Scientific and Religious Analytical Techniques: A Comparative Analysis

Scientific and Religious Analytical Techniques:
A Comparative Analysis
The similarities between scientific and the divinely revealed speech of the Seal
of the Prophets is examined. It is argued that the procedures of evidence,
proof and falsification utilized in science and the divinely revealed dialogues
are identical as to construction and purpose. It is further suggested that what
is now termed the scientific method was actually taught to mankind by the Holy
prophets, Who had to establish the true criteria for judging Their claim to
holding prophetic office in the minds of an unbelieving people. It later was
used to build the edifice of science and rational analysis. Religion precedes
science and technology, which are dependent upon it for their motive force.
Historical examples will be offered to illustrate the dependence of human
advancement—including scientific advancement—on the progressive
revelations of God, that religion acts as the eyes and heart of Science’s body
and brain, directing its endeavors.
If it is desired to trace the scientific and analytical advances which came in the wake of
the revelation of the Holy Qur'an the unity of scientific and prophetic methodology must be
established in order to allow for a rational interrogation of the divine verses in the Holy Qur’an,
and follow their dispersion throughout various social arenas in historical and contemporary life.
Science and religion share at least one specific goal, to explain the world in their own
respective terms. It has been said, for example, in support of the essential complementarities of
science and religion that science is the “how” and religion is the “why.” But this is only partially
true; science is rarely so purely mechanistic as to preclude ontological questions altogether, and
religion clearly has engaged in numerous discussions of process, considering them instructive
and in support of end objectives to convince and thereby reform human consciousness. In the
Holy Qur’an and earlier Holy Books, the divine Messengers dedicated numerous discussions to
the subject of how the new teachings should be organized and propagated, adding force to the
Dalton Garis Page 1 of 23

26-Apr-10 /opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch2682/32936662.doc
argument that the process of dissemination is also of importance—that the means determine the
end. This is as true in science as in religious revelation. Good science is known by the quality
of its methodology, insisting that only good methodology can assure accurate and useful results.
The respective explanatory arenas of science and religion are generally divided between
the material-temporal world, and the spiritual-infinite world respectively1. As will be argued,
both lay bare the constructions and principles operating in these worlds and establish these using
identical rules of argument, analysis, logic and exposition.
We observe that as religions change and mature over the centuries so do the fortunes of
the nations and regions associated with them. In their early days religions cause a great
outpouring of scientific, economic and cultural development, which gradually diminishes as the
religion turns inward, abandons analysis except in the service of maintaining its ancient forms,
and ceases to be regarded by those outside of the religion's matrix as a socially regenerating
force, moral or otherwise. In the following sections these arguments will be developed.
The Common Analytical Framework of Science and Divinely Revealed Speech

Unity of method in exposition and analysis must be considered as evidence of the
essential harmony of science and religion. Clearly, religion begins with a process of
illumination; that is, religions are divinely revealed. This is entirely dissimilar from the process
of science, which begins with an insight into the rules of how material creation functions and
builds from that, iteratively. What is asserted is the unity of argument for both, that the divinely
revealed dialogues themselves represent some of the purest examples of logic and rational
analysis known, employed in this case to repudiate the ideologies extant among the people of
those days, and to establish the new divine revelation upon the foundations of logic and reason
rather than miracle and superstition. Following this dawning phase of the religion later
derivative analysis—apostolic development of the religion after the ascent of the Prophet-
founder—also proceeded in exactly the same way as in scientific research, using similar rational
analysis and argument.
1 Mathematics, the language of science can also be employed to model the infinite, if not the spiritual. Examples are
shown in the calculus of variations, dynamic programming and optimal control theory applications.

Elements of rational argument
Several common constructions are found in all rational arguments. Their purpose is to
eliminate false and misleading conclusions being formed from available evidence, and to
establish the criteria of evidence that can be considered as evidence of an argument or
hypothesis. These are largely based on elementary logic, whose antecedents are commonly
thought to have originated with the ancient Greek civilization. Here are some of the most
important elements.
1. Proof must relate to what is being proven. Being capable of flight is not evidence of
skill in orthopedic surgery because it bears no relation to what is being asserted.
Similarly, evidence of spiritual authority and ascendancy, the essential condition of
divine prophethood, cannot be proven by executing a supernatural act, because that is not
related to the condition of spiritual supremacy, however impressive it may be to
onlookers. This is why the divine Prophets refused to work miracles on request, since
such things can never prove the spiritual authority they claimed for themselves.
However, their refusing to make an arbitrary display of a claimed skill is also not
evidence that the capacity is not possessed. A judge sent to a district to fill a commission
from the central government cannot sentence someone to death just to prove s/he is a
judge. That act must conform to the requirements of the situation and not be used for the
sake of an arbitrary request. And a divine Messenger refusing to perform an act
arbitrarily must be similarly regarded. As servants of Allah, all their acts were required
to conform to His Will and purpose for His creatures.
2. Assertions must falsifiable and submit to independent verification; and results must be
repeatable using consistent evidentiary procedures. This means that if evidence is
offered as proof of some assertion or argument it must be consistently applied, repeatable
using the same data, and allow itself to be independently verified, according to accepted
standards of evidentiary procedure.
Statements must be falsifiable to be considered amenable to proof. Falsifiability
means that a statement has in its structure what can prove it false. “The sun rose at 07:13
this morning” is amenable to proof: either the sun rose at that time or it didn’t. “The sun
is great.” This is not a statement capable of being disproven, so it is not scientific but
subjective.
In this regard special attention must be paid to human interpretation of the divine Word,
in order to have it conform to our own limited objectives, be they sincere or corrupt. The
Prophets of Allah repeatedly blamed the people’s denial of the divine message with
which they had been entrusted on a strict literal interpretation of the revealed verses then
with them, and deliberately ignoring their evident meaning. "And verily, among them is
a party who distort the Book (divine scriptures) with their tongues, so that you may think
it is from the Book; but it is not from the Book. And they say, 'This is from Allah,' and
they speak a lie against Allah knowingly" (Qur'an 3:78).
3. Lack of data does not invalidate an argument, especially if it is amenable to logical
proofs. In many of its essential assertions Einsteinian physics was not empirically
testable until recently. Nonetheless, it was conditionally accepted based on its logic and
its systematic and comprehensive modeling of what had been observed, even without a
body of affirmative empirical tests.
This is also the case with many statements made by a divine Prophet referring to the
after-life and other conditions not directly accessible for testing. But because these
statements are part of a comprehensive and accepted model of the operations of creation,
they were and remain accepted until data allowing for empirical testing are devised.
An assertion becomes a structured argument, then a testable hypothesis. A
methodology is chosen and a test of the hypothesis is made, with the results reported out.
In many instances, especially during a period in science or religion where fundamental
research is begun, the model is purely of logical structure, with no way to go further. If
the model conforms to logic and reason then the assertion is proven for the listeners and
readers in future times. Later, new methodologies may enable carrying out proper
empirical tests generating data for analysis.
These are the main elements of rational analysis. They will be applied to religious
statements found in the Qur’an for evidence that Qur’anic statements are indeed scientific,
rational, logical and falsifiable.

