SCIENCE AND religion are not incompatible, but should be seen as complementary fields, a gathering in Dublin heard this weekend. John Lennox, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford and the author of a number of works on science and religion, told the annual meeting of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Ireland that the notion that science and religion are inimical is a “myth”.
“Faith is not only a religious concept, it is also a scientific concept . . . Every scientist believes that nature is rationally intelligent.” Describing what he called the “logical incoherence” of atheism, propounded by figures such as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking, he said the question of “who created the creator” could also be applied to atheists. “I have said to Richard Dawkins . . . if you believe the universe created you and is your creator, who created your creator?
“Most of us have got an ultimate fact,” he said, “for atheists it is the universe, for me the ultimate fact is God. It’s not a question of whether there’s the ultimate fact, the real question is which fact is ultimate.”
More than 100 people attended the dinner for Irish alumni of Oxford and Cambridge University, which took place in Trinity College on Saturday evening.
The event coincided with the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which took place on Saturday on London’s river Thames.
Prof James McGuire of UCD, co-editor of the Dictionary of Irish Biographyand graduate of Cambridge University, also addressed attendees.
Prof Lennox criticised what he described as the "enormous media pressure" which implies that one is "an intellectual idiot" if they believe in God, because of the advance of science. As well as his work as a professor of maths and lecturer in the philosophy of science, Prof Lennox is the author of God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?and God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?
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