"The Star" by Clarke creates a conflict between science and religion. Please explain to me how.

The potential for division between science and religion
can be seen in a couple of places here.  The first would be the Jesuit priest's crisis
of faith might be, in its own right, an example of the division between science and
faith.  He leads an expedition to this new planet and believes in space exploration.  At
the same time, there is an unending source of pain in his own heart about the nature of
religion and God.  Whenever a priest holds moments of conflict in their own heart, a
challenge to religion is present.  At the same time, there is some strong level of
questioning as to why God would destroy this community.  From all data, it appears to be
similar to Earth in being humane, compassionate, and understanding.  If they were able
to consider how they would be viewed after the supernova, it seems to be an advanced
culture.  The question results here would be that if God was benevolent and powerful,
why would he allow this culture to be wiped out?  Why not save them?  The ending, of
course, with the culture's destruction coinciding with the birth of Christianity helps
to evoke the challenging nature of any singularly driven mode of spirituality.  The fact
that science is what brings this out might be another source of conflict between it and
religion.