* * *
Comparing religious and scientific statements on any level would seem to be impossible;
scientific statements are narrowly literal, while divine speech seems to be open to myriads of
interpretations. But this objection is internally inconsistent and mostly without foundation: On
the one hand, it dismisses any attempt to acknowledge the existence of super-ordinary, divinely
revealed speech; while on the other hand, it refuses to analyze the content of that speech or
investigate the consistency, rationality, logical construction and the falsifiability of its
arguments, or to independently verify its propositions and predictions2.
A reading of the verses in the best-known Holy Books show that those which are quotes
of the Prophet Himself fall into several known categories.
(1) There is recitation of historical events, with an analysis of conditions, signs, portents and
associated results with respect to spiritual and material outcomes. This is doctrinal,
analytical speech.
(2) Laws and rules governing personal and social intercourse are established, as well as laws
and observances regarding prayer, fasting, inheritance, marriage, the calendar and holy
days on which work must be suspended; pilgrimage, charity, etc.
(3) Exhortations and encouragements toward ideal behavior and attitude.
(4) Prophesies of future events, nearby and far distant, often clothed in symbolic images.
("When the heaven is cleft asunder. And when the stars have fallen and scattered. And
when the seas have burst forth. And when the graves are turned upside down." Qur'an
82:1-4).
(5) There are descriptions of the worlds beyond this material, phenomenal world, which
employ metaphors and similes.
It is generally easy to separate these different forms of address. Clearly, insisting that the
symbolic images of prophetic speech were meant to be taken literally, then dismissing them for
2 By prediction is not meant prophesy. A prediction can be based on analyzing present conditions and projecting
that, if the trend is not altered, certain results will assuredly be forthcoming. A prophesy, however, is a
pronouncement concerning the nature of future events or conditions based on transcendental spiritual awareness or
direct revelation, and is not obtainable from critical analysis of present conditions.

their literal absurdity is not an acceptable position, is inadmissible. Seen and understood in their
proper context and meaning, the mystical speech employed by the holy Prophets was an attempt
by them to clothe with words what is essentially beyond the capacity of human speech to
encompass. Thus, today, centuries after its initial revelation, we still discover new meanings and
understandings from these divine words unknown to our ancestors of old.
The cult of literalism in interpreting the divine verses and its rejection by the divine
Prophets.
Excessive literalism in interpretation of the divine verses by the people and their leaders
is a practice consistently and roundly condemned by the Prophets themselves, as testified to by
the verses of the divine Qur'an. “Hearts have they with which they understand not; and eyes
have they with which they see not." (Qur'an 7:178) “As oft as an Apostle cometh unto them
with that which their hearts desire not, they swell with pride, accusing some of being impostors
and slaying others” (Qur’an 2:87). And, "Say: It is Allah; then leave them to entertain
themselves with their objections." (Qur'an 6:91).
The divine Messengers without exception blame the people’s denial and rejection of
every Prophet sent to reinvigorate the spiritual destiny of mankind on literally interpreting verses
clearly meant symbolically; e.g., with respect to events signifying the advent of the return and
resurrection of the Messenger of Allah and His chosen Ones, and the revitalizing of the spent
fortunes of mankind, such as the raising of the dead from their graves, the splitting of the moon
of His previously established laws, the cleaving of the heavens of the previous knowledge and
the falling to earth of their exponents, the crushing of the mountains of knowledge into dust, the
boiling of the seas of the spirit, the temporal and political triumph of the true believers and the
utter subjugation of God’s enemies on the earth. “On the Day when the earth shall be changed
into another earth." (Qur’an 14:48). This event has never been literally witnessed by any
historical chronicler. "And the whole earth shall, on the Day of resurrection be but His handful;
and in His right hand will the heavens be folded together. Praise be to Him! And far be He
uplifted above the partners they enjoin with Him." (Qur'an 39:67). These and similar signs have
been prophesied to occur at the advent of every one of God’s divine revelations; and never,
according to all the historical chronicles, have they been literally fulfilled. That was the basis of

