The relation between science and religion is a controversial field of study. Historiographical issues include outlining what happened in 17th century Europe and situating the religious heritage, be it Jewish, Christian or Muslim. The contents of the HEMED history module are set downstream from this period and follow three strands. The first consists in showing how the “humanities and natural sciences” achieved independence from “religious knowledge”; the second is focussed on the full range of responses from religious authorities faced with scientific and technological progress; the third aims to give an account of contemporary debates around epistemological questions. We strove in our approach not to set aside as a matter of course the history of cultural environments all too often construed as frozen in time.
