https://aleteia.org/2018/01/12/neil-degrasse-tyson-concurs-catholicism-is-the-science-friendly-religion/
Read this article. Make an argument about the relationship between science and religion. Use evidence from this article and from the two letters we read this week in class.
We don’t know what we don’t know. This concept, relayed by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in his Late Show interview with Stephen Colbert, is of the utmost importance. The true significance of this statement, however, is not purely scientific, and is instead directly related to a conversation held earlier in that same interview. Early in the video, Tyson addresses Colbert’s Catholicism, nodding to the advancements in his own field supplied by the Church. In their discussion the two refer back to the induction of the Gregorian calendar as well as the theorization of the Big Bang, both of which were Catholic discoveries. This discussion plants a seed, and when Tyson says the words “We don’t know what we don’t know,” it strikes a chord with Catholic viewers. The unknown is, generally, a big deal for Catholics. It is what projected great thinkers such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Niels Stenton into their respective fields. It is this attempt to understand the world as God has ordered it that brought about many of science’s most significant discoveries. These discoveries are rather thankfully covered extensively in the article linked above. The article also addresses another rather important point evoked by the choice of words in one seemingly insignificant line: “The rise in the new atheism and Biblical literalism have made it a commonplace that religion and science are in conflict [.]” What piques the interest in this particular line is the possibly unintentional reference to the letters of Saint Robert Bellarmine and Galileo Galilei. It is worth noting that the issue in this instance had little to do with a debate of atheism as both men were Roman Catholic. The agreement in faith, however, did little to meld the minds of these two men, making their debated topics more closely akin to an argument over orthodoxy versus dissidence, with much of their respective addresses speaking extensively on Biblical literalism. Despite the squabbles that seem so prevalent and distressing, the most important ideas presented continue to remain uncontested. The unknowable cannot be known beforehand. Truth cannot conflict with truth. Science cannot conflict with God.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I completely agree with your final sentence summing up the argument that science cannot conflict with God.
DeleteThe controversy over faith and science is something that has been an ongoing struggle for years. Some say it’s impossible for certain aspects of science to align with the Catholic faith. However, if God created science then it would be impossible for the two to contradict each other. While there may be a few Catholics who see science as impossible to relate, most know that it has to coincide and have even contributed to scientific discoveries. For example, a Catholic priest came up with the Big Bang Theory, Jean-Félix discovered the size of the earth, Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization, and Gregor Mendel created genetics. The list continues, and while Galileo was criticized for his findings, they were later accepted as truth by everyone, including the church. One of the biggest reasons for people thinking that science and religion are so opposite is because of literal reading or misinterpretation of the Bible. Many things within these readings are parables or stories told to teach us lessons. These can be taken wrong or literally, which complicates things. This is where the issue of science versus religion really comes into play. When taken the correct way, religion cannot go against scientific discoveries because, after all, God created the men and ideas for these findings.
ReplyDeleteNice job involving the idea that God created science! It clearly sums up that it is impossible forthe to to contradict each other.
DeleteNice! I think you address the issues with literal interpretation really well when you discuss parables. It’s really important to note also that a lot of things in the Bible are symbolic in nature, though who’s to say they can’t be true! Overall, good blog.
DeleteYou summed up the article very well and I like how you reminded everyone that god made scientist who find these discoveries.
DeleteMany people think that science is in full contradictory to the Catholic faith. Some even enough to say “I knew from church that I couldn’t believe in both science and God, so that was it. I didn’t believe in God anymore.” However, this is not true, most scientists that solved these earthly questions were catholic themselves. The scientists who created the calendar and the Big Bang Theory were both men of the Catholic faith. These are the people who answered these questions and know the most about why it is the answer, and yet they still believe science and the catholic faith go hand in hand. So, who is to say it does not? The theory of evolution does not even go against the catholic religion. The catholic faith allows one to believe that the world was created by God in a six-day period, or they can believe that the world was created and developed under full guidance from God. The catholic church is becoming more modernized as a whole making it even hardly for the church to disagree with science in any way. The Catholic church is slowly allowing more and more thoughts and opinions within it. It is not like it used to be when you would be hung if you disagreed with its thoughts. The bottom line is the Catholic church does not contradict science but rather they go hand and hand.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty good summary of the article. As far as I can see, the reiteration of your point, that science does not contradict faith, only serves to strengthen your argument. On that note, good job.
DeleteLots of people from the current generation tend to believe less and less of the Catholic Teachings due to the belief that science interferes with it. It is a popular belief now that things that have been scientifically proven (such as the Big Bang Theory) make it seem that the Catholic Teachings could not have happened. In the article given to us, Neil deGrasse Tyson states in his visit on The Late Show states that the holiday New Years is irrelevant and insignificant in every way possible. It is the Gregorian Calendar of Pope Gregory, and the day is completely insignificant in the Bible and even today. All of these beliefs and theories were created by Catholics which would not make sense if they did interfere. Due to this fact, many atheists have turned to agnostics because they understand that there is no way of knowing that any of the Catholic Teachings are true but they very well could be, considering it is a faith-based religion. The main point of this is that science and the Catholic Teachings do not interfere.
ReplyDeleteI like how you stress that science and religion cannot interfere considering religions history with science.
DeleteThe controversy between science and religion is an ongoing and current event. This however is not the case between science and the Catholic Church. “When it comes to putting the tools of observation and the light of reason to good use, science has an ally in the Catholic Church.” Not only do many Catholics have an open mind to science but so does the pope. In fact the pontiff even has his own group of scientists on his staff. Catholic scientists were a part of the Big Bang Theory, discoveries about the size of the earth, pasteurization, and genetics. Even though Galileo was criticized for his discoveries people soon saw what he discovered to be true and started to agree with him. In a way you could say without religion and science coexisting with each other we might not know as much about the world we live in as we do today. Even with all of these scientific achievements there will always be times when religious beliefs and scientific evolution will not agree, for example genetic testing such as growing babies in Petri dishes. The world will just have to stick it out and continue to coexist with science and religion as “friends” and “allies”.
ReplyDeleteScientific observation and the teachings made by the Holy Bible - especially after the renaissance - have amplified the apparent disconnect between religion and science. This misconception is widespread, but can be clearly debunked when examining how the two coincide rather than contradict. The proven and unquestionable aspects of science define what truly is, whereas Catholicism - whether one believes in it or not - defines how things should be. The conflict then lies between what is versus what ought to be. The critical analysis of the anecdotal teachings of the Bible - the literal interpretation - is a faulty practice, used to unveil an apparent "basic logic" or reasoning that skews opinion against religion when, in fact, the practice in and of itself is unreasonable. The very fact that priests, scientists, and a great, diverse array of people - especially those who adhere to the Catholic Faith, such as Fr. George Cyne, "a priest and astrophysicist" - believe in the indisputable observations gathered by scientific tools and research suggests that science is indeed universal, what isn't are morals. There is; however, a deeper and unsupported-by-science argument that is sometimes made by Catholics that, for the sake of consensus, will not be addressed. In the broad scope of this debate, and in disregarding unsubstantiated claims made by Catholics and scientists, there lies a clear connection between science and religion, a connection as indisputable as science itself.
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