UW Professors Jeff Hardin, and Ron Numbers, will join us to discuss their remarkable new edited volume, The Warfare Between Science and Religion: The Idea That Wouldn’t Die. Since its inception, the “conflict thesis”—the idea that an inevitable and irreconcilable conflict exists between science and religion—has long been part of the popular imagination. In The Warfare between Science and Religion, Hardin and Numbers (along with Ronald A. Binzley) have assembled a group of distinguished historians who explore the origin of the thesis, its reception, the responses it drew from various faith traditions, and its continued prominence in public discourse.

What are the personal circumstances and theological idiosyncrasies that have influenced leading intellectuals who championed the conflict thesis relentlessly? How has the conflict thesis influenced different religious communities, including evangelicals, liberal Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Muslims? And what is the historical and sociological legacy of the conflict thesis in popular culture and intellectual discourse today?

This particular event will be held in partnership with the Veritas Forum.