SCIENCE AND RELIGION 209 



religious convictions, there is an element of gro- 

 tesqueness in the feat. Insulation of this sort is 

 unnatural, and when very successful it is patho- 

 logical. Obviously our whole life should be cor- 

 related, and it is the endeavour after unification 

 that is in part responsible for the long-drawn- 

 out "conflict between science and religion" a 

 conflict which is often deplored, whereas it means 

 a wholesome keenness of interest and an ideal 

 of clearness and consistency. 



The "conflict between science and religion'* 

 has several forms, which must be distinguished 

 from one another, (a) In the first place, religious 

 feeling is usually associated with a content of 

 beliefs, directly based on religious experience or 

 dependent on an interpretation of human history 

 and of Nature. In many cases the beliefs that x 

 rest on interpretation form part of a tradition 

 accepted unquestioningly by facile minds, or 

 independently tested by those who are suffi- 

 cient for such inquiries. To some extent, but to a 

 continually decreasing extent, these religious 

 beliefs touch the world of the concrete, and a 

 clashing with science must arise whenever and 

 wherever the form of the religious belief is incon- 

 sistent with the results of science. A typical 

 instance occurred in the infancy of experimental 

 science when Galileo's new astronomy could not 

 but clash with a religious belief which was for 



