Science, Sacredness, and the Debate - Essay Sample

The debate on the relationship between science and sacred is widespread nowadays but the opponents seen never to agree on one side due to their deep grounds. The word sacred originates the name "sacer" which is dedicated or consecrated (Clark & Williams, 2018). Science has helped in explaining nature and many experiences.

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Adam Frank, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Rochester, claims that science is the gateway to experience sacred (Clark & Williams, 2018). His incidence at the student cafeteria made him face the sacred character through science. The author of the piece "Can Science Be Sacred?" had learned about the vibration patterns in his class, which became real to him when the theory was distinct in his presence. The mathematical diagram he had set in the study reviled at the cafeteria. The author states that people often present our way of life avenues to meet the sacred through science by engaging in NOVA programs and IMAX movies.

Adam Frank also claims science is an experience that draws one's attentiveness, just like sacred. He concurs with Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religion, that sacred pop up to us in the mid of our activities which were precisely the author's experience as he was getting a cup of coffee. Instantly his awareness was switched through the lens of science. The author concludes that the mathematical physics of elastic surfaces made the experience of sacred possible. Adam Frank mentions that Pythagorean Brotherhood's contemplation and Kepler's elation are sciences which give us the encounter of the world as sacred.

In my view, science originates from sacred. Science tries to give the reasons for the experiences we have. Please assume that the author was not aware of science when he stepped in the cafeteria. He would not be conscious of any scientific theory that could have caused the movement of the cup on the freezer, but since he had been to a science class, he could relate the theory to sacred. The innovation of this science was before the author's encounter (Anderson, 2018).

The definition of religion is disputable and complicated. Religion is a system of belief, regulations and ceremonies used to worship (Galek et al., 2015). In religion, there are sacred occasions and items used in worship. Sacred sets out the religion; for example, in Christianity religion, the church and bible are sacred, thus expound the religion. In conclusion, sacred cannot exist outside religion.

References

Clark, C., & Williams, T. B. (2018). Pomo Indian myths and some of their sacred meanings. Pickle partners publishing.

Anderson, R. (2018). Toward a sacred science—reflecting forward. The Humanistic Psychologist.

Galek, K., Flannelly, K. J., Ellison, C. G., Silton, N. R., & Jankowski, K. R. (2015). Religion, meaning and purpose, and mental health. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.