the people’s objection to the messengers' claims of holding the office of prophethood; as the
divine Qur’anic verses themselves prove. Therefore, the literal nonfulfillment of the prophecies
is not evidence that the divine prophets never came, unless we are to reject the entire body of
divine revelations from the beginning of history. And this argument and reasoning is precisely
what was employed by the prophets themselves as evidence of their spiritual ascendancy. Note
how this rational argument is in conformity with scientific principles of rational argument.
Indeed, it is precisely this assertion—that the divine prophets were, by definition, masters of
logic and rational analysis—that it should not surprise us when they employ what has now
become regarded as rational analytic speech.
The following verse represents a complete rejection of literally interpreting all the verses
of Allah which, in symbolic language, have repeatedly been employed to foretell the appearance
of the Return: “And indeed Joseph came to you in times before with clear signs from your Lord,
but you ceased not to doubt in Him, until when He died, you said, ‘Surely, God will never raise
up another One such as Him.’ Thus, God misguideth the doubter, the liar.” (Qur’an 40:34).
Consider what is being argued in this statement, and the unassailable logic it employs. It
states that there exists a process of acceptance, association, denial, etc. with respect to the
acceptance or rejection of every divine message ever sent down to mankind. The repetition of
this same pattern of the prophets' proclamations and their rejection by the people of their day is
what is referred to in this verse. Were more evidence of this argument needed the Surah of Húd,
from beginning to end, is an irrefutable evidence of this theme.
Because of adherence to mythologized dogma, the advent of the previous Messenger is
considered unique and irreplicable, signaling the last expected messenger from Allah. All now
await the destruction of the earth and the decimation of their enemies, even as has been told to
them by their religious doctors and leaders. This fact is immediately and conclusively verified
by conversing with the followers of any of the existing world religions. All maintain that their
prophet was the last and that the next coming will be the destruction of the earth as we know it.
Again, a prophet appears but the people reject Him, until when he ascends to the forth heaven
they realize how they have plainly erred, declare that He was without peer among Allah's
messengers, and the pattern is repeated, even though it has been revealed, "Our cause is but one."
(Qur'an 54:50).

Also supporting this argument are the words, “And if they see the path of righteousness,
they will not take it for their path; but if they see the path of error, for their path they will take it.
This is because they treated Our signs as lies, and were heedless of them” (Qur’an 7:145)
A principle of scientific modeling is parsimony, that if two models describe the same
phenomenon the simpler one is preferred. Attempting to interpret these and similar verses
literally, when a figurative interpretation illuminates the full spectra of meanings according with
the spirit as well as the letter of all the other verses in the Holy Qur’an and of other existing holy
books, is scientifically unacceptable. A figurative and abstract interpretation offers valuable
results which literalistic interpretations destroy. The literal interpretation is thus non-
parsimonious, and a marring of its true meaning.
This is an example of scientific principles being applied to the verses of God. As argued
herein, the Prophets and messengers of Allah attempted to give logical meanings to the verses
known among the people, and to anchor their belief in God in rational argument. “Erelong will
they wag their heads at Thee, and say, ‘When shall these things be?’ Say: ‘Perchance it is
nigh.’” (Qur’an 17:51). “We will surely show them Our signs in the world and in their own
selves” (Qur’an 41:53).
The Essential Complementarity of Prophetic Dialogues and Scientific Analysis

The importance of analyzing these quotes is in recognizing that the prophetic verses,
having been freed from the procrustean bed of literal fulfillment, represent valid and rational
arguments within their own sphere, fully capable of independent verification and analysis, and
which employ the same rules of argument and rational discourse, as are found in science. What
ordinarily masks this realization is the nature of the spiritual world being expostulated, a world
of relationships and exchanges between the created and Creator, between phenomenal and
spiritual worlds of being. Both science and divine revelation share the objective of explaining
the world in their own terms.
As far as is known, the material-temporal world is devoid of the power of self-analysis.
Not until the appearance of humans had any of the earth’s inhabitants attained the power to
utilize the laws of nature to profoundly transform their own environment or attain a reflective
knowledge capable of sophisticated linguistic analysis and the development of technology.

Humans exist at the juncture of the material-temporal and the spiritual-intellectual worlds and by
utilizing what exists in both, are capable of analyzing, abstracting and exploiting natural laws for
their own understanding and benefit. Noting the precedent of religious revelation and the
subsequent development of science and derivative technology, it is plain logic that the roots of
scientific rationality are to be found in divine revelation.
Consider again the respective purposes, goals and methods of science and divine speech:
a. Science deals with process and instrumentality, the discovery, analysis and
actualization of material laws, but does not deal in ultimate purposes.
b. Religion deals with motive causes and the ultimate purpose of all life and
creation, instructing by carefully constructed argument and rational analysis, as
shown by the Divine texts themselves. Its goal is to effect a transformation in the
character of society and a reaffirmation of the purpose of creation.
c. Without religion science and engineering lack the power of ontological reflection,
become a danger to civilization, and without independent verification of its
tenants, religion becomes tautological and ideological, abandoning real analysis
and exchanging it for preservation of ancient and outworn forms.
Hermetically sealing one from the other, or each refusing to fairly analyze and examine
the other for complementarities, has led to suboptimal scientific investigation and religious
bigotry incapable of moral suasion and clarity. Life’s most infinitely expandable resource,
human capital, becomes diverted into unpromising lines of analysis, with the best and the
brightest of a generation being dedicated to enterprises beginning in words and ending in words.
Each sphere acting independently is incapable of such self-correction and becomes ideologically
defined. In the language of mathematics, only by utilizing both sets simultaneously can a global,
rather than a local, maximum be found.
The nature of ideology

