The Limits of Science

Scientific theories cannot be said to “explain the world"—they only explain the phenomena that are observed within the world. Furthermore ... scientific theories do not and are not intended to describe and explain “everything about the world"—such as its purpose. Law, economics and sociology can be cited as examples of disciplines which engage with domain-specific phenomena without in any way having to regard themselves as somehow being inferior to or dependent on the natural sciences.

Yet most important, there are many questions that by their very nature must be recognized to lie beyond the legitimate scope of the scientific method, as this is normally understood. For example, is there purpose within nature? [Richard] Dawkins regards this as a spurious nonquestion. Yet this is hardly an illegitimate question for human beings to ask or to hope to have answered. ... The question simply cannot be dismissed as illegitimate or nonsensical; it is simply being declared to lie beyond the scope of the scientific method. If it can be answered, it must be answered on other grounds.

Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath
The Dawkins Delusion: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine (2007, pg. 38)