SCIENCE AND RELIGION 



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 

 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 



