Mathematics in Religious Education and vice versa

  1. Lemma
  2. Matematika u religiji i religija u matematici
  3. Serbian
  4. Stevanovic, Aleksandra
  5. Education, Science and Orthodoxy
  6. 26-8-2016
  7. Dejic, Mirko [Author]. Mathematics in religious education and religion in mathematics. 32–43
  8. Pravoslavni katiheta
    1. Dejic, Mirko
  9. Religious education - religion and mathematics
    1. “Mathematics in Religious Education, Religion in Mathematics” is the paper published in 2009 in the journal “Pravoslavni katiheta” (Orthodox Katiheta), by professor Mirko Dejic, and it draws a parallel between mathematical and religious thinking. The main aim of the paper is to foser educational possibilities. Having educational wholeness of school in mind, the author states the importance of connection between religious education, as a school subject first established in 2001 in Serbia, and other subjects. Therefore, the author seeks to prove that mathematics and religion permeate and complement each other.

      Firstly, the connection of mathematics and religion is seen in their endeavor to liberate themselves from “human language” and create other forms so as to express “the inexpressible”. Therefore, they create their respective symbols. Mathematical truths are ideal, constant, and non-materialistic – just as religious ones. In order to express them, in both cases, words are not enough. They also have the same root – that they can be first sensed by intuition. In mathematics, intuition precedes the laws of logic that test it. In religion, after sensing that there must be “something”, it is proved by Revelation. The author also argues that there is a parallel between religious dogma and mathematical axioms and between mathematical and religious ideas.

      The paper further explores the abstractions and parallels in mathematics and religion. For instance, in order to envoke Holy Trinity, a triangle can be taken as an analogue of the three connections of three hypostases in Holy Trinity. Triangle is one, whole, indivisible, but has three corners, three sides, three vertices – these are the basic characteristics (faces) that construct it.

      The important part of the paper implies the number of famous scientists who have tackled finding proofs for God’s existence, such as Rudjer Boskovic, Pascal, Newton, Leibniz and many others. Mathematicians and theologians can easily understand each other because the nature and subject of their thinking are alike. Furthermore, many to-be-theologians have turned to mathematics and vise versa. The more mathematicians were interested in nature, the more they could understand that “the great architect of the Universe was pure mathematician“. Apart from great mathematicians, the author has found around 50 more, not so famous though, that have also been monks, priests, or theologians, which all serves to prove the parallel between these two seemingly disunited fields. Throughout history, religion has also influenced mathematical creativity. Many mathematical concepts and theories are created and developed in part under the influence of religion: infinity, irrational number, number as an abstraction, transfinite numbers, limit, coordinate geometry, calculus, probability and so on. In addition, numbers comprise a very important part in the Bible. The author indicates that churches and monasteries are also very significant in searching for mathematics because of their geometry. All these aspects allow the unity of mathematics and religion.

      The main point pressented by the author is that mathematicians may indicate all these corelations to the students at Religious education course so as to help them understand theological abstarctions, and vise versa – theologians may indicate the presence of mathematics in religious thought. Therefore, the aim is first to point out the possibility of connecting mathematical and religious teaching, the connections that are real, without mystique and confrontation, to religious teachers and those who realize teaching of mathematics.