A New Fourfold Taxonomy of Science-Religion Relations

Despite various criticisms and alternative proposals, Barbour’s fourfold taxonomy has continued to serve as an intuitive introduction to Science-Religion relations. I offer a new fourfold taxonomy—called the Four “C”s Taxonomy: Conflict, Compartmentalization, Conversation, and Convergence—which improves upon the pedagogical advantages of Barbour’s taxonomy, and which avoids the weaknesses of alternative taxonomies. In addition, the new taxonomy addresses the objections against Barbour’s taxonomy by distinguishing different aspects of science and religion as the relata, by clarifying the relations as perceived/expressed relations, and by demonstrating their relevance for the explanation of history and of other cultures.