by Roger Prather

Created on: November 27, 2008

In a 1997 article, the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould proposed the principle of Nonoverlapping Magisteria as an answer to the question of "Can God and Darwinism coexist?" Dr. Gould's principle, known as NOMA, is a legitimate and worthwhile way of viewing the interaction between theology and science. In short, God and Darwinism can and do coexist effectively, especially in light of NOMA and with a critical, reasoned reading of the facts.

As Gould explains, Nonoverlapping Magisteria proposes that religion and science exist and hold authority in different spheres of human pursuit. As he put it, science searches for "the ages of rocks" and religion has "the rock of ages"; science "stud[ies] how the heavens go," religion "determine[s] how to go to heaven." As lighthearted as such remarks may seem, at their core, they are true. Science is engaged in the empirical study of the physical universe. This study is conducted by gathering facts and constructing coherent, scientifically verifiable theories about how the facts fit together. To paraphrase Gould, science studies what the universe is made of (fact) and how it works together (theory). Religion, on the other hand, is concerned with the moral, ethical, and spiritual questions of life. How do individuals relate to each other? How do individuals relate to the universe? How do individuals relate to the divine? For the most part, these questions fall outside of one another's spheres of inquiry.

However, the article does admit that religion and science share a long (and sometimes difficult) border. Some of the ultimate questions of science have implications on the ultimate questions of religion. In no other area is this more true than in the questions of origins. Bookstore shelves are filled with volumes on either side of the debate: Creationism and Intelligent Design versus evolution and Darwinism. Organizations are formed to argue and persuade on the topic. Prominent scientists go so far as to declare religion a superstitious farce, and some theologians go so far as to advocate the abandonment of science altogether. President George W. Bush even declared publicly his support for the teaching of creationist theories in public schools because students should be made aware of both sides of a contentious issue. But in actuality, there is no issue. There is no real debate. Whether one chooses to view the issue through the prism of NOMA or not, a close examination of facts reveals that no serious disagreement exits.

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