This paper explores the intellectual history of the principle of the harmony of science and religion within the Bahá’í Faith through an analysis of the writings of four prominent Bahá’í scholars: Alimorad Davoudi (1922–1979), William Hatcher (1935–2005), Farzam Arbab (1941–2020), and Todd Smith. Over the last fifty years, these thinkers have developed and reflected on the principle of science and religion, and have conceptualized it in various ways, reflecting an evolving understanding of its theoretical and practical implications.
Alimorad Davoudi contributed significantly to early Bahá’í discourse on science and religion by identifying them as distinct yet complementary systems of knowledge. He emphasized the independence of these domains while outlining how their harmonious coexistence could guide human progress.
William Hatcher advanced the discourse by critiquing materialism and emphasizing the rationalization of religious arguments. He highlighted the structural similarities between science and religion as systems of knowledge, marking an important step in the Bahá’í discourse on science and religion, demonstrating how materialistic claims often contradict the very nature of science itself.
Building on these foundational perspectives, Farzam Arbab and Todd Smith have expanded these ideas, drawing on the philosophy of science—incorporating thinkers like Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend, and Lakatos—and related fields such as the philosophy of mind. Like Davoudi, they affirm the complementary roles of science and religion; like Hatcher, they view these as comparable systems of knowledge. However, they propose a dynamic interplay between the two, addressing ontological presumptions, theory-ladenness, and underdetermination. Their framework rejects positivist limitations, envisioning a model where science and religion interact constructively, maintaining scientific rigor while adhering to religious principles that promote societal prosperity.
Iqan Shahidi is a PhD candidate in Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. He holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the Bahá’í Institute of Higher Education (BIHE). He furthered his academic pursuits with a Master’s in Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex, followed by an MPhil in Intellectual History and Political Thought from the University of Cambridge.
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