Science and religion—often conflicting—but can there be reconciliation between the two concepts? Ken and John kick off the show by highlighting the tension between scientific reason and religious faith. The debate has been currently raging with such works as Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, in which he argues that a religious upbringing is akin to child abuse. On the other hand, certain sects of Christianity deny the veracity of evolutionary theory.

John points out that although they appear to be at odds, science and religion are in fact more closely linked than they first appear. Many scientists owe their faith in an intelligible universe to religion, because scientific inquiry can be thought of as uncovering God’s blueprint of the universe. Another strategy for reconciliation involves separating science and religion into opposite spheres—science tells us how the world works and religion gives the world meaning.

Guest Nancey Murphy argues that the two do in fact sometimes conflict—but this conflict does not necessarily work to the detriment of either. For example, modern science has cast doubt upon the traditional Christian dualist notion that the body and soul are two distinct entities. In this case, Murphy contends that what has been interpreted as a religious and scientific conflict is actually due to a conflict of world views as later Christians backed away from dualist readings of the New Testament as better translations became available.

The show then brings up the larger conflict between believers and non-believers, highlighting the intellectual impasse that hinders dialogue between these two groups. Non-believers frequently characterize religious faith as irrational at best and self-deceptive at worst. Is there a “rational” way to believe? When pressed by Ken, Nancey points out that her religious faith comes from personal experience, which he argues is of little evidential value. Nancey concedes what Ken dubs a “recipe for misunderstanding” between these two groups, as they often do not share a framework for discussion. The show concludes with a call for dialogue between believers and non-believers, as well as an urge from Ken that the humanities too should take up the drive for filling out the rationally-discovered facts with meaning and purpose.

• Roving Philosophical Report:(6:20)波莉·斯崔克采访了92岁的查尔斯·汤斯，他是激光的发明者，也是加州大学伯克利分校的物理学教授。尽管汤斯有科学背景，但他信仰上帝。人们认为科学和宗教之间存在冲突——但他不这么认为。唐斯将这两个概念区分开来——科学解释宇宙如何运作，而宗教赋予宇宙一个目的。尽管它们的任务不同，但它们可以，而且经常可以互补。