Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Non-Overlapping Magisteria (NOMA)

He attempted from his perspective to give a measure of legitimacy to religion—which he respected—by defining “two great realms of nature's factuality and the source of human morality.” There was, he thought, as he explained in his now classic book Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life, two non-overlapping magisteria. (6)

Oxford’s Richard Dawkins, our era’s most famous militant atheist disagreed. As he saw it, non-overlapping magisteria or NOMA, as it came to be known in the heady world of academia, doesn’t work because religion makes claims about nature’s factuality, specifically its origins. To Dawkins, there was only one magisteria. Religion was simply bunk. One Internet pundit, a supporter of Dawkins’ views, dubbed Dawkins’ one and only magesteria SOMA. He defined it as science only magisteria. He suggested a name for what he said was a “brain-dead” magisteria. He called it COMA for creationism only magisteria. Oxford’s Alister McGrath, a biologist, a scientific-atheist turned Christian, now an Anglican priest who frequently takes to the stage to debate Dawkins one-on-one, in a serious vein suggested partial-overlapping magesteria, which he called POMA.