Muneer Al-ali

Faith; Scientifically Muneer Al-ali

Unlike science, theological explanations are speculative mental exercises that are not proven by experimentation and will never be. On the other hand, theologians don't have the luxury of doubting and experimenting on what they study in a way similar to scientists. Albert Einstein said in 1930 that "a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance and loftiness of those super personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist with the same necessity and matter-of-factness as he himself. In this sense, religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions, then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain, value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts. According to this interpretation, the well-known conflicts between religion and science in the past must all be ascribed to a misapprehension of the situation that has been described."