The process of knowing as practiced in both science and divine revelation is in sharp
contrast to the ideology. Ideologies are distinct from science or religion in that they must be
believed and followed or they quickly wither and die; they live only so long as people subscribe
to them (Besançon 1986). For example, the formula from physics, f = ma, is not in need of

believers to be true. Its truth is independent of the number of believers. Similarly, the words,
"And if ye are in doubt as to what We have sent down unto Our Servant, then ;produce a surah
like it, and summon your witnesses, beside Allah, if ye are men of truth." (Qur'an 2:23), do not
rely for their truth on believers; they are independent of any such need. But since ideologies
refuse to allow their propositions to be independently verified and tested, they must be believed
"as is," or rejected. There is no process of verification and reform. Scientific and religious
propositions, on the other hand, rather than being destroyed by criticism, are sustained and
enriched by it. This is evidence that each reflects a reality that is not dependent on people’s
belief for its existence. Indeed, people are dependent on understanding reality for their
existence.
While generally acknowledged that science is capable of correction by way of its own
processes, the belief exists that religion is not thus capable of endogenous reformation, and can
exist only as tautological constructions within the human mind. It is asserted that religion is
merely a belief and incapable of critical analysis of its tenants or predictions. Demonstrating the
falsity of this supposition is the goal of this paper. it must therefore be demonstrated that
religion is also revised and updated through an internally generated process that maintains its
relevance and verifies its propositions3.
In order to do this it is first necessary to carefully define the process of religious renewal.
We are not talking about how Judaism can be renewed, or Christianity, or Catholicism or Shi’ah
or Sunni Islam, can be revised and corrected, which assumes that the religions stand
independently from one another. What is meant by renewal and continuous criticism and
validation of religion is how the Cause of Allah itself is revised and renewed from age to age
according to the changing needs of a developing humanity by the appearance of a succession of
divinely appointed Prophets and s, Who Themselves, according to the dictates of God, renew the
divine Purpose for mankind. By means of increasingly investing spiritual power and authority in
the new Dispensation thereby validating it in the eyes of a skeptical population, while causing
the opponents of the message to lose spiritual and moral authority, the new Dispensation is
securely established in the fullness of time.
3In doing so it is not asserted that only endogenous processes are at work, since both science and religion utilize the
entire plane of existence for evidence and modeling, which is, by definition, exogenous at least in part to any
defined set of postulations.

This process of withdrawal and investment of spiritual authority is fascinating in its
details and is centered on the actions of the leading exponents of the status quo belief structure—
outworn and ideologically burdened—in the face of the revelation of a new Message from Allah,
is best understood by examining the nature of the objections to the new Messenger and His
Cause by its opponents. It becomes clear that with whatever criticism they level against the new
Cause is equally true, if not more so, when applied to the previous one. “Whatever verse do We
abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better one or similar to it. Know you not that Allah
is able to do all things?" (Qur'an 2:106). "Verily, those who disbelieve in Allah and His
Messengers, and wish to make a distinction between Allah and His Messengers, saying, 'We
believe in some but reject others, and wish to adopt a way in between,' They are in truth
disbelievers. . . ." (Qur'an 4:150-151). The Cause of God is a continuous revelatory process
where it is impossible to accept one Messenger but reject others. Whatever proves the validity of
one proves the validity of all; and whatever argument can be used to reject any individual
Divinely appointed messenger is equally applicable to all the others. "O Children of Adam! If
there come to you Messengers from amongst you reciting to you My verses, then whoever
becomes pious and righteous, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." (Qur'an 7:35).
One of the objections leveled against Jesus was that He did not fulfill all the laws of
Moses, but rather, moved to annul two of the most influential Mosaic laws, the laws of divorce
and of the Sabbath. But this objection ignores the reality that the purpose of the appearance of a
new Divine Messenger is to effect a change in the practices and thinking of the people, so that
they may continue to develop and advance according to the Divine purpose. If the Messengers
of God in every age were to sanction the beliefs and practices current among the people, the
Cause of God could never advance, which in turn would mean, as demonstrated below, that
civilization could never advance. This same objection is leveled against every chosen sent in
fulfillment of prophesy to fulfill the promises of rebirth, return, and renewal, as shown by the
verses of Allah recorded in all the Holy Books, of which the Qur’an provides perhaps the most
thorough and complete record.
For example, according to the Surah al A'raf (Qur’an Surah 7), the Prophets of God have
appeared successively, each inviting the people to abandon what had become for them a ritual
preservation of an ideological creed, without any true spiritual life, which holds that once upon a

