Thread: Which religion has contributed the most to science, Islam or Christianity?

IMHO, Islam has contributed alot to early science but Christianity has emerged in modern science.

"The drive to understand has many influences, some want to understand this world, then some people learn stuff to better understand their diety"

I just don't buy it, i just don't see Newton sitting down and writing out Principia Mathematica to better understand God, science always leads away from God (incidently Newton didn't believe this despite the fact that there was plenty of opposition to his vision of a 'clockwork world') which is why religion constantly represses science; Galileo, Darwin, Kepler, Copernicus, the list goes on.

You seem to be saying that religious scientists are motivated by different reasons to non-religious scientists and it's just that i've never seen that, in fact it just donesn't ring true.

Whilst fascination and curiousity about the universe can LEAD further into theology as was the case with Newton (and perhaps to a lesser extent Boyle) i can't see any evidence nor reason to believe that the reverse is true. I know quite a few religious science students and while some will claim that science and religion are compatible i have never heard any claim that religion aids science or that it inspired them to learn science.

"only if you are fundamentalist"

Fundamentalism is part of religion, in fact if you look at the past fundamentalism was the norm, as far back as Socrates you see religion repressing science and philosophy.

"All this "religion has hampered science" stuff is based upon catholiscms hate for anything that threatened there power over the individuals that were part of the religion"

It wasn't just the catholics, you think Islam opened their arms to evolution? All the creationists around today, guess what, they aren't catholic.

Religion's main argument for God is "look at the world, isn't it amazing, how could such a world possibly exist without a God?", science is repressed because finds answers to that question.

" that is just silly. God is the creator, not the manipulator (although you could argue causality)."

Liberals today think that, what do you think the mentality has been for the last thousand years though?

Besides even today people believe he's the manipulator why do you think they pray for things?

"IMHO, religion is not there to explain why things are the way they are. Religion serves as a guide on how to live and gives purpose to an otherwise meaningless existence"

Religion does offer a guide and does give purpose (although is also perpetuates the myth that there is anything WRONG with a "meaningless existence") But it also acted and still does as an explanation for how and why the world is the way it is, the whole point behind your "meaningfull existence" is that there are REASONS behind events, that IS offering an explanation of why things are the way they are, and as such denies and indeed supresses any wish to look further.

Many older religions believed that the weather was controlled by the Gods, they prayed for rain, danced for sun, you think they took kindly to inquiries into the nature of weather that implied it was a naturalistic rather than a divine force?

Witch doctors in Africa continue to DENY that AIDS is caused by the HIV virus instead claiming that people are being possessed by evil spirits.

People STILL resist scientific explanations because of religion, i mean for heavens sake LESS THAN HALF THE POPULATION OF THE US BELIEVES THAT MAN EVOLVED! Religion helps science!???!?? I think not.

"How about the countless studies done to prove Jesus existed and work done to explain many of the historical events in the bible. "

Scientific research != History.

"Such as the 'parting of the sea' and the 'star of Bethlehem'"

Right they have enhanced science loads i mean much of modern day physics and biology rests on the research done into the parting of the red sea...... or...... not, we know now that certain types of seaweed float.... wow, time well spent.

"I repeat: religion has provided scientists with many things to explain."

Like what? What has religion provided scientists to explain? The world? The universe? Right and like... non-relgious scientists aren't interested in those things.....