When and how do science and scripture intersect? Are the realms of science and scripture entirely separate, or do they overlap in some way? And if they overlap, do they complement one another, or compete with one another?
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … 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. … Continue reading →
A Quaker Astronomer Reflects
Book 48 pages Level: all audiences Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s A Quaker Astronomer Reflects: Can a Scientist also be Religious?, was published in 2013 by The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. It is a short overview of what is known in astronomy, with comments relating to religious belief. This small book grew from a lecture she gave in Australia. Click here for a PDF copy of A Quaker Astronomer Reflects, courtesy of Quakers Australia. Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books. Burnell is an accomplished astronomer, now retired, who has served as President of the Royal Society and President of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. She is perhaps best known for her role in the discovery of pulsars in 1967. She has also held leadership positions in the Quaker denomination, and in this book she touches on worship, Bible study, and St. Theresa of Avila as well as astronomy. Her theology is unorthodox, as she … Continue reading →
Adam’s Ancestors
Book 301 pages Level: university Adam’s Ancestors is a story about a dark side of science and religion. Written by David Livingstone and published in 2008 by the Johns Hopkins University Press, Adam’s Ancestors traces the trajectory of the theory of the “pre-Adamites”: humans, or human-like beings, that were supposed to have possibly existed on Earth but that were not descendants of Adam and Eve. The theory of pre-Adamites arose as an attempt to explain the widespread distribution of people on the Earth (people of differing appearances, speaking differing languages), and also to explain certain portions of the book of Genesis. Thus, both science and religion are involved in the story. The theory that not all people are descendants of Adam and Eve—in other words, the idea that human beings are not all of one family—leads to some very ugly ideas. Livingstone does not censor the various people who speak on this idea, so the reader of Adam’s Ancestors must … Continue reading →
Al-Ghazālī – from The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Article (book excerpt) 630 words Level: all audiences An excerpt on religion and science from the Tahāfut al-falāsifa (or The Incoherence of the Philosophers) of Abu Hāmid Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Tūsi al-Ghazālī. Al-Ghazālī, who lived in the eleventh century, is one of medieval Islam’s best-known religious intellectuals. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
An Interview with Dr. Fr. Paul Gabor, S.J.
Article 6000 words (two parts) Level: high school and above An in-depth interview with Vatican Observatory astronomer Paul Gabor, S. J., by Scott Douglas Jacobsen, published in 2016 by In-Sight. Part One – An interview with Dr. Fr. Paul Gabor, S.J. He discusses: childhood and adolescence trajectory influence on him, pivotal moments in personal development towards an interest in science and theology, the gains from the research and professional experiences; motivation for interest in philosophy and theology; the way that the priesthood entered and benefits personal life, and the greatest intellectual stimulation from within the Jesuits; origin of interest in physics, the physics of the small scale, and the instrumental side of particle physics; PhD work and entailed work, explanation for the lay person, and the esoteric aspects of this research. Part two – An interview with Dr. Fr. Paul Gabor, S.J. He discusses: description of research areas and the reason for personal interest in these areas; entering the ranks of … 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 →
Book: The Irrational Augustine
Book 240 pages Level: university A book suggested by our research team. This description is from the publisher, Oxford University Press: The Irrational Augustine takes the notion of St Augustine as rigid and dogmatic Father of the Church and turns it on its head. Catherine Conybeare reads Augustine’s earliest works to discover the anti-dogmatic Augustine, who values changeability and human interconnectedness and deplores social exclusion. The novelty of her book lies in taking seriously the nature of these early works as performances, through which multiple questions can be raised and multiple options explored, both in words and through their dramatic framework. The theological consequences are considerable. A very human Augustine emerges, talking and playing with friends and family, including his mother – and a very sympathetic set of ideas is the result. Click here for a preview, available from Google Books. … Continue reading →
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. … 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 →
Do the Heavens Declare the Glory of God?
