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The Kitab-i-Aqdas: A New Paradigm
The term “paradigm” is used in a way now familiar in everyday speech – such as in the phrase “a new paradigm” or “paradigm shift”. But this kind of usage has a particular and recent origin. It comes from a philosopher of science whose name was Thomas Kuhn. In the late 20th century, this philosopher undertook a systematic study of the history of science and it how progresses. What he persuasively showed was that science from time to time undergoes “scientific revolutions” — it enters a new paradigm or undergoes a paradigm shift. Such revolutions arise when an existing scientific paradigm encounters more and more unanswered questions that it is…
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Harmony of Science and Religion: History of an Idea
A Baha’i principle is that of harmony of science and religion. The use of “harmony” to express the relationship between science and religion is apt – as it captures the idea that each is incomplete without the other. Like notes in music, we don’t experience the beauty of the whole until we hear them together. Thus, as we have seen in previous articles, science is a means of freeing religion of superstition, prejudice and fanaticism and religion is a means of fostering the dedication of science to peace and human welfare. It is helpful to think about these concepts within the broader context of how the relationship between science and religion has been…
