Science and Faith

Christians often claim to hold a biblical worldview. But what about a biblical cosmos view? From the beginning of Genesis we encounter a vaulted dome above the earth, a “firmament,” like the ceiling of a planetarium. Elsewhere we read of the earth sitting on pillars. What does the dome of heaven have to do with deep space? Even when the biblical language is clearly poetic, it seems to be funded by a very different understanding of how the cosmos is put together. As Kyle Greenwood shows, the language of the Bible is also that of the ancient Near Eastern palace, temple and hearth. There was no other way of thinking or speaking of earth and sky or the sun, moon and stars. But when the psalmist looked at the heavens, the delicate fingerwork of God, it evoked wonder. Even today it is astronomy and cosmology that invoke our awe and point toward the depths of divine mystery. Greenwood helps us see how the best Christian thinkers have viewed the cosmos in light of Scripture—and grappled with new understandings as science has advanced from Aristotle to Copernicus to Galileo and the galaxies of deep space. It’s a compelling story that both illuminates the text of Scripture and helps us find our own place in the tradition of faithful Christian thinking and interpretation.

Ci sono diverse forme di verità, ma queste si trovano in contatto. Bisogna riconoscere i limiti di ciascuno di questi ordini. Non si può dubitare che nella stessa scienza ci siano dei presupposti e dei principi di ordine filosofico, e anche di ordine religioso. La scienza moderna è nata nel segno di una cultura occidentale cristiana, e benché oggi molti scienziati si dichiarano agnostici o addirittura atei, molti dei più grandi scienziati di tutti i tempi si sono dichiarati credenti nella divinità.

When people talk about science with respect to mathematics and faith, they don't know whether to stay silent or prepare for a heated debate. The story we often hear goes something like this: with the rise of science, faith in God is foolish. We assume that science and faith cannot mix. Nevertheless, this is far from the truth. With that being said, through the use of the law of trichotomy (axioms) that is often used in mathematics, the aim of this essay will be to prove that faith and mathematics does mix. This will be done through the formulation of biblically based mathematical formulas and the use of biblical interpretation.

Many today are seeing the need and importance of teaching Christian apologetics in a variety of different settings. This is intended to help fulfill that need. Following Dr. Norman Geisler’s Twelve Points that Show Christianity is True, this Guide or curriculum is designed to help you prepare and teach Christian apologetics. This Guide contains what is required for instruction in a single resource to teach others successfully in apologetics. It is for the homeschool parent, Sunday school teacher, Christian school teacher, pastor, campus minister, leader in your church or anyone who wants to educate others in Christian apologetics. Dr. Norman Geisler developed the Twelve Points over many years of teaching and instruction at various levels and settings. They have proven to be an invaluable way to learn, communicate, teach and classify the steps of Christian apologetics in a systematic manner. The Twelve Points serve as domains of learning that are memorable, usable and practical. This Guide is intended to help any teacher educate students both young and old in Christian apologetics.

print edition
http://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Guide-Twelve-Points-Christianity/dp/1530369576
ebook
http://bastionbooks.com/shop/12-points-teachers-guide/

This ebook is also available on Amazon in Kindle format.
http://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Guide-Twelve-Points-Christianity-ebook/dp/B00X1ZFQT6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1430752456&sr=1-1

香港中文大學天主教研究中心本年度期刊將致力討論科學與信仰的關係，這亦是一個具爭議且棘手的議題。無容置疑，隨著科技進步，現代世界不斷改變，這議題十分重要。與此同時，不管好壞，宗教經常被新聞報導成為一個文化及社會上的主要勢力。科學與宗教曾經一度成為伴侶，現在他們卻被理解為經常在
道德以及意識形態層面上發生衝突的競爭者。
This year’s publication by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the Hong Kong Chinese University is dedicated to the thorny question of the relationship between science and faith. One cannot deny the importance of this very current topic, since the modern world is constantly changing as a result of the advances of science and technology. At the same time, for better or for worse, religion frequently appears in the news as a major force in culture and society. While science and religion were one-time partners, they are now perceived as competitors with frequent clashes at the ethical and ideological levels.

The Biblical definition of "faith" is analyzed, where it is found that there is quite surprising confusion among both Christians and atheists as to what faith is, in Biblical terms. It will be claimed that Biblical faith is a sort of constant communion with Christ (in direct awareness). With this definition it is further found that faith "information" is not scientific, logical, or mathematical information, but rather is only a sort of supernatural "information", or intimacy, directly implanted into a human mind and heart by God: faith is a third type of information available to a human, and different from the other two types of information that humans usually entertained (reason and sense information). Since atheists (and Christians) typically describe Christianity in terms of reason or empirical information, they therefore misrepresent what Christianity actually is: transcendent of reason and empirical information.
This article later became a chapter in my recent book, God-Faith: Discovering the Pure Logic Built into the Fabric of Reality.

