Western science, religion and Vietnamese traditional culture: Harmony or antagonism?

Abstract

© 2020, Slovenska Vzdelavacia Obstaravacia. All rights reserved. The relationship between religion and science has been very diverse and dynamic in the thousands-year-long history of human thoughts, many times seen as the incompatible terms signifying very opposite realities. In European history, the era of so called or perceived “Dark-Middle-Ages” was dominated by, what is much later defined as the strong antagonism between them. It is true that in the name of religion, some books of ancient Greek and Renaissance philosophers were burned, and some scientists were trialed or even killed. It is therefore necessary to avoid the caricatures and present the more complex view on this matter. The situation in Europe has changed significantly in the 20th century, after the era of the 19th century Rationalism, which has started the process of understanding of the roots of the relationship between science and religion in a new way, offering thus an opportunity of a meaningful dialogue and cooperation rather than antagonism and strict opposition. In Western Europe today, many scientists and theologians are engaged in ongoing and productive dialogue about the relationship of faith and science. In the pre-colonial period, Vietnamese traditional culture was generally Confucian and Buddhist. Then the Confucian traditional education was replaced by the new national education system under the influence of certain Western model. While introducing Marxism, a lot of changes appeared in the relationship between religion and science in the country. Our study describes the relationship between religion and science in Europe and in Vietnam in the past and compares the present-time-situation both, in Europe and in Vietnam.