Nonoverlapping Magisteria

Nonoverlapping Magisteria (NOMA) (German for example: "non-overlapping teaching areas") describes the view that religion and science do not come into conflict with one another because the areas of their professional expertise do not overlap.

The expression was coined by evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould in an essay of the same name published in 1997. The underlying idea, however, was expressed much earlier, as in 1925 by Alfred North Whitehead in his article Religion and Science for The Atlantic .

Science embraces the empirical universe and answers the questions of what it is made of (facts) and why it works that way (theory); Religion, on the other hand, is directed to questions of moral meaning and values. This view of the relationship between science and religion is most widespread among religious followers as well as among Western scientists. The creationism was against a marginal phenomenon and is based on a misunderstanding of the Bible as an infallible document that "until every jot and every finishing touch is literally true," as in only parts of the fundamentalist American Protestantism is predominant. This strictly literal interpretation is common neither in Catholicism nor in Judaism , nor in most Protestant currents, since there is no widespread tradition in these religions of viewing the Bible as literal truth. Rather, the Bible is understood as illuminating literature that is partly based on metaphors and allegories and requires interpretation for an appropriate understanding .

Although Stephen Jay Gould saw himself as a “Jewish agnostic”, his NOMA concept was not about a diplomatic attitude (or, as he was later accused by Dawkins: “ appeasement ”) towards religion, but rather a “principled one Position on an intellectual and moral basis ”, which proceeded from a respectful or even“ loving concordat ”.

Gould's position has been criticized as unrealistic by atheists Richard Dawkins , Jerry Coyne and Ulrich Kutschera , among others . The biology historian Michael Ruse doubts that religion can be completely separated from statements about facts. In addition, it was criticized from the theological side that the position fell behind the view of Georg Simmel . He had claimed that no tension could arise between science and religion, although both were responsible for the whole of reality ; only there is a different sensorium for both: “In principle, they could not cross each other like tones with colors.” The astrophysicist Arnold Benz emphasizes that science and religion relate to different experiences of reality: objective measurements or religious perceptions which a person participates and enters into a relationship. The two levels meet in amazement and ethics, for example.

Michael Schmidt-Salomon believes that evolutionary humanism considers such an attempt to separate two contrary cultures of knowledge to be a failure. It would contribute to the maintenance of illusions and would not take mankind one step forward in its development. In addition, nature and culture are inextricably linked. Statements that are already wrong on a physical or biological level could not suddenly be correct on a philosophical level.

literature

• SJ Gould: Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life , Ballantine, New York 1999.
• Arnold Benz: The Future of the Universe - Coincidence, Chaos, God? Patmos, Patmos Düsseldorf 1997.
• Michael Schmidt-Salomon : Hope man. A better world is possible. , Piper, Munich 2014

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stephen Jay Gould, "Nonoverlapping Magisteria," Natural History 106 (March 1997): 16-22. Online version
2. ↑ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1925/08/religion-and-science/304220/
3. ^ Stephen Jay Gould, "Nonoverlapping Magisteria," Natural History 106 (March 1997): 16-22. Online version
4. ^ Stephen Jay Gould, "Nonoverlapping Magisteria," Natural History 106 (March 1997): 16-22. Online version
5. ↑ M. Ruse: Review of Stephen Jay Gould's "Rocks of Ages" ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Georg Simmel, quoted from Horst Jürgen Helle: The Biologist and the Pope , in: H. Häring (ed.): "Jesus von Nazareth" in the scientific discussion, LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, pp. 269–273, here 271 .
7. ↑ Honorary doctorate 2011 of the theological faculty
8. ↑ Michael Schmidt-Salomon : Hope human. A better world is possible. , Piper Verlag, Munich 2014, pp. 94–96.