Evolving Perspectives: The Intellectual History of the Harmony of Science and Religion in the Bahá'í Faith

This paper analyzes the intellectual development of the Bahá'í principle of the harmony of science and religion through the works of Alimorad Davoudi, William Hatcher, Farzam Arbab, and Todd Smith. Over the last fifty years, these scholars have conceptualized the relationship between science and religion, evolving the discourse from Davoudi’s early delineation of their distinct yet complementary roles to Hatcher’s critique of materialism and emphasis on rational religious argumentation. Arbab and Smith build upon these foundations, integrating the philosophy of science and addressing key issues such as theory-ladenness and underdetermination. While affirming the complementarity of science and religion, they reject positivist limitations, proposing a dynamic, constructive interaction between the two systems. This paper traces the evolution of Bahá'í thought on this subject, highlighting its implications for both theoretical and practical applications in the understanding of knowledge.