Article 5 pages Level: high school and above This article from the journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith is based on a sermon given by Owen Gingerich at the First United Methodist Church in Henderson, Kentucky, on April 21, 2013. Gingerich, an astronomer and historian of science at Harvard University, contrasts a modern understanding of the universe with that of Martin Luther or the Psalmist: [The sky I saw] was the same sky the Psalmist saw, or Martin Luther saw, but in my twentieth-century understanding, the heavens were far vaster than either of them could have imagined. In both space and time in my mind’s eye, my universe was overwhelmingly different from the heavens they saw and envisioned. To Gingerich, the heavens still declare the glory of God—in different ways than they might have to people in the past, thanks to our modern understanding—but they declare it nonetheless. However, he notes that not everyone sees this: [A total solar … Continue reading →
Isaac Newton – Two books relating to religion
Books (two) 376 pages; Level: university Isaac Newton, one of the most prominent scientific figures in history, is often said to have written more about theology than about mathematics and physics. However, his views on the nature of God were unorthodox, and much of what he wrote regarding matters relating to religion was never published. However, his Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms was published in 1728. It contains material such as Newton’s diagram of the Temple of Solomon, shown here. Newton’s Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, was published posthumously in 1733 and is another example of Newton’s writing on matters relating to religion. Click here for Chronology, courtesy of Erara. Click here for Observations, courtesy of Archive.org … 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 →
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 →
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 →
Physics Today: Thinking differently about science and religion
Article (Letter to Editor) and Responses 9 pages (total) Level: all audiences In February 2018 the journal Physics Today published a letter by Tom McLeish, Professor of Physics at Durham University, chair of the Royal Society’s education committee, and author of the book Faith and Wisdom in Science (Oxford University Press, 2014). The following June Physics Today published a number of responses to McLeish’s letter, along with additional remarks from McLeish. McLeish writes: Driving an unhistorical and unrealistic wedge between science and religion has got to stop. It leads, in part, to the optionalism that we see in some public and political attitudes toward science, from climate change to vaccination. It damages the educational experience of our children, and it impoverishes our understanding of our own science’s historical context. Human beings live not only in a physical world but within historical narratives that give us values, purpose, and identity. Science sits on the branches and draws from the sap of … Continue reading →
Priest of Nature – The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton
Book 522 pages Level: university level It is often said that Isaac Newton, arguably the most prominent scientist in human history, wrote more about the Bible and religion than about science and math. However, his religious writings were generally unpublished, and have always been relatively inaccessible and little studied. Robert Iliffe, the author of the 2017 book Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton, tells us that this is due to a number of reasons: in part due to Newton’s own views on publishing; in part due to the anti-Trinitarian nature of Newton’s own Christian faith; in part due to how Enlightenment-era thinkers who were perplexed by these writings explained them away as something Newton produced only later in life, when he had gone senile or even mad; in part due to modern scholars rejecting them as bizarre, irrelevant to his more significant work, and unbecoming of his genius. However, in the 21st century these writings have all … Continue reading →
Setting aside all authority: news from the history of astronomy
A post by on The Catholic Astronomer announcing a new book by Christopher Graney about Fr. Riccioli’s 17th century work defending the heliocentric system on scientific grounds.
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 →
Teacher Inservice: How Would You Encourage Educators to Handle Faith and Science?
A post by Fr. James Kurzynski on The Catholic Astronomer providing an outline of topics covered in a teacher in-service day for K-9 Catholic school teachers, but appropriate at many levels.
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 →
Was There Really a Star of Bethlehem?
Video 4 minutes Level: all audiences In this video from Catholic News Service, Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J. of the Vatican Observatory talks about the possibility that the Star of Bethlehem was a real astronomical event. … Continue reading →
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … 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. … Continue reading →
Al-Ghazālī – from The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Article (book excerpt) 630 words Level: all audiences An excerpt on religion and science from the Tahāfut al-falāsifa (or The Incoherence of the Philosophers) of Abu Hāmid Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Tūsi al-Ghazālī. Al-Ghazālī, who lived in the eleventh century, is one of medieval Islam’s best-known religious intellectuals. [Click here to download PDF] … 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 →
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. … 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 →
Do the Heavens Declare the Glory of God?
Article 5 pages Level: high school and above This article from the journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith is based on a sermon given by Owen Gingerich at the First United Methodist Church in Henderson, Kentucky, on April 21, 2013. Gingerich, an astronomer and historian of science at Harvard University, contrasts a modern understanding of the universe with that of Martin Luther or the Psalmist: [The sky I saw] was the same sky the Psalmist saw, or Martin Luther saw, but in my twentieth-century understanding, the heavens were far vaster than either of them could have imagined. In both space and time in my mind’s eye, my universe was overwhelmingly different from the heavens they saw and envisioned. To Gingerich, the heavens still declare the glory of God—in different ways than they might have to people in the past, thanks to our modern understanding—but they declare it nonetheless. However, he notes that not everyone sees this: [A total solar … 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 →
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 →
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 →
Physics Today: Thinking differently about science and religion
Article (Letter to Editor) and Responses 9 pages (total) Level: all audiences In February 2018 the journal Physics Today published a letter by Tom McLeish, Professor of Physics at Durham University, chair of the Royal Society’s education committee, and author of the book Faith and Wisdom in Science (Oxford University Press, 2014). The following June Physics Today published a number of responses to McLeish’s letter, along with additional remarks from McLeish. McLeish writes: Driving an unhistorical and unrealistic wedge between science and religion has got to stop. It leads, in part, to the optionalism that we see in some public and political attitudes toward science, from climate change to vaccination. It damages the educational experience of our children, and it impoverishes our understanding of our own science’s historical context. Human beings live not only in a physical world but within historical narratives that give us values, purpose, and identity. Science sits on the branches and draws from the sap of … Continue reading →
Setting aside all authority: news from the history of astronomy
A post by on The Catholic Astronomer announcing a new book by Christopher Graney about Fr. Riccioli’s 17th century work defending the heliocentric system on scientific grounds.
