Belief and unbelief in God among Polish scholars and their views on the relationship between science and religion Cover Image

Belief and unbelief in God among Polish scholars and their views on the relationship between science and religion
Belief and unbelief in God among Polish scholars and their views on the relationship between science and religion

Author(s): Andrzej Gołąb
Subject(s): Theology and Religion, Religion and science
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Polish scholars; worldview; belief in God; science–religion relationship

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents selected results of a study on the religious views of 279 Polish scholars with a doctoral or higher degree. The percentage of scholars who declared belief in God was 56.3%. The four groups with the highest indices were chemists (80%), geographers and Earth scientists (76.2%), mathematicians and information technology specialists (73.1%), and medical scientists (64.5%). A small proportion of respondents (6.5%) chose the following option: “I don’t believe in a personal God but I believe in a higher power of some kind.” The percentages of atheists and agnostics were 18.3% and 7.2%, respectively. The subjects’ views on the relationship between science and religion were categorized according to the Barbour’s typology (Barbour, 1990). The largest proportion of the subjects (41.9%) denied the inevitability of conflict between science and religion; 13% held the opposite view. Some scholars (19.6%) expressed the view that science and religion should be treated as independent areas of inquiry. The relationship of dialog seemed to be the best form of their coexistence to 2% respondents, while 3.6% were in favor of the cooperation of science and religion in building a comprehensive worldview.

  • Issue Year: 20/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 81-97
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: English