In "When Science
and Beliefs Collide" [Science News, June 8, 1996] the author reports
that for many religious people "the way to interpret the world is to quote the
appropriate chapter and verse in the Bible rather than to form hypotheses and
test them." Some believers prefer to accept the word of church-approved
authorities on all matters without question, even when their authorities
dismiss scientific theories. Many do not understand that a scientific
hypothesis is a tentative proposal, an educated guess needing empirical
research and confirmation, but that a scientific theory is a confirmed
hypothesis, a general conclusion after evidence is gathered and analyzed. Some
theories are interpreted in more than one way by the scientific community, and
some are revised as additional research is completed. The Episcopal Church and
many other communities of faith welcome scientific theories as credible
explanations about God's creation and many of the processes at work in nature;
scientific interpretations need not conflict with theological truths.
Nonetheless, the Episcopal Church recognizes that there are truths
(e.g., theological, ethical, about one's own relationships, insights
from the social sciences, etc.) which are not determined by strictly controlled
scientific methods. .]