FOUR FORMS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The present article aims to show that at the heart of the issue about the interactions between science and religion lies a question of rationality, as Joseph Ratzinger has shown, and that the problem between science and religion can be resolved by clarifying the object and meaning of both. To do this, I will begin by stating the epistemological situation of science and religion after modernity. Next, I will explain the three interaction paradigms: proposed by Barbour, Gould, and Peacocke. I will also show how Ratzinger's proposal could complement, integrate or correct those proposals – which would seem partial – under the paradigm of rationality. I seek to show that a reading of Ratzinger’s thought allows us to explain the problem of science and religion in terms that go beyond the dialogic perspective, to pose them existentially and vitally.

KEYWORDS: Ratzinger. Rationality. Faith. Reason. Knowledge. Interdiscipline.