Unthinking Old Narratives:

Augustinian vs Mesopotamian Paradigms in the Science-Religion Debate

In The Literal Meaning of Genesis, Augustine of Hippo warned that much of the Genesis creation account should be taken in a figurative sense and interpreters must struggle with unclear expressions that could be interpreted either spiritually or materially.  He also admonished those who, in their zeal for Scripture, talk nonsense on scientific topics; not only because it will make non-Christians think Christians and the writers of the Scriptures are uneducated fools, but it will make it even harder for non-believers to accept the more difficult teachings of the Word of God (1.19.39): 

“If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books [Scriptures], how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason?”

This paper was originally published in Reviews in Science, Religion, and Theology 4 (2025): 5-15.