time, long, long ago, there was a magical period when a Messenger of God appeared, worked
many miracles and signs, left us with a Book and departed. Now we all await the destruction of
the world, as promised by a literal interpretation of the verses in the Book the Messenger left
with us. But instead of the end of the world they expect, a Messenger appears inviting the
people to a new faith, confirming the core truths of their current religion, comprehensively
explaining the true meaning of the verses of the Divine Book in their possession, providing a
new set of laws and ordinances that promotes economic, spiritual, social and material
advancement and revitalizing the Cause of God. "And there came to them indeed their
Messengers with clear proofs. But they were not such as to believe in that which they had
rejected before. Thus, Allah seals up the hearts of the disbelievers." (Qur'an 7:101). Note that
this verse also indicates that the denials of the people living during the appearance of any
Prophet are repeated in subsequent revelations.
Rather than fulfilling what the people expected of them, the Prophets and messengers
propounded new teachings, annulled laws laid down by the previous divine , rejected as invalid
many of the current religious practices, and using alliterative speech established the signs and
portents that would herald the advent of yet another , who would in turn repeat the process; that
is, reject existing religious practices that had been perverted by ideologies and condemn their
exponents, restate the divine Purpose, establish new ordinances and laws as He saw fit, lay down
the requirements of a true seeker after truth, and propound the appearance of signs signaling the
advent of yet another dispensation from God to follow. Thus, the divinely appointed Revealers
of religious teachings Themselves act to cleanse the Cause of God of accumulated dogmas,
bigotries, ideologies and nonessential and debasing rituals, so that mankind may have at hand a
useful tool of moral analysis and spiritual enlightenment.
As can be observed, this is exactly the same process exercised in science. According to
Kuhn (1962) new scientific developments follow a process of initial rejection; followed by
serious investigation; followed by becoming the established structure; and finally being set aside
as an ever larger body of external evidence shows that the structure is outworn and needs
renewal—that rather than fostering intellectual growth it has become an insuperable barrier to its
further attainment, and is then overtaken by superior models and explanations.
Just as we observe that new scientific discoveries stimulate further research on older

lines that had seemed unpromising before—for example, after a new discovery into cancer cures
from the Japanese Yew tree, Amazonian vegetable species being sought to investigate their
purported curative properties—the advent of a religious revelation also has the effect of reviving
the older, established faiths in its midst. Judaism was spread throughout the world by Christians,
who taught the Old and New Testaments together, and claimed that the Christ was the fulfillment
of Mosaic prophesies. Islam also spread the word of Jesus and Moses in the process of
disseminating the teaching of the Qur’an. Buddhism in the same way comprehended many of
the teachings of Hinduism; but Hinduism grew as a direct result of the spread of the teachings of
Buddha which claimed to be its direct fulfillment.
These examples provide evidence that religion, like science, is capable of internal
revision by a native process, and transformation into an ever more useful analytical tool of
reality. While divine revelations are by nature revelatory rather than humanly accretive, it is
sequential, comprehensive and progressive, as a comparison of the Pentateuch with the Holy
Qur’an will show. Now we show that the progressive nature of the divinely revealed teachings
of Allah pre-exists this same process in science, and could even be responsible for scientific
renewal in every age.
The Motive Force behind Scientific Development

That such renewal of the religious cause and purpose induces vastly expanded scientific
research and discoveries is shown by historical developments arising after the appearance of a
new divine Messenger. Consider the degraded state of Peninsular Arabia in the “days of
ignorance” just prior to the advent of Islam, its level of commerce, statecraft, arts and literature,
jurisprudence, science and technology, education, medicine, agriculture, etc., and what obtained
in the centuries following. There is simply no other plausible explanation for the dramatic
improvements in all these attributes of civilization among a people previously regarded as
practically subhuman by its neighboring states, in the absence of the appearance of Islam. The
growth path Arabia followed in those days was basically flat, becoming positively sloped only
after the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad.
Science’s seeming continuous regeneration could be masking its dependence on the
appearance of successive religious revelation as its generating impulse. Assume that the

previous discussion regarding the changes to Peninsular Arabia is a specific example of the
general principle that a region’s cultural, scientific and material development is dependent on
the character of its religious expression. Besides the changes to Arabia and later to North Africa
and Asia with the advent of Islam, there are the earlier examples of Israelitish Palestine after the
appearance of Moses; Rome after Christianity and Constantine; and India, China and Central
Asia after the appearance of Buddha.
As the religious development and expression went in those regions, so went the material
civilization of that region; and so went its scientific advancement. In these examples, a new and
progressive religious dispensation gave birth to an outpouring of scientific and cultural
developments in that land and beyond.
The reverse was also true: Each example cited above also demonstrates that as the
religions associated with these regions turned away from the fundamental principles motivating
constant improvement, analysis, spiritual and material development, and turned inward, rejecting
the world and its difficulties, this caused an identical effect in society’s scientific and cultural
strivings. Contrast the early days of the nations at the birth of one of the world’s established
religions, when, as history repeatedly shows, its followers dedicated their lives to the
investigation of the spiritual, metaphysical and material universes, documenting findings,
establishing colleges and universities, in science, philosophy and engineering, recording new
discoveries in books on anatomy, astronomy, geography, history, the natural sciences and
mathematics; cataloguing and collating the great discoveries of the past; endowing libraries,
establishing research chairs and adding to arts and literature, etc., etc.—with what obtained in
their latter days, when discovery and scientific investigation, inventions and industry, turned into
pure monastic scholasticism.
Early Judaism: The early state of Israel, as has already been argued, became the dominant
political, economic and cultural power in the Lower Mediterranean under kings David and
Solomon, positively influencing the entire region. Middle and late Judaism turned inward,
abandoned those things making it great, became disunited, occupied itself with endless and
dissipating ideological and theocratic disputes. Israel became easy pray for its neighbors; first
Babylon, then Rome completely subjugated and destroyed it. It would be over 2,000 years
before another state of Israel would appear on the political landscape of the world.

