Religion and science could serve as a joint instrument for progress, if a way is found for the two to compliment each other.
“Science could be made to enter into a perfect marriage with Ghana’s traditional view point, towards the progress of the nation,” the Most Reverend Peter Kwasi Sarpong, Metropolitan Arch Bishop Emeritus of Kumasi Catholic Archdiocese stated in Accra.
Mt Rev Sarpong who spoke on the topic, “Religion and Science,” at the Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah Memorial Lectures (Series 52), at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS).
Touching on some key similarities between the two, he said both science and religion shared the core feature, of humans seeking more understanding, regarding their lives and life in general.
He said in understanding these matters, it was worth noting the fact that a human being was made up of components such as the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Rev. Sarpong said there were many examples of phenomenal happenings that could never be proved by empirical science while on the other hand, science, through its methodology, had propelled man-kind to great heights of achievement.
He noted for example that “just as a baby by nature knew that crying would get the attention of his or her mother, so does the human being know innately that there was a great I am that one could turn to in times of distress”.
Rev. Sarpong noted that by leaving scientific phenomenon to science-based explanations and mystic phenomenon to religious explanation, the two could co-exist alongside each other with a kind of harmony that could foster progress for mankind.
Professor Henrietta Joy Abena Mensa-Bonsu GAAS President, Chaired the occasion.
She expressed her appreciation to Rev. Sarpong for his delivery, and reiterated the fact that it was indeed crucial, that a way was found, to have science and religion complement each other, in a manner that contributed towards the well-being of mankind.
The occasion was graced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The J. B. Danquah Memorial Lecture series was instituted in 1968, in memory of a foundation member of the Academy, Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah, who died in prison in February 1965.
The event consists of a series of three lectures delivered by either a Fellow or a distinguished non-Fellow of the Academy.
Dr. J.B. Danquah, a founding father of Ghana, was a politician, lawyer, novelist, dramatist and politician.
