Page 76 - The Qur'an Leads the Way to Science

THE QUR'AN LEADS THE W A Y TO SCIENCE

Taking Paley's work as a model, a call was made to the nominated
members of the Royal Society of London. It was further directed that
those so selected should be appointed to write, print, and publish one
thousand copies of a work: "On the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God
as manifested in the Creation illustrating such work by all reasonable
arguments as, for instance, the variety and formation of God's creatures,
in the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms; the effect of digestion and
thereby of conversion; the construction of the hand of man and an infinite
variety of other arguments; as also by discoveries ancient and modern in
arts, sciences, and the whole extent of modern literature."
This call to explore the signs of God's existence was answered by many
scientists who produced highly valuable studies. Those works produced
as a consequence were the following:
(1) "The Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual
Constitution of Man", by Thomas Chalmers (1833)
(2) "Chemistry, Meteorology, and Digestion", by William Prout, M.D.
(1834)
(3) "History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals", by William Kirby (1835)
(4) "The Hand, as Evincing Design", by Sir Charles Bell (1837)
(5) "Geology and Mineralogy", by Dean Buckland (1837)
(6) "The Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of
Man", by J. Kidd, M.D. (1837)
(7) "Astronomy and General Physics", by Dr. William Whewell (1839)
(8) "Animal and Vegetable Physiology", by P. M. Roget, M.D. (1840).

The Bridgewater Treatises are only one example of the meeting of
religion and science. The main thrust behind numerous scientific studies,
conducted both before and after these works, was to know the universe
God created, and thus perceive His almightiness.
The scientific community's deviation from this initial course was
brought about by the predominance of the materialist philosophy in 19th
century Western culture, that resulted due to certain social and political
conditions. This process finds its fullest expression in Darwin's theory of
evolution, culminating, in direct contradiction to the former view, in the
presentation of science and religion as two bitterly conflicting sources of
knowledge.

74