Religion and Science
7. The ‘Religion’ of the Modern Age
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world. Adherents of religion think that this results
from the neglect and consequent downfall of
religion, while atheists and apostates take quite a
different view. The latter attribute our difficulties to
the fact that the progress of those sciences which
deal with inanimate matter has not been equalled
by that of the biological sciences, — which are still,
indeed, at a rudimentary stage. They feel that we
are inevitably suffering because of their failure to
move forward. Dr. Carrel, therefore, advocates far
more intensive research in this field.
His book
Man, the Unknown,
is an attempt to
discover this ‘man’ who is still ‘unknown’. He
begins the chapter: ‘The Remaking of Man’ with
these words: “Science which has transformed the
material world, gives man the power of
transforming himself” (p. 252). He goes on, “For the
first time in history, humanity, helped by science,
has become master of its destiny. It has unveiled
some of the secret mechanisms of his life. It has
shown him how to alter his emotion, how to mould
his body and his soul on patterns born of his
wishes. But will we be capable of using this
knowledge of ourselves to our real advantage? We
