The Schumann Pavilion Sabbath Seminars class of the Loma Linda University Church recently spent four months reviewing and discussing Huston Smith's recent book, "Why Religion Matters: the Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief." The main thesis of the book is that modernist Western culture has ridiculed, marginalized, or ignored religion, to the detriment of civilization. He names the culprits as the law, the media, higher education and science itself in its guise as scientism, which he defines as the position that sees science as the only valid avenue to truth.

Many class members either disagreed with the book or found parts of it unclear, beginning with the title theme, "Why Religion Matters," which is never satisfactorily addressed in the book. This left as an open question what his real purpose was in writing the book. Especially problematical for the class was his distinction between science and scientism, on which rests the main thrust of the book. It would have been helpful if this had been more carefully explained at the beginning of the book, an issue which should have been taken care of by good editors. As it was, some class members were left with the impression that Smith was against science, preferring a world in which the current dominance of science was replaced by that of religion. We were privileged, however, to have the author himself visit our class to clarify both his purpose in writing the book and his position on science and religion.

On November 9, 2002 we saw a tall, thin, aged gentleman haltingly making his way with the aid of a cane to a seat at the table in the Schumann Pavilion. Although his frame was frail, his eyes were bright and his wit sharp as a tack. Obviously proud of his book and enjoying immensely the controversy and attention that it stirred up, he called it "my culminating book," readily admitting that he wrote it to "dump my pet peeves onto the world."

His main pet peeve is what he sees as an unfair "tilt of the table" against religion, promoted by the intellectual establishment and abetted by the media and the law. He charges that the universities still operate largely on the developmental view of science and religion promoted by Auguste Compte, that religion represents a primitive way of looking at the world, only to be replaced by science as civilization advances.

Science, "the enterprise that discovers empirical facts about the universe," has been transmuted by the academy into "Scientism," the view that "the scientific method is the only or most important way of getting at truth and that the most fundamental building blocks of reality are material," conclusions that Smith points out are not themselves discoverable by science, but are philosophical presuppositions. The prevailing attitude toward religion is perhaps worst exemplified by the statement of some of his scientific colleagues, "We don't even bother to ignore you." On questioning, Smith admitted that the majority of individual scientists were not so extreme in their views, but nevertheless, the condescending attitudes toward religion exemplified by advocates of Scientism have so thoroughly permeated higher education that religious viewpoints have a hard time gaining a serious hearing in Western intellectual circles.

Smith stated, "I want an end to the adversarial position of science and religion to one of dignified partnership. I do not want dominance of religion, but an end to the tilt relationship." Smith believes that the future of civilization itself depends on its achieving this dynamic partnership between the two entities that have often blamed each other-"religion has given us the will to destroy the world and science the means." Now the two need to work together from their respective areas of expertise to find a way to a viable future.

Science by itself can't find a way to a sustainable future because "it can't get its fingers on values, meanings and purposes," which are the special province of the religious wisdom traditions. "Numbers don't carry existential meaning." All eight of the major enduring world religions agree on transcendence-transcending our physical reality there is a dimension from which our world derives its meaning and purpose. "If anything characterizes modernity, it is the loss of transcendence, a reality which surpasses and encompasses our everyday world." "It is a simple logical mistake to think that science alone is the royal road to truth, that it can open the door to truth of every sort, knowledge in all areas." Paraphrasing Einstein, "Science tells us what matter does, religion tells us what it means."

The world needs the meaningful worldview supplied by religion, which holds human beings accountable to a power higher than their own egos. "If you begin with matter, you are lost." "In the worldview of science, we are the more that has derived from the less. In the worldview of religion, we are the less that has derived from the more."

In response to questions pointing out the multiplicity of religious teachings in the world, Smith had this to say: "You can't speak 'language;' you speak German, Japanese, etc. If God wants to communicate with a people, He (She/It) has to use the idiom of the culture." This is why on the level of specific teachings, each religion is different, but the great enduring religious traditions agree on the core concepts that underlie the surface differences.

Regarding the often contradictory nature of claimed "revelation," Smith stated, "You recall the old RCA record logo, with the dog listening to 'his master's voice.' On those old Victrola recordings, the dog was hearing not only the voice of the master, but a lot of scratchiness. When we listen to God, we hear not only the voice of God but a lot of scratchiness provided by the human condition. We often mistake the scratchiness for the voice of God."

"The micro world of quantum mechanics and the mega world of relativity can't be reduced to the human language of the macro world of human experience without contradiction and paradox. Science therefore uses the technical language of mathematics to translate. Likewise the divine world can't be reduced to human language accurately without contradiction and paradox. Religion therefore uses the technical language of myth, metaphor and story to capture its truths in humanly understandable form."

Smith states that as a young man he had set out to begin a career in theology by studying at the University of Chicago. Then he read the Christian mystics, which totally changed his worldview and launched him in the direction he has followed ever since in studying and making available to the educated public the teachings of the world's great wisdom traditions. This led ultimately to the publication of his best-selling book, The World's Religions and a five-part PBS television series with Bill Moyers.

Huston Smith envisions a world in which the two greatest powers, science and religion, will work as partners for the betterment of civilization. He is optimistic that this necessary rapprochement will happen. Already he sees signs of mutual respect and a new willingness to dialogue from both sides. If they fail at this task, if either partner dominates the other or plays an arrogant and destructive role, then the future of mankind could be grim.