Publicado en la Revista "Quaerentibus" (nro. 7, Noviembre 2016) http://quaerentibus.org

La eventual existencia de seres inteligentes extraterrestres propone a la teología un ámbito de reflexión altamente especulativo; sin embargo, conjuntamente, interpela aspectos irrenunciables de
la fe cristiana como la Encarnación y la Redención universal de Cristo, en debate con la astrofísica,
la antropología o la exobiología. Asimismo, plantea a la teología algunas interesantes cuestiones
epistemológicas, a saber, si puede la fe en nombre de la Revelación objetar la existencia de seres
inteligentes extraterrestres.

How can the Christian in the pew read the Genesis 1 creation account and comprehend the 6 days of creation?  This essay explores how an engagement with Genesis 1 on its own terms suggests that a figurative interpretation of the creation account is favored over a literal view of six 24-hour days, and that such a reading is theologically enriching for readers.

This paper addresses two main challenges of the place of ethics in science. The first deals with the problems associated with a postmodern attitude toward science. In spite of the vertiginous advances of science and technology in our globalized world, there is a sense of unease in our relationship to them. We will examine the causes behind this unease by looking at the historical
and philosophical roots of scientism, technological will to power, transhumanism and moral relativism. Scientism and nihilism which negates the needs of ethics as an independent audit of the scientific enterprise can pose a great threat to humanity. The second challenge concerns what kind of ethics should guide science. Here, the debates revolve around whether there are any universally accepted ethical approaches to science, and the role of religion in these methods. Postmodernity negates the possibility of a contribution from a religious ethics since they claim it is not empirical and therefore irrelevant. As a response, a critique is offered from the natural law perspective and recent writings of Pope Benedict XVI on the proper relationship between science and ethics, faith and reason.

“Under the cover of an islam that has been distorted by ignorantists, some fanatics, corruptors of the faith, who are at ease with ignominy, commit the worst crimes against God and humanity. By distorting Islâm and all the universal, moral values, they are cultivating discord, hatred of others, violence and sectarianism. Although it is undeniable that these demonic criminals target and threaten civilisation as a whole, Muslims are the first victims of their theories and their nightmarish practices.” (Farid Gabteni)

The Sun Rises in the West by Farid Gabteni is published in two volumes: Science for the Hour and Programmed Coincidence. Each of the volumes features a preface by a doctor in history and philosophy of science, the first by Doctor Fouzia Madani and the second by Doctor Ismaël Omarjee.

This scientific treatise, extended to all Quranic Readings, is a pathbreaking masterpiece and constitutes a rigorous and irrefutable argument against obscurantism. It restores likewise the original Message of Islam to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Science, conscience, peace and tolerance: these are the Quran’s and of Islam’s form and content, masterly exposed by the author of the book, through an applied and demonstrative study.

In this paper I tackle the question of whether it is appropriate to refer to “ancient science” in the Hebrew Bible. In order to do that, we need to appreciate how communication works, and what is the relationship between how an author conceives of something, how he characterizes it for communicative purposes, and what kind of commitment he asking from his audience. I use tools from linguistics and rhetoric to address these matters. I apply my results in the arenas of the supposed flat earth, geocentric cosmology, solid dome firmament, three-decker universe, stretching the heavens, and the origin of the kinds, and show that the designation “ancient science” is a literary confusion. The texts’ affirmations lie elsewhere.

Cet article cherche à synthétiser la façon originale dont  Jean Ladrière articule rationalité et foi chrétienne. En s'appuyant sur les travaux de l'épistémologie contemporaine, ses recherches (1) clarifient les jeux de langages propres aux différentes modalités de la rationalité scientifique et philosophique et de la foi, (2) développent une compréhension générale du sens et de la vérité comme  effectuation, et non pas comme représentation. (3) Sur cette base, Ladrière analyse plusieurs foyers de convergence - sans confusion - entre science, philosophie et foi: (4) les thèmes du cosmos,de l'action et de l'histoire. (5) Mais le schème fondamental de la pensée de Ladrière est une interprétation eschatologique de l'expérience et du réel, qui s'ouvrent à une forme de vie qui est celle de l'espérance.
L'article est suivi de plusieurs extraits significatifs des oeuvres de J. Ladrière, accompagnés d'une introduction.

