Science and Scripture Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Vatican Observatory Foundation Faith and Science

Copernicus and the “High Seas”

Article (blog post series) 3600 words Level: all audiences In this series of posts, written for The Catholic Astronomer blog, Christopher Graney discusses “Two Spheres Theory” regarding the shape and composition of the Earth. The Two Spheres Theory was a medieval idea that came to be taken as scientific evidence for existence of, and direct action in the world of, God. However, the Two Spheres Theory was soundly disproven by, among other things, Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the lands now known as the Americas. Click here to read Part I of this series on The Catholic Astronomer – the blog of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Click here to read Part II of this series. Click here to read Part III.

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Misplaced Obsessions: Understanding Why Christmas Is On December 25th.

Article (blog post) 1500 words Level: all audiences Fr. James Kurzynski writes on the subject of the date of Jesus’s birth in this post on The Catholic Astronomer blog. Know “the date” is complicated, as Fr. Kurzynski explains: So, can we find December 25th referenced as the date of Jesus’ birth in the writings of the early Church Fathers? Yes, we can… with some presumptions that are VERY important to take into account. A basic Google search on when we find the first reference to December 25th as the date of Jesus’ birth will bring you to Hyppolytus of Rome (170AD – 235AD). Most online citations will boldly affirm that Hyppolytus wrote that Jesus was born on December 25th. The problem is, that’s not what Hyppolytus said. He actually said that Jesus was born on the 25th day of the ninth month. What Hyppolytus is referencing is the Jewish month of Kislev. Of particular interest, the 25th of Kislev in Jewish culture is the … Continue reading →

Big Science, Hurrah!

Article (blog post) 1200 words Level: all audiences In this post on The Catholic Astronomer blog, Vatican Observatory astronomer Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., comments on the reactions people have to discoveries like the Higgs Boson, especially when those discoveries have sensational language attached to them, as was the case with the Higgs (i.e. the “God Particle”). Br. Consolmagno writes: Scientists do, indeed, speak in metaphors. We have to. Even the word “particle” is a misnomer. A boson or fermion is nothing at all like a tiny speck of stuff that you could see in a microscope. It is an entity that can only be described in terms of the mathematics that it appears to follow; and even the maths are a metaphor for the reality they are trying to describe. People who look for “literal” truth in the Bible would be well advised to remember that materialistic science itself is not meant to be taken “literally.” You can’t do justice … Continue reading →

Creation Reveals God’s Glory – St. John Paul II

Article 1000 words Level: all audiences Pope John Paul II in a March 1986 General Audience discusses creation and scriptural references to how creation proclaims the glory of God : A new dimension of God’s glory begins with the creation of the visible and invisible world. This glory is called “exterior” to distinguish it from the previous one. Sacred Scripture speaks of it in many passages and in different ways. Some examples will suffice. Psalm 19 proclaims: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork…. There is no speech, nor are there words whose sound is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Ps 19:1, 2, 4). The Book of Sirach states: “The sun looks down on everything with its light, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory” (42:16). The Book of Baruch has a very singular and evocative … Continue reading →

James Clerk Maxwell – Science and Faith

Article (two letter excerpts) 350 words Level: all audiences James Clerk Maxwell is one of the most important figures in the history of science. Students in physics courses everywhere study “Maxwell’s Equations” that mathematically describe electromagnetic waves. These waves include light, radio, x-rays, etc. They are how astronomers learn about the universe and they are the basis of all wireless communication technology, including smart phones. Maxwell was a devout Christian who spoke of his faith in many of his letters. Below are two excerpts from letters which contain direct references to both his scientific work and his faith. The first is from a draft of a letter in 1875 regarding membership in “The Victoria Institute”: I think men of science as well as other men need to learn from Christ, and I think Christians whose minds are scientific are bound to study science that their view of the glory of God may be as extensive as their being is capable … Continue reading →

John Henry Newman – Christianity and Physical Science: A Lecture in the School of Medicine

Book chapter 8500 words Level: university This excerpt has been selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. John Henry Newman, who would eventually become Cardinal Newman, writes: I observe, then, that there are many investigations in every subject-matter which only lead us a certain way towards truth, and not the whole way: either leading us, for instance, to a strong probability, not to a certainty, or again, proving only some things out of the whole number which are true. And it is plain that if such investigations as these are taken as the measure of the whole truth, and are erected into substantive sciences, instead of being understood to be, what they really are, inchoate and subordinate processes, they will, accidentally indeed, but seriously, mislead us. Click here for Newman’s discussion, from Inters.org. Click … Continue reading →

St. Thomas Aquinas – The Knowledge of the Creatures is Useful to Avoid Errors Concerning God

Book excerpt 1400 words Level: university In this Summa contra Gentiles discussion on created things (that is, on the creatures or the works of God), Thomas Aquinas comments on the value for Faith inherent in understanding these things. This excerpt has been selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. St. Thomas gives a number of reasons for studying the works of God: First, because meditation on His works enables us in some measure to admire and reflect upon His wisdom…. Secondly, this consideration [of God’s works] leads to admiration of God’s sublime power, and consequently inspires in men’s hearts reverence for God…. Thirdly, this consideration incites the souls of men to the love of God’s goodness…. Fourthly, this consideration endows men with a certain likeness to God’s perfection…. It is therefore evident that the consideration … Continue reading →

Thomas Aquinas – On Creation and Time

Book excerpt 1600 words Level: university This discussion on creation and time, from the Summa contra Gentiles of Thomas Aquinas, contrasts and compares in interesting ways with the modern understanding of the origin of the universe as described in the “Big Bang” theory (in which neither matter, nor time, nor space exist prior to the “bang”). For example, St. Thomas argues that the act of creation is not a change of one thing that exists into another thing. Rather, appealing to both reason and to St. Basil, St. Thomas argues that both material things and time itself were formed when God created the universe, a process which St. Thomas argues was instantaneous. He says, “And so it is that holy Scripture proclaims the creation of things to have been effected in an indivisible instant; for it is written: ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth’ (Gen. 1:1). And Basil explains that this beginning is ‘the beginning of time’.” This excerpt … Continue reading →

On the prudence and openness in interpreting sacred Scripture, when biblical passages deal with our knowledge of nature

Book excerpt 750 words Level: high school and above An excerpt on the book of Genesis, from Augustine of Hippo’s The Literal Meaning of Genesis. This excerpt has been selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. From Inters.org: These passages from St. Augustine’s De Genesi ad litteram suggest how theologians should behave when different interpretations of sacred Scripture are possible in matter of our knowledge of nature. Prudence is recommended to avoid presenting specific readings, susceptible of further deepening, as if they were absolute and unquestionable. In so doing we keep away from the risk that scholars who are experts in natural knowledge deride Christians for their ingenuousness, and then underestimate the value of the whole Scripture. Galileo Galilei quoted these passages from Augustine in his famous Letter to Madame Christine of Lorraine … Continue reading →

A Critique to Astrology from “De Civitate Dei”

Book excerpt 4500 words Level: high school and above An excerpt from Augustine of Hippo’s The City of God concerning the topic of astrology. Augustine uses the issues of twins to criticize astrology from a practical standpoint, but he also attacks astrology from a theological standpoint. This excerpt has been selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. Click here for Augustine’s critique, from Inters.org. Click here for Augustine’s critique, from The City of God (book V), from the full text available via Google Books.