“There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.” [emphasis added] —Stephen Hawking. ABC Interview, 2010 “Pure insight and logic, whatever they might do ideally, are not the only things that produce our creeds.” —William James, The…
Miracles always relate to the faith. That is why a belief in miracles is not a vacation from reason, a little holiday from the tedious demands of rational responsibility. Not only is it reasonable to believe that miracles can and do happen, it is unreasonable to think they cannot and do not occur.” ― Ralph…
“Through his Word and wisdom he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew.” —St.…
“Scientists are slowly waking up to an inconvenient truth – the universe looks suspiciously like a fix. The issue concerns the very laws of nature themselves. For 40 years, physicists and cosmologists have been quietly collecting examples of all too convenient “coincidences” and special features in the underlying laws of the universe that seem…
Section 1: Creatio ex Nihilo—Theology “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” —Genesis:1:1-2 (KJV) 1.1 THE CATECHISM What we as Catholics believe about Creation…
SECTION 1: Faith and Revelation “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” —St. Augustine “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” —Hebrews 11:1 “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit…
SECTION 1: Catholic Teaching about the Soul 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND—WHAT ARISTOTLE HAD TO SAY ABOUT SOULS Although, there are many questions to be asked in this chapter, unfortunately there may not be altogether satisfying answers. Many scientists and philosophers lump together mind, intellect, consciousness, soul, but are they the same? According to the Catholic…
— SECTION 1: Prologue–The Greek World There are science-fiction stories, alternate history variety, in which science developed in Greek and Hellenistic civilizations. That it did not, is surprising. Certainly the great minds were there. 1.1 ARCHIMEDES Foremost among these great minds was Aristotle, a philosopher, and naturalist; the term “physics” comes from the title of…
Preface Essay 1: The Catholic Church—Midwife and Nursemaid to Science SECTION 1: Prologue: the Greek World SECTION 2: St. Augustine, a Theologian for our Times SECTION 3: The Medieval Church, Midwife and Nursemaid to Science SECTION 4: Science “versus” the Church? Essay 2: Ways of Knowing; The Limits of Science SECTION 1: Faith and Revelation…