Tesis Teológica, Facultad de Teología de la UCA, Buenos Aires, 2007

La moderna cosmología pronostica una disolución final de la armonía física universal, y la ulteriorior imposibilidad de generación de vida.  En contraste, la esperanza cristiana proclama, antes bien, una plenitud final de todo el cosmos, incluyendo la propia historia del hómbre.

Esta aparente contradicción es recogida y analizada por el autor en la presente obra (su tesis doctoral en teología dogmática, revisada y corregida).

This article proposes that a trinitarian eschatological hermeneutic, applied to the doctrine of creation, helps us to make sense of evolution theologically. From this perspective, the Holy Spirit incessantly draws creation to the Father’s intended destination for it (new creation) through the cosmic, creative-redemptive work of the Son. This article first develops the proposed hermeneutic in dialogue with scripture and trinitarian theology. It then commends the hermeneutic as a way forward in resolving theologically three important issues in the science-faith dialogue concerning evolution: (1) it avoids both a deistic naturalism/materialism and a crude supernaturalist interventionism with respect to God’s interaction with creation; (2) it provides a rich theology of nature while avoiding the pitfalls of pantheism; and (3) it helps us to account theologically for the existence of death as a naturally occurring phenomenon intrinsic to creation.

The popular version of Galileo’s final trial goes something like this: Galileo, the free- thinking scientist who confirmed Earth’s motion around the Sun, was forced by the authorities of the Catholic Church to abandon his scientific views because they conflicted with the established (but erroneous) religious dogma of the day. Subsequently, “The Affair” was commonly viewed as a conflict between science and faith. However, numerous historians have come to the conclusion that Galileo's trial is grossly misunderstood. What was really at stake in the Galileo Affair? What were the real reasons that he was silenced in 1633 by the Catholic Church? This paper will argue that acceptance of the Copernican system was undermined by three factors which ultimately brought about Galileo’s condemnation: a conservative scientific academy, a politically defensive Church, and Galileo's own imprudent personality.

Publicado en la Revista Quaerentibus Año I | n.° 1
Julio – Diciembre 2013. http://quaerentibus.org/

Una de las preguntas más profundas que puede formular tanto la cosmología como la escatología versa sobre destino último de la creación: ¿Hacia dónde se encamina el universo? ¿Cuál será su final definitivo? ¿Qué cabe esperar de la supervivencia de los remotos descendientes de la humanidad?

La moderna cosmología pronostica para el lejano futuro una gradual e inexorable extinción de estrellas y galaxias, y, al cabo, un estéril escenario último donde toda forma de vida habrá perecido. En contraposición, la fe cristiana nos anuncia un universo que padece “dolores de parto”, y que alumbrará “tierra y cielos nuevos” en una gozosa consumación de la entera creación.

Este artículo se propone recoger el desafío de esta aparente paradoja: Comienza sintetizando el actual estado de la cuestión de la cosmología científica, para luego reseñar algunos de los principales intentos de respuesta desde la ciencia y la teología. Se concluye presentando algunas ideas para armonizar el pronóstico científico de muerte irreversible y la esperanza cristiana de plenitud imperecedera para este cosmos en que habitamos.

Evangelicalism is presently divided upon the nature of the relationship between theology and science. In many circles, evangelical receptivity toward evolutionary creationism is held in suspicion. In this paper, I argue that modern scientific discoveries do not, of necessity, impinge upon the authority of Scripture. Benjamin B. Warfield serves as an example for future interdisciplinary dialogue by affirming the truthfulness of Scripture and appropriating a theistic form of evolutionary theory—a form which establishes God's supernatural intervention in the creative process and eschewed the naturalism commonly associated with Darwin's theory. Warfield's engagement with science was governed by his doctrine of divine inspiration. Therefore, he embraced evolutionary creationism insofar as it corresponds to and illuminated the Scriptures. Warfield's theological reflection and integration of the natural sciences ought to inform the present controversy within evangelicalism. Theologians may advance the discussion through selfless scholarship, epistemological openness, and serious engagement with general revelation, God's book of nature, and special revelation, God's book of Scripture.

There is a moment familiar to all Bible readers: the discovery of a scripture that, on the face of it, seems contrary to modern sensibilities. Theologians have often sought to resolve such discrepancies in the Scripture by an informal doctrine of accommodation. John Calvin argued it was necessary for God to speak to his people by using language that accommodated the imperfect viewpoints they could understand. In fact, many scriptural difficulties can be resolved in this way: ancient views of nature, ethical inconsistencies, anthropomorphisms, irregular histories, genealogies and numerical problems. However, some contemporary theologians take issue with the idea that God would speak in “errant” language—making his Word less than completely truthful. This paper will argue that the doctrine of accommodation is fully consonant with the doctrine of inerrancy, when (a) accommodation is understood as an essential guide for biblical interpretation, and (b) inerrancy is understood in light of its motivating principle.

