives human life meaning and purpose. The universe is more than the result of random fluctuations in the quantum field at the dawn of time. Human life is more than the unplanned result of random mutations, blindly filtered by natural selection. Just as there is something within us that is beyond the physical, so too in the universe. We call this the divine presence. It exists beyond mere matter. And just as God created the world with love, justice, and compassion, so He calls on us to create relationships of love, justice, and compassion.
I’d be glad to hear what you think.