Science and Religion: Doubt and Belief with Professor Yemima Ben-Menahem

The foundations of modern science, as we know it today, were laid in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolution. The common perception of this development is that science emerged through a continuous conflict with religion and the religious establishment, with the trial of Galileo becoming the ultimate symbol of this struggle. In reality, however, the leaders of the Scientific Revolution were mostly believers who viewed religion and science as complementary. Nevertheless, the tensions between these two fields remain real and worthy of our examination. Jewish thinkers have also meditated on the relationship between understanding the natural world and knowing God, and the questions that troubled them continue to preoccupy many of us to this day. Examples of such questions include: Can we identify God's "signature" within creation, such that science might lead us to recognize an intelligent Creator and Designer? Does the existence of an omniscient God negate human free will? Conversely, do the laws of nature discovered by science rule out the possibility of such choice? The lessons in this series will explore questions regarding the relationship between faith and science through a close reading of the writings of various thinkers.

Video transcript