We develop a new model of how human agency-detection capacities and other socio-cognitive biases are involved in forming religious beliefs. Crucially, we distinguish general religious beliefs (such as *God exists*) from personal religious beliefs that directly refer to the agent holding the belief or to her peripersonal time and space (such as *God appeared to _me_ last night*). On our model, people acquire general religious beliefs mostly from their surrounding culture; however, people use agency-intuitions and other low-level experiences to form personal religious beliefs. We call our model the Interactive Religious Experience Model (IREM). IREM inverts received versions of Hyperactive Agency-Detection Device Theory (HADD Theory): instead of saying that agency-intuitions are major causes of religious belief in general, IREM says that general belief in supernatural agents causes people to seek situations that trigger agency-intuitions and other experiences, since these enable one to form personal beliefs about those agents. In addition to developing this model, we (1) present empirical and conceptual difficulties with received versions of HADD Theory, (2) explain how IREM incorporates philosophical work on indexical belief, (3) relate IREM to existing anthropological and psychological research, and (4) propose future empirical research programs based on IREM.

For a growing number of self-identified evangelical interpreters of Scripture - that is those with a high view of the authority of Scripture -  the truth of modern science, specifically Darwinian evolution, and modern historical criticism of the Bible can no longer be denied. This has necessitated a rethinking about how we understand and teach about human origins. If it is now nearly beyond doubt that humans share in a universal common descent with other animals and therefore can't have descended singly from one male and one female, and if the story of creation in Genesis one and two is an artifact of common creation stories in the ANE ,  how does the story of Adam and Eve function as a normative foundation story for the people of God? What relevance does it have?  In this essay, I present Dietrich Bonhoeffer's approach to Adam and Eve as a model to evangelical Christians who are searching for help to appropriate Adam and Eve faithfully for a canonically oriented, robust biblical theological anthropology in light of the truths of science and historical criticism.

The relationship between faith and science has been much discussed in recent times, but few have looked at John Locke's contribution to the subject. This paper examines the mutually beneficial interaction between reason and religion in Locke's view. He doesn't view faith or reason as greater than the other; both have strengths and weaknesses, the different domains making up for what the other lacks. Ultimately, faith and reason are founded on the existence of God.

This is a blog post about a conference in Chicago on Evolution and the Christian doctrine of the "Fall." I gave one of the plenary lectures, on a close reading of Genesis 3 in light of human evolution. You can access the post by clicking on the Wordpress.com link.

Si presentano alcuni dei limiti della proposta del Darwin, ormai superata in tanti suoi aspetti. La teoria dell'evoluzione delle specie non si risolve né si riduce al darwinismo, e pertanto si può essere favorevoli alla teoria dell'evoluzione, da un punto di vista scientifico e anche filosofico, senza essere affatto darwinisti, al meno riguardo a certi aspetti proposti dal prominente naturalista inglese, i cui meriti, così come i suoi difetti e limiti, non si possono non riconoscere e valutare.

The article examines the relationship between religion and science (or rational activities as a whole) as two irreducible basic aspects of human existence and two subsystems of culture, constituted by different systems of values and norms. Theories postulating their harmonious coexistence are failures, and we need to understand the profound causes of conflicts. These causes are not in the sphere of particular or general cognitive disagreements, but in
fundamental difference of spiritual settings, that stand behind both religion and science. The article distinguishes between the two main types of religious life and ethos — one connected with «faith» and the other with «religious experience». It further distinguishes four basic forms of rationality: hypothetic-deductive (in natural sciences), hermeneutical (in human sciences), philosophical, and theological. Using these typologies helps showing the ways not so much of resolving particular conflicts that inevitably emerge, but rather of creating a mutual recognition in spite of fundamental differences.

This is a collection of 75 papers of mine, some of them published, others not, contained in two volumes (132 pages), presented by the School of Philosophy (University of the Holy Cross), in the occasion of my retirement. I include the Index and the presentations. Editor: Prof. Rafael A. Martínez. I also include in the last pages the complete list of my papers, books, and reviews. Papers in Spanish, English and Italian.

