{"id":1415,"date":"2011-01-20T01:09:44","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T01:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2011\/01\/science-vs-religion-what-scientists-really-think.html"},"modified":"2011-01-20T01:09:44","modified_gmt":"2011-01-20T01:09:44","slug":"science-vs-religion-what-scientists-really-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/01\/science-vs-religion-what-scientists-really-think.html","title":{"rendered":"Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You hear a lot these days about science and religion. Most anti-religious folk claim that science undermines or even contradicts religious faith. As evidence for this claim (which, by the way, is not scientific, but philosophical), they point to the &#8220;fact&#8221; that very few scientists are religious. <\/p>\n<p>Now we can get the facts about science and religion, at least the facts about what scientists actually believe. Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociologist at Rice University, has recently published a book with the intriguing title: <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0195392981?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=markdrobertsc-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0195392981\">Science Vs. Religion What Scientists Really Think<\/a>. <\/i>It was published last year by Oxford University Press. <i>Science vs. Religion<\/i> is the result of extensive research conducted by Ecklund over many years. I read this book, finding it full of information and insights, as well as delightfully readable. I learned a lot from this book, mostly, that the whole issue of &#8220;Science vs. Religion&#8221; is much more nuanced than many assume. Scientists are much more open to religion that we might expect. Moreover, those scientists who reject religion rarely do so as a direct result of their scientific studies. (Photo: Ecklund and Michael Cromartie, host of the Faith Angle Forum.) <\/p>\n<form><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ecklund-elaine-howard-5.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/94\/import\/photos\/ecklund-elaine-howard-5.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-right\" style=\"float: right;margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px\" height=\"258\" width=\"360\" \/><\/form>\n<p>I highly recommend Ecklund&#8217;s book. But if you don&#8217;t have time for a two-hundred plus page book, there is another option for you. Ecklund delivered a lecture in November, in which she summarized her major findings and answered questions as well. This happened in the context of the Faith Angle Forum, a semi-annual event sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center. This gathering brings together some of the top religion journalists from the country, including most major news sources (<i>NY Times<\/i>, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, NPR, etc.). They hear presentations from leading thinkers whose work bears upon religious issues.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>I was pleased to be present for this event as an observer. I heard Ecklund&#8217;s lecture after having read her book. Not surprisingly, she provides an excellent summary of her material. (Ecklund, an outstanding academic scholar, also has the ability to community with ordinary folk.) Now a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eppc.org\/programs\/faithangleforum\/publications\/programID.37,pubID.4350\/pub_detail.asp\">transcript of this lecture is available<\/a> online at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eppc.org\/default.asp\">Ethics and Public Policy Center website<\/a>.&nbsp; You may also want to read the response to this lecture by Barbara Bradley Haggerty of NPR. It&#8217;s included after Ecklund&#8217;s lecture.<\/p>\n<p>I am encouraged by the Faith Angle Forum and by the work of Ecklund. The FAF offers a place for influential journalists to consider religious issues openly and seriously. It helps to raised the quality of religion reporting in major media outlets. Ecklund&#8217;s work is bringing clarity to a cloudy issue. She is able to deal with the science vs. religion debate in a calm, irenic, and knowledgeable way. Kudos to Michael Cromartie and Elaine Howard Ecklund for this excellent contribution to civil discourse and a respectful search for truth. &nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You hear a lot these days about science and religion. Most anti-religious folk claim that science undermines or even contradicts religious faith. As evidence for this claim (which, by the way, is not scientific, but philosophical), they point to the &#8220;fact&#8221; that very few scientists are religious. Now we can get the facts about science&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[202,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-recommendations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/01\/science-vs-religion-what-scientists-really-think.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You hear a lot these days about science and religion. Most anti-religious folk claim that science undermines or even contradicts religious faith. As evidence for this claim (which, by the way, is not scientific, but philosophical), they point to the &#8220;fact&#8221; that very few scientists are religious. Now we can get the facts about science&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2011\/01\/science-vs-religion-what-scientists-really-think.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-20T01:09:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/files\/import\/photos\/ecklund-elaine-howard-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}