• Question: Scientifically, are religions fact or lies

    Asked by take520ocas on 27 Mar 2025.
    • Photo: Vicky Fawcett

      Vicky Fawcett answered on 27 Mar 2025:

      That’s a great question. To answer it, we need to understand what we mean by “science” and “religion”.

      By definition, science is where you have a theory (an idea), you make an experiment that can test the theory (for example, if I do this then I should get this result if my idea is right), and then the results can either prove or disprove your theory (so you were either right or wrong), which is all based in facts. Your results might sometimes be unclear, which means you can’t say for sure either way. In that case you need either better data, better equipment, or a better experiment to test your idea.

      Religion is based on “belief”. So you believe something is true rather than knowing it. For example you might believe God is real, but there is no experiment or data that can prove you right or wrong and so you can’t say God is real as a fact. However, you can’t also say God is definitely not real because that would also need proving!

      This doesn’t mean you either are religious or scientific – many great scientists also believe there is a God, even though they can’t prove it. So whether you think religions are true is completely based on your opinion and belief, and either way your beliefs cannot be right or wrong.

Comments

  • Photo: Andrew M

    Andrew M commented on :

    Scientifically, religions are untestable, they lie outside the scientific domain. Science addresses the observable, the measurable, the testable, and the repeatable. It deals with what lies with the physical sphere not what lies without. It cannot pass value judgements. Science is excellent at explaining “What” and “How”, but cannot answer “For what purpose”, so science and religion tend occupy different areas of enquiry. Science cannot tell you what is justice. It cannot answer questions of morality or ethics, what it is to be a good person, or lead a good life. It will tell you the extent of climate change, the causes of climate change and predict the outcomes of climate change, but it cannot tell you if climate change is good or bad, just or unjust. Religion tends to deal with questions such as belonging, justice, ethics and morality. Ethics and morality may require there to be a god but still require a value judgement and so this is more religion’s sphere of enquiry than it is science’s.