Post by curmudgeon"Science can purify religion from error and superstition.
Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."
Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005)
John Paul was Pope so he should know what he is talking about. But
this doesn't make sense to me.
He was probably not speaking English so I cannot be sure what he said
- but what can "purify" mean in these sentences?
The most standard English meaning would be that something (science/
religion) has absorbed something alien to it (error/superstition/
idolatry/false-absolutes) and the other thing (religion/science)
somehow removes these contaminants.
Examples would be helpful. What errors and superstitions have been
removed from religion by science? When was science ever involved with
idolatry? When was science ever involved in absolutes - true or false?
The only way I can give this quotation any non-trivial meaning is to
assume that he was using "religion" to mean much more than the
Catholic church (where I cannot imagine him admitting either error or
superstition) and assume he meant all religious type thought of any
persuasion. He only said that science "can" purify religion. He
doesn't have to give any examples - all the examples might only be
potential. I don't think the record of religion learning from science
is very impressive. In fact I might maintain that, so far, religion
has never deigned to learn anything from science. But, as John Paul
said, it might.
I assume the second part is pure rhetoric. He had to indicate where
science could benefit from religion. He did his best. But he said
nothing meaningful.