RELIGION AND SCIENCE
Sir.-The Discussion Group on 2YA Speaking for Ourselves consistently dis~ tinguishes itself by ignoring the basic issues of questions. Can a scientist be a Christian? The answer to this commenced of course with no attempt to avoid the confusion which resulted from no one knowing what Christianity isor attempting to define it. One speaker suggested that science was in conflict with dogma, faith and ethics, but probably the first two of these. No attempt was made to define dogma or faith, One must ask-what dogma? What did they mean by faith? Everybody seemed to assume that the conclusions of a scientist were more likely to be correct than either the philosopher or the theologian. Why? The whole panel then agreed that a scientist could bélieve in Christian’ ethics and not in Christian dogma. Now this is rubbish, pernicious rubbish, widely held though it is. Christian ethics are dogma. The Ten Commandments are dogma and ethics. The one cannot be dissociated from the other and without a dogmatic basis why believe in the ethics of Christianity at all? One speaker naively suggested that one need not be a member of a Church to be a Christian. If Christians are followers of Christ, then there is only one answer to that question-Christ did not think you could be a Christian and not a member of a Church. One cannot have it both ways. On the whole the panel suggested it was difficult for a scientist to be a Christian, even if a number were. The evidence adduced for this suggestion was not only insufficient for a philosopher, but for a scientist, and quite unworthy of such a groupparticularly when Speaking for Them-
selves in public,
IPSO
FACTO
(Wellington),
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 532, 2 September 1949, Page 5
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289RELIGION AND SCIENCE New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 532, 2 September 1949, Page 5
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