DCU Home | Our Courses | Loop | Registry | Library | Search DCU
<< Back to Module List

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Science & Religion
Module Code TP205 (ITS) / RET1031 (Banner)
Faculty Humanities & Social Sciences School Theology, Philosophy & Music
Module Co-ordinatorJoseph Rivera
Module Teachers-
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Coursework Only
Description

This module is designed to introduce students to core themes that highlight the ever-changing interface between religion and science. In particular, we’ll focus on the historical narrative in tandem with contemporary debates. Classical figures such as Galileo, Descartes, Newton and Darwin will be read and discussed. After Darwin, theological approaches to science evolve, especially in the twentieth-century, with important voices emerging such as Teilhard de Chardin and Alfred North Whitehead; finally, contemporary trajectories shall fall within our purview, such as those evolutionists who submit Christianity to radical critique, known as the “New Atheists” (Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett).

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the extent to which historical issues (such as the Galileo and the Darwin controversies) have lent credence to the view that religion is opposed to, and indeed fears the progress of science
2. Offer a critical analysis of notions of biblical truth and other religious truth claims in the light of recent developments in science
3. Show how recent developments in evolutionary theory have provided for a sophisticated secular theory of meaning
4. Grasp the ramifications for the credibility of a theistic worldview posed by the problem of natural or existential evil, something made even more challenging by the high level of popular acceptance of a deist image of God.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Assignment Completion30essay
Lecture24No Description
Class Presentation30No Description
Independent Study41No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Galileo and Darwin

Fideism and relativism

Truth matters: the bible and science

Evolution v’s contemporary Intelligent Design theory

Deism and the problem of Evil

Empiricism / positivism: from Hume to Wittgenstein

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Essayn/a50%Sem 2 End
PresentationClass participation and presentation50%Sem 2 End
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Darwin Charles: 1859, On the Origin of the Species by means of Natural Selection, John Murray, London,
  • Dawkins, Richard: 2006, The God Delusion (revised 2011), Mariner Books, London.,
  • Hawking, Stephen: 1998, A Brief History of Time, Bantham Press, London,
  • Cunningham, Conor: 2010, Darwin’s Pius Idea: Why the Ultra Darwinians and Creationists Both Get It Wrong, Eerdmanns, Cambridge.,,
  • Cassidy Eoin: 2004, The Search For Meaning and Values, Veritas, Dublin,
  • Dawkins, Richard: 2009, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, Bantham Press, London,
  • Hitchens, Christopher: 2007, The Portable Atheist, De Capo Press, Philadelphia.,
  • McCarthy, Fachtna and Mc Cann Joseph: 2003, Science and Religion, in Dialogue, Veritas, Dublin,
  • Purcell Brendan: 2011, From Big Bang to Big Mystery: Human Origins in the light of Evolution and Creation, Veritas, Dublin,
Other Resources

43826, Podcast, 0, The Oxford Debate on Science and Religion between Rowan Williams and Richard Dawkins, February 2012, http://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/theofac/origins_nature/2012-02-23_dawkins.mp4?CAMEFROM=itunesu,

<< Back to Module List