Early Christianity: After Constantine ascended the Roman throne, and Christianity
became the state religion, Rome became the dominant religious, cultural, economic and
intellectual power, exceeding its previous glories, most particularly in the wisdom of its political
and juridical order. Later Christianity: The mighty edifice of Christianity was split in two
between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Churches. For over 1,000 years Europe, which had
accepted Roman Christianity, descended into its Dark-ages, and did not emerge until after the
Crusades, while in the East a similar intellectual decline was seen. The rise of Islam
circumscribed the temporal power of the Eastern Church and reduced Byzantium’s influence.
Finally, the Holy Roman Empire was reduced to a few acres in the center of Rome, and Pope
Pious IX declared that he had become a “prisoner of the Vatican.”
Early Islam has already been mentioned. To the previous list must be added advances in
economics and trade, investment law, banking, contract law, the intimation of the joint stock
company; insurance, taxation and transfer payments, and many other specifics in
macroeconomics and public finance.
Recent Islam4. The historical record will clearly show that a great “falling off” has
occurred in Islam today as compared to its early centuries. Theologically, it has turned inward.
From being guided by the most erudite and knowledgeable in its vast community of scientists it
now is looking outside for such guidance. From its political and temporal leaders being
esteemed throughout the world for their wisdom and understanding of statecraft, its leaders of
today struggle to understand the globalized world, a world that has adopted in many of its
particulars, and in all of its overarching principles, the teachings of Islam. Which of the recent
important scientific discoveries or industrial processes can the Islamic world claim to have
invented? Which of the medical discoveries and treatments? Which of the advances in statecraft
or international relations can it be said to have authored or fostered?
Politically, temporally and geographically, where Islam once expanded and dominated, it
is now in severe retreat. The irony is that, on close observation, what the world is forcing
Islamic states to accept are the very principles of consultation, jurisprudence and international
relations championed by the Holy Qur’an, and which most Islamic state leaders currently
4 Bearing in mind the sequence of time, Recent Islam corresponds to Middle Christianity and Middle Judaism with
respect to the loss of temporal influence and intellectual leadership.

oppose. The governmental basis for the nation-state is itself taken from the teachings of Islam.
All over the globe Islamic communities are suffering from exogenous and endogenous
difficulties. While the details can be argued over and while there are a few notable exceptions,
the broad trend downward for most Islamic nations cannot be denied. This sweeping statement
would be difficult to accept if it were not so obvious to even the most casual observer.
This same comparison of intellectual, political, cultural and economic life in regions and
nations characterized by association with one of the world’s great religions in their former days
and then in their more recent days, can be made with very consistent results over the entire field
of the world’s existing religions, showing initial growth and triumph of its ideas in defeating the
outworn creeds of opposing nations, followed by a great decline from what obtained in earlier
days. In all these cases, the observation most consistent with the facts is that a region’s output is
governed by the stage of development of its dominant religious association, with those regions
associated with a religion in its early days increasing in power and output, but falling off as that
religion turns toward monasticism and pure scholasticism, becomes ideologically governed and
ceases to foster intellectual curiosity and attainment.
Those areas of the world not directly receiving a revelation from Allah nonetheless
experience its influence, as reflected light, so to speak. Ancient Greece is an example. The
Athenian, Socrates, is known to have visited the kingdom of Israel during the time of Solomon,
and was influenced by its monotheistic teachings. Pythagoras followed a similar path, as did
Herodotus. Ancient Rome built up its own jurisprudence on the bedrock provided by Greece in
many respects, which in turn was influenced by previous developments in Israel.
The Reformation in Northern and Central Europe is largely credited with giving a new
impulse to its material development, in scientific, technological, economic and political realms.
At one time it was Northern Europe that borrowed from Southern Europe and Andalusia
(Moorish Spain), but the borrowings were often reversed in latter centuries. A similar story
could be told for the development of Central and South America and the Indian subcontinent.
There is no evidence that the causality of religion onto national development runs in
reverse—that a nation’s development is responsible for the appearance of a Divine Prophet. In
fact the s of God have always seemed to appear to a people or nation in the nadir of its history,
when its fortunes have been reversed, its past glories forgotten and its life force spent. (The

surrounding developed nations that circumscribe the recipient community would only later
become co-opted to facilitate the spread of the new religion, but the recipient community itself is
usually on its last legs when the appears to them as the Return of the previous .)
In every known case of a nation or region becoming dominant from endogenous strivings
and yearnings it has been preceded by the appearance of a divine Prophet, either addressing it
directly, as in the case of Israel, or indirectly, as in the case of Rome and Europe. In those
indirect cases, where a nation, by virtue of judicious borrowings, equals or exceeds levels of past
glories of the previous state, the reason is its adoption of spiritual or philosophical teachings
previously unknown to it, and which offer renewal of long-dormant capacities, as in the case of
Europe and its regions, as just discussed. Thus, the dependence on religious and religiously
derived philosophies of secular and material development, with science as its most potent
messenger, is shown.
* * *
Having demonstrated the dependence of material development and advancement on the

sequential appearance of religious teachers and divine Prophets through the use of historical
examples, the coexistent relationship of science and religion is now clear: Religious teachings
define the nature of scientific advancement. If the religion is in the developmental stage the
associated society will be inquisitive and analytical, science will be fostered and advanced, as
well as statecraft, economics, literature, jurisprudence, art, etc. But if the character of religious
expression has degenerated, becoming xenophobic and ideological in posture, then the region
identifying with it and taking its national character from it will be in decline. Thus, the
relationship of science and religion is that of parent to child: (1) Science receives its moral
compass and initial impetus from religion. (2) Religion is supported and validated by science,
just as material and political engineering validates scientific research results.
The case of religious influence in China is interesting: Due to its philosophical and
religious teachings, primarily associated with Buddhism, China became one of the most
powerful nations in history, making contributions in every branch of knowledge, philosophy,
culture, economics, exploration and statecraft. But Buddhism, with its intellectual and

philosophical richness, turned ever inward and ceased to offer useful guidance in statecraft and
secular spheres. After the revival of statecraft from Confucianism had spent its force, China fell
prey to internal schisms and warfare. Finally, it was possible in the 19th century for a small
number of Britons to take over its capital; and again in the 20th, for a much smaller Japan to
conquer, sack and pillage it. With the rise Maoism, with its unique mix of native Confucianism,
Hegelian and Marxist dialectics and reconstituted Leninism—and with its neighbors weaker or
following international norms of peace—it again became its own master. With a measured and
rising adoption of Western capitalism in production, labor management and financial institutions,
and a weeding out of those aspects of socialistic ideologies hindering growth over time, it now is
fast becoming a true world economic super state. The credit for this turn of events is in its
shifting and pragmatic philosophical alignments, according to what is known of its history, rather
than any overt association with one of the world's established religious teachings.
Ends, Means and Purposes

