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Evolution and Religion

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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion
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For many, the relationship between evolution and religion is either antagonistic or quietistic (cf. Barbour 1997). In the former category, individuals and groups from both the sciences and religion treat the other as participating in a form of discourse that violates a core principle of either science or religion. Examples of such a relationship in popular discourse are sundry: from the outright dismissal of religious claims found in individuals like Sam Harris (2005) or Richard Dawkins (2008), to the dismissal of evolutionary theory or its foundational empiricist monism, found in, for example, the Southern Baptist Convention (1982). The latter category, quietism, draws on Stephen Jay Gould’s conception of religion and science as “nonoverlapping magisteria,” wherein both fields of discourse are seen as separate and distinct levels of inquiry, one metaphysical and one staunchly empiricist. Variants of such a relationship are found in thinkers as diverse as the German-American...

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Simpson, Z. (2014). Evolution and Religion. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9061

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9061

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6085-5

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