The Territories of Science and Religion by Harrison, Peter (review)

Science and religion have been constructed as opposing fields of human activity, concerned with the human mind and the soul respectively, and therefore severed from one another: independent at best, incompatible at worst, and in any case openly opposed. A brief look at the history of terms religio and scientia reveals the inconsistency of this dualistic paradigm: indeed, the cradle of Western philosophical thought in the extant fragments of the pre-Socratic philosophers points out an intimate alliance between close observation of natural phenomena, speculative thought, and spirituality. Likewise, even a cursory glance at the Roman and medieval school curricula reveals what nowadays pundits would call an embodied, holistic approach to knowledge. So where and when does this radical separation emerge? What purposes does it serve? And most importantly, why do science and religion emerge as separate bodies, and how is that separation enforced and carried out?

Peter Harrison offers many answers to these questions in a fascinating, engaging, and wonderfully written book that traces a true archaeology of these two terms (and many others more), as well as a detailed map of their development and constitution. Chapter 1 provides a suitable introduction to some of the historical problems by providing a succinct and accurate survey of the life of these terms in Christian thought, in particular in the works of Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Isidore of Seville, and Jerome. In doing so, Harrison shows how the emergence and history of both terms is essential not only for establishing a genealogy of knowledge, but also to provide us with ‘crucial insights into their present relations’ (p. 3). Chapters 2 and 3 provide ample examples of the relationships between the book of heavens and the book of scripture, or the word of nature and the word of God, showing the continuity between ancient philosophy and Christian medieval thought, much in the vein of E. R. Curtius’s splendid work on the medieval curriculum. Chapter 4 examines the impact of the Reformation in religious practice, as well as the impact of the experimental method in early modern science. Broadly defined as a shift from internal virtues to external practice, this process affected both science and religion to the same degree, but also shaped them in a dialectical relationship that would ultimately set them apart. However, the emergent new wave of scepticism would affect both areas equally. For instance, the age of discovery and exploration threw religious dogma into disrepute, but also undermined long-standing scientific authorities such as Ptolemy or Aristotle. The defining factor would ultimately come from the practical implications of the new science, as Harrison shows in chapter 5, and from its usefulness much later, during the industrial revolution, as witnessed by the emergence of the term ‘progress’, another concept closely associated with our modern understanding of ‘science’. Finally, in chapter 6 Harrison examines how the plurality of new experimental methods and knowledges were eventually unified during the nineteenth century, for academic, industrial, and professional reasons.

Originally conceived and written as a series of lectures aimed at a nonspecialist audience, this wonderful book provides a succinct, highly engaging overview of a growing field of historical research. This book, ultimately, is also a fine example of modern integrated historical research for anyone interested in the history of science, or in early modern European thought. Perhaps this richly textured map — stimulating and clear for both the layperson and the specialist — will be most welcome in these days in which we are advancing towards a better, more nuanced, more culturally aware understanding about the place of faith in contemporary society, and about the ethical and moral challenges of science for better, fuller, more balanced living.