SCIENCE-AND-RELIGION AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING

A survey and interpretation is offered of the broad range of contempor ary thinking that concerns itself with the relationships between relig ion and science. The survey consists of a spectrum of six types of tho ught: (1) The modern option: translating religious wisdom into scienti fic concepts; (2) the post-modern/new-age option: constructing new sci ence-based myths; (3) the critical post-Enlightenment option: expressi ng the truth at the obscure margin of science; (4) the postmodern cons tructivist option: fashioning a new metaphysics for scientific knowled ge; (5) the constructivist traditional option: interpreting science in dynamic traditional concepts; (6) the Christian evangelical option: r eaffirming the rationality of traditional belief. The interpretive eff ort considers these options under the rubric of the contemporary searc h for meaning and takes note of controversy and convergence within thi s search. Thinking on the religion/science interface is representative of much contemporary thinking that deals with the question of meaning in the present intellectual and cultural situation.