Both science and religious teachings, being associated as child to parent, hold that the
means determine the end result. In science this means that good scientific methodology
validates research results, while a bad scientific methodology will invalidate results, no matter
how important they may sound. Religion acts identically in that it teaches by example, by
rational argument, and not by recourse to extraordinary events such as miracles to convince. It
also condemns force in the spreading of its message. The verse, “There is no compulsion in
religion. Verily, the right path has now become distinct from the wrong path.” (Qur’an 2:256)
clearly establishes this line.
All witness, however, actions coming out of both science and religion based on a
conviction that the end justifies the means. The source of this phenomenon and how has it been
allowed to root itself in science and religion is ideology, which asserts that a good or worthy end
justifies the use of nefarious means. The results of such behavior is not at all the fault of religion
or science, but rather, of human thinking corrupting divine teachings. No matter how pure and
exalted the instrument, it nonetheless can be utilized for corrupt and selfish ends. A lighted
torch in the hand of a child will not illuminate the house but only set it on fire, destroying the
house and killing the child. The undeniable power of religious forces, if placed at the disposal of

the ignorant and corrupt, become as great a cause of evil as they had been of good when
previously utilized by skilled and wise practitioners.
In the revealed verses of the Messengers of Allah no statements can be found which
declare that the end justifies the means. Indeed, divine revelation declares first and foremost that
the means determine the end pursued. Besides the just quoted verse from the Qur'an there is this
statement: "Verily, those who disbelieve in the ayat of Allah, and kill those who order just
dealings, . . . appraise them of a painful doom." (Qur'an 3:21). This affirms the non-martial
character of true religion in its dealings in the world, and that the means determine the end rather
than being justified by it. In fact, the verses of Allah inform us that we become exactly what we
do, what we sacrifice our God-given resources to become. This exercise is further demonstration
that science and religion utilize a common set of principles regarding the criterion of truth and
error.
Ideologies also exist in science, of course, in the form of deep-rooted biases, which
distort its explanatory value. The beginning of this chapter cited the example of science
generally refusing to analyze the verses of the Qur’an for their rationality and falsifiability, or to
independently verify the social states under various scenarios predicted by spiritual principles
and laws. It has relegated all divinely revealed verses as constituting a special discourse, and has
followed the religionist doctors in declaring that science stands apart from it and can have little
useful to say about it.
In social sciences especially, there can be fads and trends driven by ideologies, where
evidence in opposition to accepted and established findings do not receive a fair hearing. Both in
social and physical sciences outsiders who have made important discoveries or questioned
scientific findings have been ridiculed and dismissed, only to have it discovered later that their
findings were correct and beyond reproach, in the best traditions of scientific analysis. For
example Heaviside in electromagnetism; Maxwell in physics; Velikovsky in astrophysics;
Mandelbrot in finance. And science always takes a dim view to anyone challenging its
paradigmatic orthodoxy, outsider or insider: Gould in paleontology; Keynes in economics;
Pasteur in medicine.
In religion, every Messenger of Allah was, as previously stated, a relentless critic of
existing religious ideologies, attempting to turn the people toward the fundamentals of religion,

the foundation on which all subsequent religious revelations were based. Therefore, They were
denied, vilified, persecuted or martyred and Their followers relentlessly attached, killed and
driven out. “They said, 'You have come to us that we should worship Allah alone and forsake
that which our fathers used to worship. So bring us that wherewith you have threatened us if you
are of the truthful.'" (Qur'an 7:70). "Those who reject our ayat We shall seize with punishment
in ways they perceive not." (Qur'an 7:182)
Since the relationship of religion to science is that of generating its initial impulse, their
respective purposes must necessarily diverge. Science is encyclopedic in nature, dedicated to
analyzing and describing the material, temporal world, including human relationships in all their
causes and effects. Stripped of ideologies it lacks a political agenda, per se, and seeks only to
understand. Blind to the harm or benefit of its own discoveries it relies upon religiously derived
ethical sets and moral philosophies to light its path, and on engineering to translate its findings
into useful goods, services and social policies.
Goals of scientific and divinely revealed teachings: A comparison

