Michael R. Slater dives head first into long-standing scholarly and philosophical conversations surrounding the compatibility, and in-compatibility, of science and religion.

Across five chapters, Slater evaluates both practices from a middle ground, purposefully challenging current models for understanding the relationship between these fields. Recognizing that conflicts between science and religion are too complex for a "simple fix," Slater strives to juxtapose rather than eliminate these disagreements, revealing a fruitful space for dialogue across scientific and religious contexts. Ultimately, this book provides a model for understanding and resolving potential conflicts between science and religion, asserting that conceptions of religion and science as either fundamentally incompatible or fundamentally compatible are misleading and an obstacle to meaningful dialogue.

Slater locates the source of this so-called dichotomy between science and religion as their “ways of believing,” the collection of sources, methods, and norms that they use to arrive at and justify beliefs about matters of fact. In doing so, Slater reveals how science and religion fundamentally shape the ways we approach epistemological, ontological, and ethical queries, creating fertile ground for potential conflict in the process. Resisting the urge to privilege either science or religion, Slater instead prompts both scientific naturalists and traditional religious believers to approach this conflict in ways that do not foreclose discussion, and which maintain an appropriate level of humility about what we claim to know. At its core, this book navigates the manifold differences between science and religion, considering what these different ways of believing reveal not only about humanity's conceptions of the world and knowledge, but also ourselves.