Taya Flores

tflores@jconline.com

Christians don’t have to cower as atheists swing the heavy club of science, argues renowned philosopher Alvin Plantinga.

Although evolutionists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett argue that there is an inherent conflict between science and faith, Plantinga posits that both world paradigms do not have to war in philosophical opposition but can actually coexist peacefully in one’s mind.

“They are thinking of evolution plus naturalism, which is the idea that there isn’t any such person as God or anything like God … evolution doesn’t say anything about whether there is such a person as God or not,” he said. “It’s a metaphysical add-on they are importing into the scientific notion of evolution.”

Plantinga, regarded as one of the nation’s leading Christian philosophers and apologists, will visit Purdue University Thursday to further debate religion’s place in the world of higher thinking.

His talk, “Religion, Science and Naturalism: Where the Conflict Really Lies,” is part of the Discovery Lecture Series, which was launched in 2006 to draw prominent speakers to Purdue.

Plantinga is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Calvin College and University of Notre Dame and author of more than a dozen books, such as “Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism,” and “Warranted Christian Belief.”

He has spent his career working to elevate religion in the world of philosophy and science.

The Christian philosopher shares with the Journal & Courier more insight into what he believes is the common ground between religion and science.

Question: Is there an inherent conflict between religion and science?

Answer: No, I don’t think there’s an inherent conflict at all. Most people who claim there is, add something to science. They think of science in itself (as) atheistic but there’s nothing like that in science. Science doesn’t really tell us anything about God. We think about science as not making any pronouncements on God. ... If you accept belief in God, you’ll think of science just as a way of finding out about this world that God has created.

Q: You’ve spent your career working to create a place for religion in philosophy and science. Why?

A: I thought it was important for people to have the right view here. Also, I myself am a serious Christian, and it’s important that Christians not feel cowed by the presence of science or (view) science as some kind of threat ... I want to point out that science doesn’t fit that bill at all. It can’t really be used properly in that fashion.

Q: What drew you to Christianity?

A: I’ve been a Christian as long as I can remember. … My parents taught me to be one. Then at a certain age, maybe in adolescence, the whole Christian story just seemed real, compelling, convincing and my own, versus something I believe because I was taught to believe it. At a certain point in adolescence it became real. It seemed to be the real truth and the most important truth.

Q: Why is there this tension between religion and science?

A: It comes from two sides. On the one hand, there are people like Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett ... and others who claim science is incompatible with Christianity or any other religion. They themselves are atheists, and they want to argue that science implies atheism somehow. …

Well, naturally enough, some Christians believe that, and they feel very (leery) about science and (not) inclined to take it seriously.

On the other side, there are Christian creationists who take the first chapters of Genesis very literally and think that the world is only 6,000 or 8,000 years old. If they think that then they’ll have to reject the scientific theory of evolution, which of course (says) the universe is vastly older than that. There too would be a kind of conflict.

If you go

Alvin Plantinga will speak on “Religion, Science and Naturalism: Where the Conflict Really Lies” at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. It is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.