What are the respective objectives of science and the divine messages? One possible
answer is that science seeks to know while the divine message, which later becomes an
organized, self-sustaining religious cause, seeks to reform. But are these actually two separate
things over time? For example, whatever science discovers is tested for utility and applicability
to solving problems and enhancing life in intellectual, emotional, and physical ways. Later,
engineers devise new technologies, goods and services from the initial discoveries, be they
natural laws or new materials. Commercial and educational enterprises develop to carry on the
work, whose goal is to change the nature of life as it is lived. The divine Messengers have acted
exactly the same way as pure science in this regard, revealing laws and explaining how spiritual
creation operates. Later, religion organizes this opus into an institution with strategic and
tactical objectives for transforming the spiritual character of mankind.
Both processes similarly rely on mankind’s unquenchable desire to discover,
comprehend, and manipulate universal laws in order to improve the experience of living. In that
context, it is misleading to insist that the purpose of science is purely encyclopedic while that of
religion is transformative. Taking into account derived science and engineering,

commercialization and institutions for learning and knowledge dissemination, science is as
transformative in its purposes as religion; and in light of the clear statements of the divine
Prophets and Messengers themselves, religion is just as encyclopedic in nature. What the divine
Messenger does is to reveal laws of spiritual life, and instruct mankind in their application and
implications; religion follows after with the objective of organizing this opus into institutions
capable of self-preservation. This is no different from the scientific paradigms and schools
analyzed by Kuhn (1962), which are also for the purpose of self-preservation.
Scientists achieve their findings by virtue of applying their intellectual and observational
gifts to discovery and analysis, while the divine Messenger, according to all the historical
records, is chosen, and apart from His or Her spiritual illumination, is otherwise unremarkable.
Also, there are good and bad scientists; only time and testing can separate the two classes, and
determine truly genuine discoveries from quackery; while divinely chosen Messengers all share
the same exalted level of spiritual illumination and knowledge, even while each may have
material and temporal differences. Nonetheless, the scientist and the Messenger have the goal of
enlightening mankind with their knowledge and discoveries.
We have this general result: The purpose of science and divine speech is to disseminate
knowledge to the world, which has the latent capacity to transform life for mankind. Perhaps,
this is what is meant by, “the creative Word”? And further, neither the scientist nor the
Messenger has a plan to acquire power. Rather, it is the utilizers of their respective outpourings
who will accomplish that, religion from the divine message, and institutional science and
technology for the scientist. For better or worse, and drawing their authority from the root
discoveries, it is scientific and religious institutions in society that display a desire for political
power, the better to influence the direction of human advancement.
Conclusion
This paper has explored the unity in purpose, methodology, means and ends of scientific
and religious ways of investigation and analysis. It argued that both share the same methods and
have complimentary ends, which include explaining their respective worlds in their own
respective terms. It showed that both assert that the means employed determine the ends
obtained.

The Cause of causes reveals religion, which supplies the animating purpose to human
endeavors. In its epistemology religion has established a process of rational explanation and
analysis capable of defeating and throwing out established ideologies and falsehoods. This
system found ready application in the material-temporal world, first in logic and argument and
later in hypothesis testing and complex scientific methodology. Thus, although both religion and
science utilize similar tools of analysis, religion is the motive idea while science is the tangible
instrument begotten by Divine speech. Religion is reformer and motivator while science is
utilizer; religion is the eyes and heart while science is the body and brain; religion is the soul
while science is the spirit.
It is likely a radical idea that science and religion share any similarities at all, much more,
that they utilize identical procedures of rational argument and verification. But a close
examination of the characteristics of each narrative shows this to be largely true.
After its initial revelation religion has mostly been left to the community of believers to
decide how it should be structured, disseminated and its teachings enforced into a codified body
of laws and ordinances, which themselves find their way into secular jurisprudence. Sects are
organized within the religion around closely associated world views or postulate
instrumentalities arising from divergent attempts at achieving religiously adopted goals in the
political sphere.
Ideological forces are responsible for most of these differences. Ideological religious
structures lack legitimate ways to revise, annul or extend the set of basic laws and findings that
comprise the core revelation. This is the task of the Redeemer, Who appears at the nadir of that
community’s fortunes to revive what had been spent or buried under man-made ideological
accretions, and give a fresh impetus to human development. Since subsequent revelations
comprehend all past revelations, the religious process continues to advance in sophistication,
complexity, flexibility, and its capacity to address the changing conditions of mankind. The
appearance of divine s continues to be responsible for motivating the scientific, political and
economic progression in human society.
Science, seeing a pattern established by the structure of religious organizational methods,
organized itself in a similar manner, establishing various “paradigms” to shelter research. These
paradigms are constructed out of accepted beliefs about how the world works. But being the

sum of human research, which is unlike religious revelation in its discovery process, these
paradigms can be endlessly revised on the basis of new information and research findings by its
dedicant-participants, without any need for its own separate revelatory process. Its impetus is
supplied exogenously by religion.
These arguments for the preeminence of divine speech in the progression of the human
world were supported with historical examples tracing the dispensation of religious teachings
and their associated effect in the rise and decline of national and regional fortunes. Even the
reflected light of religious revelations was shown to be responsible for national advancement.
Nations exhibiting the most success in today’s global environment were shown to have a
religiously-sourced philosophy of mixed origins rather than of firm adherence to one particular
past religion. The case of China was specifically mentioned.


Scientific and Religious Analytical Techniques: A Comparative Analysis

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Scientific and Religious Analytical Techniques: A Comparative Analysis

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Scientific and Religious Analytical Techniques:

Dalton Garis Page 1 of 23

The Common Analytical Framework of Science and Divinely Revealed Speech

Dalton Garis Page 2 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 4 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 5 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 6 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 7 of 23

The Essential Complementarity of Prophetic Dialogues and Scientific Analysis

Dalton Garis Page 8 of 23

The nature of ideology

Dalton Garis Page 9 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 10 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 11 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 12 of 23

The Motive Force behind Scientific Development

Dalton Garis Page 13 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 14 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 15 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 16 of 23

Having demonstrated the dependence of material development and advancement on the

Dalton Garis Page 17 of 23

Ends, Means and Purposes

Dalton Garis Page 18 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 19 of 23

Goals of scientific and divinely revealed teachings: A comparison

Dalton Garis Page 20 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 21 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 22 of 23

Dalton Garis Page 23 of 23

Você também pode gostar