Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

What are the big questions for science and religion—and what could the answers possibly be? In this discussion, Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and British theologian and philosopher Keith Ward explore the relationship between science and religion and address arguments against religion.

Lloyd asks whether religion and science have a common ground, an area of mutual respect. “Well, I used to think there was common ground,” Ward answers, “until people now sometimes known as the ‘new atheists’ made it their business to say that there’s no common ground.” He cites Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris.

Those three figures are not Nobel Prize–winning scientists, however. “If you ask a Nobel Prize–winning scientist ... their views about religion and science,” Ward says, “the answers are much more nuanced and much less confrontational.”

“Evolution began as a religious idea,” Ward says—an idea of a gradual unfolding of God in the created universe. Although belief in evolution is sometimes mischaracterized as a belief in randomness, science is characterized by an understanding of order and probability, if not actual determinism.

The concept of laws of nature also originated as a religious idea. Ward’s complex argument goes well beyond suggesting that God is possible under the laws of science. He expresses the view that carbon-based life forms developed inevitably from the basic laws of the universe. “Incredibly, Richard Dawkins agrees with this,” Ward says.

“If there is a God of love, why is there suffering?” Lloyd challenges.

“Beings like us could only exist in a universe with laws like ours,” Ward responds. “Why is there suffering? Why is there frustration? Because these are a consequence of laws of nature. Laws of nature make it necessary that there will be earthquakes, that there be tornadoes,” which maintain the balance of nature.

Ward says that human evil is permitted “because, in general, it is good to be free ... to love. And if you weren’t free to love, and therefore free to hate, you would be a robot, a programmed machine.”

The Christian view goes further in this direction: God shares in human suffering. The message of the cross, Ward says, is the message that evil can be turned to good. “For every sentient being who suffers, there will be the possibility of an eternity of bliss,” he says.

The Rev. Professor Keith Ward is an Anglican priest, theologian, philosopher, and fellow of the British Academy. From 1991 to 2004, Dr. Ward was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University in England. The author of over twenty books on theology and philosophy, Ward has most recently published Is Religion Dangerous? (2007) and The Big Questions in Science and Religion (2008).

About The Rev. Professor Keith Ward

The Rev. Professor Keith Ward is an Anglican priest, theologian, and philosopher. From 1991 to 2004, Dr. Ward was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University in England, and is a Fellow of the British Academy. Among Dr. Ward's many interests are the dialogue between religions and the relationship between science and religion. The author of over 20 books on theology and philosophy, Dr. Ward's most recent publications are Is Religion Dangerous? (2007) and The Big Questions in Science and Religion (2008).