The Science of Religion by William S . Hatcher

Religion and science are often perceived as being, to some degree, in opposition to each other. The reasons for such a view are considered, and are seen to derive from a certain particular conception of science and of religion: On the one hand, scientific method is viewed as too rigorous and restrictive to apply to religion, while on the other hand, religious experience is viewed as peculiarly subjective. Each of these conceptions is discussed, examined, and rejected. It is seen that scientific method, rightly viewed, is universal in its scope, for this method is essentially the systematic, organized, directed and conscious application of our mental faculties. The view of religious experience as uniquely subjective is seen to be tenable only when the social dimension of religion is neglected and when the datum of religion is taken to be primarily the internal experience of the individual. But mystic experience can be objectified through participation in an appropriate community of understanding, just as other kinds of experience are objectified through participation in a scientific community of understanding. The Bahá’í Faith is seen as providing this religious community of understanding, as well as being founded on a basic datum which is external to the individual: The Revelation and Person of the Manifestation (i.e. religious Prophet-Founder). It is the objectivity and accessibility of this phenomenal point of reference which guarantees the individual's accessibility to religious experience. Finally, some particular aspects of the most recent occurrence of the phenomenon of Revelation, that of Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892), are examined, it is seen that the specific social goal of the Bahá’í Faith is the establishment of unity on the planetary level, that the Bahá’í Faith affirms the complete harmony of religion and science, and that it is scientific in its method. At the same time, the legitimate emotional and aesthetic aspects of religious experience are neither excluded nor over-emphasized but rather assume their natural place within the total range of religious experience and practice.