Landscapes of Science and Religion

The relationship between science and religion has long been a heated debate and is becoming an ever more popular topic. The scientific capacity to manipulate and change humans and their environment through genetic engineering, life extension, and AI is going to take a huge leap forward in the twenty-first century, provoking endless debates around humans “playing God”. But what do we mean by this? Asking this question is surprisingly hard work. Attempts to 'essentialise' science, let alone religion, quickly run into trouble. Where are the boundaries? Whose definition of science is definitive? Which concept of religious is the authoritative one? Ultimately, neither “science” nor “religion” can be pinned down to one single meaning or definition. Rather, they encompass a family of definitions that relate to one another in a complex web of shifting ways. Drawing on extensive research with over a hundred leading thinkers in the UK — including Martin Rees, Brian Cox, Susan Greenfield, A.C. Grayling, Ray Tallis, Linda Woodhead, Steve Bruce, Adam Rutherford, Robin Dunbar, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, and Iain McGilchrist — The Landscapes of Science and Religion takes the much-needed step of asking what science and religion actually are, before turning to the familiar question of how they relate to one another. Building on this, by paying particular attention to those who sense some form of conflict here, Spencer and Waite explore where the perceived conflict really lies. What exactly are people disagreeing about when they disagree about science and religion, and what, if anything, can we do to improve that disagreement and bring about a fruitful dialogue between these two important human endeavours.

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the religion and society think tank Theos. His first degree was in English and History from the University of Oxford, and his doctorate in political theology from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion, and the host of the popular Reading our Times podcast. He is the author of a number of books including Playing God (2024) co-authored with Hannah Waite, Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion (2023), and The Political Samaritan: How Power Hijacked a Parable (2017). Hannah Waite worked as a researcher of Science and Religion at Theos from 2019 - 2023. She holds an MA in theology in Psychology and Counselling and a PhD in Theology both from the University of Aberdeen. Her areas of research focus on the intersection of psychology, theology and psychiatry, and understanding the lived experience of stigma in the lives of Christians with significant mental health challenges. She has recently published Playing God (2024), co-authored with Nick Spencer, and is currently writing a book on stigma and mental health challenges that is being published in 2024 by SCM Press.