Science does not usually explore metaphysics, because for many scientists the scientific method requires the kind of reproduceability that only material particles demonstrate. Thought does not cleave to the same repeating laws that matter does and may not give a brass farthing about responding the same way to the same situation twice in a row. That does not mean that the universe of thought cannot be explored scientifically, but it does mean that it is tricky and difficult to explore it if you treat it like matter.

Religion wanders straight into metaphysics, but unfortunately tends to substitute revelation and derivative dogma for clear thinking and open-eyed exploration. Dogma is the antimatter of discovery and the bane of new understanding.

So neither hard-core materialism OR normal religion will discover any workable truths about religious questions as they are now practiced, in the main.

But that does not mean that individuals exercising their best abilities cannot do s, at least for themselves.