Three levels of truth
by gillbates (106458)

Yes, being able to correct mistakes is the glory of science. But being right the first time is the glory of religion.

When religion doesn't get it right, people abandon it completely. When science doesn't get it right, they say, "well, that's just part of the process..."

Each particular method has its strengths and weaknesses:

• Religion reveals the truth of divine revelation. Which means that it is true by axiom, not proof. If the "revealed truth" isn't actually true, then it isn't of divine origin. Which does much to explain why religious institutions are very conservative when it comes to accepting new ideas.
• Mathematics is provably correct. That is, apart from an error in the proof, what is true today will always be true.
• Science is experimentally correct. That is, the hypotheses called true today may be shown false tomorrow with the discovery of additional data.

The key, I think, is not to confuse the various levels of truth. Those who take religion as if it were a scientifically-verifiable fact are just as confused as those who think scientific theorems are as reliable and trustworthy as the Gospel or mathematical proofs. There is a large difference between the three, and understanding the subtle limitations of each is just as important as understanding the ideas they espouse.