Discussions on �Faith, Science, & Reason�Theology on the Cutting Edge�by Christopher T. Baglow, Ph.D.

IHM Thursday Lenten Soup Supper Series

February 15^th, 2024

Talk #1 on Chapter 1

Faith and Science at the Crossroads of the Human Spirit

Deacon Jim O’Hara

Christopher T. Baglow, Ph.D.

• Academic Director, Science and Religion Initiative, McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame
• Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, in 2000
• Why a 2^nd Ed? Challenged by Dr. Cavadini to write the 2^nd Ed as part of the McGrath Institute’s new Science and Religion Initiative

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Faith and Science at the Crossroads of the Human Spirit

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth-in a word, to know himself-so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”

-St. Pope John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, Prologue

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Defining Our Terms

• Reason – not merely the ability to think clearly and come to correct answers about certain kinds of problems. Rather, it is the capacity for wisdom.
• Wisdom – “…an all-embracing understanding of reality as a whole in light of ultimate causes, especially in light of the end or goal of all things.” – Fr. James Brent, O.P.
• Religion – the practice of faith in prayer, worship, and daily life.
• Faith – a new kind of knowledge brought about by entrusting one’s whole self to God.
• Bing Videos Bishop Barron on What Faith is and What Faith Isn’t

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• Faith and Religion are used interchangeably in the book

Science and Faith, How and Why: Different Perspectives on the One Universe

“Both Science and Faith involve encountering and understanding the same universe, but they do so in a unique way.” – pg. 4

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“Science takes things apart to see how the work: religion brings things together to see what they mean.” – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

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The Madonna della Pieta by Michelangelo

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Friedrich Miescher�A Scientist in Search of Answers to “How” Questions

• From an early age wanted to be a scientist
• Assigned to study white blood cells, found commonly in pus and spent much of his time collecting bandages from a nearby hospital
• By painstaking work he extracted the cells nuclei, ultimate extracting a gray chemical he named “nuclein”
• He theorized it had something to do with fertilization but never could prove it.
• He pushed himself very hard, working long hours in a very cold lab, until he contracted TB and died of pneumonia at 51.
• 50 years later his discovery would become the chemical foundation for modern day genetics, deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA

St. Ignatius of Loyola �A Spiritual Seeker in Search of Answers to “Why” Questions

• A solider seeking personal glory
• He was seriously injured at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521.
• An intense conversion experience while convalescing
• Cardoner River experience
• Founder of the Jesuit Order
• Spiritual Exercises – a path of Christian prayer and spiritual growth for millions

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Order: A Universe of Patterns

• “The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility…The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle” – Albert Einstein
• The assumption of order by science has been essential to its success.
• Murray Gell-Mann (1929-2019) predicted the existence of the Omega-minus particle based on order and beauty
• Physical determinism?

Openness: A Universe of Emergence

• The Universe if full of examples of order that are not fully explained by prior events and full of systems not reducible to the sum of their parts
• Example of Water Molecules having properties entirely unlike those of Hydrogen gas and Oxygen gas
• Life emerging from non-living chemicals
• Science reveals a universe full of novel possibilities that become realities through surprising events

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Divine Order: The Son “Through Whom All Things Were Made”

• The Second Person of the Trinity, The Son - Logos, Greek for “Mind” or “Reason”
• “All things were made through him” (Jn 1:3) and “in him all things hold together” (Col 1:17)
• Primary concern of faith is the coming of the Son-Logos 2000 years ago – The Incarnation
• His work of salvation began long before with the creation of the universe and later in the history of Israel
• God gave the people order through the law and they recognized it reflected the order they saw in the sky and on earth
• Jesus announced new things: God united to man, the fulfillment of the law, salvation for all…The Gospel

Divine Openness: The Holy Spirit, “The Giver of Life”

• “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30)
• St. Pope JPII: “Through the Holy Spirit God exists in the mode of gift.”
• St. Paul: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Rom 5:5)
• Love is freely given; it is surprising and can change us in new and unpredictable ways
• At creation, “moving over the face of the waters” as new things are brought forth
• The Incarnation, the Divine Son’s coming is a new event, brought about by the Holy Spirit and Mary’s “Yes”

Paradox and Mystery: Uniting the Perspectives of Science and Faith

• “Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the Trinity. It is mere Abracadabra of the [tricksters] calling themselves priests of Jesus” – Thomas Jefferson
• Paradoxes in faith: How is God One and Three? Jesus is both fully human and fully divine? The Eucharist?
• Paradoxes in science: Light is a wave and light is a particle?
• Neils Bohr introduced the scientific principle of complementarity – objects have properties which cannot be observed all at once because of the limitations of our point of view.
• Jefferson’s test for truth was far too simplistic – Reality is richer than the human mind can comprehend.

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Going Forward

• There is a strong perception in our culture and particularly among our young people that faith and science are in conflict.
• This is a problem…especially for our young people, who are the future of the Church.
• We, as a parish, are blessed with many gifted men and women whose lives testify that this perception is not true.
• The Church needs your witness.

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Discussion Questions?

• How do you define faith?
• Can you come up with your own analogy that illustrates the idea science answers the how questions and faith answers the why questions?
• Are paradoxes and mysteries a deficiency of faith, or limitation of the human mind?