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 →
Teacher Inservice: How Would You Encourage Educators to Handle Faith and Science?
A post by Fr. James Kurzynski on The Catholic Astronomer providing an outline of topics covered in a teacher in-service day for K-9 Catholic school teachers, but appropriate at many levels.
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 →
Was There Really a Star of Bethlehem?
Video 4 minutes Level: all audiences In this video from Catholic News Service, Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J. of the Vatican Observatory talks about the possibility that the Star of Bethlehem was a real astronomical event. … Continue reading →
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
A Quaker Astronomer Reflects
Book 48 pages Level: all audiences Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s A Quaker Astronomer Reflects: Can a Scientist also be Religious?, was published in 2013 by The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. It is a short overview of what is known in astronomy, with comments relating to religious belief. This small book grew from a lecture she gave in Australia. Click here for a PDF copy of A Quaker Astronomer Reflects, courtesy of Quakers Australia. Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books. Burnell is an accomplished astronomer, now retired, who has served as President of the Royal Society and President of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. She is perhaps best known for her role in the discovery of pulsars in 1967. She has also held leadership positions in the Quaker denomination, and in this book she touches on worship, Bible study, and St. Theresa of Avila as well as astronomy. Her theology is unorthodox, as she … Continue reading →
Al-Ghazālī – from The Incoherence of the Philosophers
Article (book excerpt) 630 words Level: all audiences An excerpt on religion and science from the Tahāfut al-falāsifa (or The Incoherence of the Philosophers) of Abu Hāmid Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Tūsi al-Ghazālī. Al-Ghazālī, who lived in the eleventh century, is one of medieval Islam’s best-known religious intellectuals. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
A Quaker Astronomer Reflects
Book 48 pages Level: all audiences Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s A Quaker Astronomer Reflects: Can a Scientist also be Religious?, was published in 2013 by The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. It is a short overview of what is known in astronomy, with comments relating to religious belief. This small book grew from a lecture she gave in Australia. Click here for a PDF copy of A Quaker Astronomer Reflects, courtesy of Quakers Australia. Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books. Burnell is an accomplished astronomer, now retired, who has served as President of the Royal Society and President of the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. She is perhaps best known for her role in the discovery of pulsars in 1967. She has also held leadership positions in the Quaker denomination, and in this book she touches on worship, Bible study, and St. Theresa of Avila as well as astronomy. Her theology is unorthodox, as she … Continue reading →
Book: The Irrational Augustine
Book 240 pages Level: university A book suggested by our research team. This description is from the publisher, Oxford University Press: The Irrational Augustine takes the notion of St Augustine as rigid and dogmatic Father of the Church and turns it on its head. Catherine Conybeare reads Augustine’s earliest works to discover the anti-dogmatic Augustine, who values changeability and human interconnectedness and deplores social exclusion. The novelty of her book lies in taking seriously the nature of these early works as performances, through which multiple questions can be raised and multiple options explored, both in words and through their dramatic framework. The theological consequences are considerable. A very human Augustine emerges, talking and playing with friends and family, including his mother – and a very sympathetic set of ideas is the result. Click here for a preview, available from Google Books. … Continue reading →
Isaac Newton – Two books relating to religion
Books (two) 376 pages; Level: university Isaac Newton, one of the most prominent scientific figures in history, is often said to have written more about theology than about mathematics and physics. However, his views on the nature of God were unorthodox, and much of what he wrote regarding matters relating to religion was never published. However, his Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms was published in 1728. It contains material such as Newton’s diagram of the Temple of Solomon, shown here. Newton’s Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, was published posthumously in 1733 and is another example of Newton’s writing on matters relating to religion. Click here for Chronology, courtesy of Erara. Click here for Observations, courtesy of Archive.org … Continue reading →
Priest of Nature – The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton
Book 522 pages Level: university level It is often said that Isaac Newton, arguably the most prominent scientist in human history, wrote more about the Bible and religion than about science and math. However, his religious writings were generally unpublished, and have always been relatively inaccessible and little studied. Robert Iliffe, the author of the 2017 book Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton, tells us that this is due to a number of reasons: in part due to Newton’s own views on publishing; in part due to the anti-Trinitarian nature of Newton’s own Christian faith; in part due to how Enlightenment-era thinkers who were perplexed by these writings explained them away as something Newton produced only later in life, when he had gone senile or even mad; in part due to modern scholars rejecting them as bizarre, irrelevant to his more significant work, and unbecoming of his genius. However, in the 21st century these writings have all … Continue reading →