Copernicus and Galileo are frequently misunderstood to be textbook case studies of how scripture was used by the Church against scientific innovation. Our paper briefly explores both how this perception came to be historiographically, and how scripture and science were utilized in the debates over heliocentrism. Far from "science vs. religion," these situations embody a complex array of hermeneutical and scientific reasoning which show that

This Paper, as the title indicates, is meant to look at the topic of ‘Design/non-design’ as well as the question of, “If a Designer designed the Universe, is there a point to science?” To treat this topic with due diligence we introduce to the reader Islamic Epistemology, different terms and methods of logical argumentation, the definition of science and its four major ‘types’ as well as the definitions used throughout. It is the objective of this paper to communicate to the reader, based on the research and findings of several great scientific minds, that we can safely and confidently infer through inductive reasoning that the world and everything in it is by Design rather than non-design. What is more, it is only through the inference of Design that man is capable of doing science; that is, without such constants, patterns and relationships, without organization, structure, function and natural laws, man would be unable to do science at all. In conclusion, rather than inferring Design over non-design hindering scientific progress, it serves as a motivation that drives science forward.

The relationship between faith and reason is a hot topic today. Continually, there is a certain prejudice that religion is divisive and should be looked upon with a hermeneutics of suspicion. Thomas Murray recently published the article “In Defense of Irreligious Bioethics” in The American Journal of Bioethics, and claims that bioethics should avoid religious input in its normative analysis. This article will critique his proposal by situating “irreligious bioethics” in framework of faith and reason in bioethics. Murray’s position is an inheritance of an Enlightenment bias which considers religious input as detrimental to the well-being of society. His emphasis on irreligious bioethics as a normative approach is compared to the Catholic method of bioethics which begins with natural law reason and is later confirmed by faith. Murray has put too much reliance on reason, and underestimates the presence of rationality within religion and theology. While he is correct that reason can have a function to check the possible pathologies of religion, we take him to task of not recognizing the possible excesses of reason and how religion can help purify it.

Fossils of early humans and their ancestors dating back to millions of years have not yet been
found in West Africa. Tools made of bones, stones, and wood suggesting use by early humans
or their ancestors have however been found in some parts of West Africa. This research
investigates the possible origins and West African indigenous influences on the manufacture
and use of these tools. The purpose of this research is to stimulate interest into the study of
West African archaeology and paleontology.

Vom Back Cover:

"'Wenn das Christentum falsch ist, ist es bedeutungslos, und wenn es stimmt, von unendlicher Bedeutsamkeit. Das Einzige, was es nicht sein kann: ein bisschen wichtig.' Der Aussage von C. S. Lewis stimmen die Autoren dieses Buches absolut zu. Mehr noch, genau aus diesem Grund suchen sie das Gespräch und die konstruktive Auseinandersetzung mit Menschen, die bisher mit dem Glauben nichts anfangen können. Und auch Christen haben noch viele Fragen.

In "Frag los!" setzen die Autoren sich daher mit 50 schwierigen Fragen auseinander, die nicht nur Atheisten an den christlichen Glauben stellen. Dabei schöpfen Prof. Dr. Matthias Clausen (Theologe), Dr. Alexander Fink (Biophysiker), Dr. Andreas Gerstacker (Althistoriker), Thomas Giebel (Informatiker) und Stephan Lange (Gymnasiallehrer) aus ihrer fachlichen Expertise - und gehen auf Einwände ein, denen sie in ihrem Umfeld immer wieder begegnen. Ihre 50 Antworten laden Skeptiker und Glaubende zu einem Disput auf Augenhöhe ein und liefern dafür gut begründete Argumente. Denn gute Fragen verdienen gute Antworten. Mit Antworten und Denkanstößen auf Fragen z.B. aus Bereichen Naturwissenschaft, Logik oder Geschichtswissenschaft [...]."

Il tema della creazione è così centrale nel pensiero di Tommaso d’Aquino che ben gli si potrebbe chiamare Thomas a Creatore, come recentemente diversi noti studiosi hanno proposto. Inoltre, questo tema è ideale per lo studio del rapporto tra fede e ragione nella sua riuscita articolazione operata dal Dottore Angelico. Da una parte, si sottolinea come la verità della creazione, sebbene sia un dato di fede, è anche alla portata della nostra ragione: «quod creationem esse, non tantum fides tenet, sed etiam ratio demonstrat» (In II Sent., d.1 q.1 a.2). Dall’altra, in conseguenza, si cercherà di fare il punto su due quaestiones disputatae collegate a questo argomento, cioè se per Tommaso i filosofi pagani, concretamente Platone ed Aristotele, sono arrivati a scoprire la verità della creazione, e se la temporalità del mondo è dimostrabile dalla ragione oppure è un dato di fede in senso stretto.

Introduzione I protagonisti della Rivoluzione Scientifica moderna hanno gene-ralmente condiviso l'idea di un universo come globale armonia mate-matica creata da Dio. Nella loro visione l'uomo, in quanto fatto a im-magine e somiglianza del Creatore, condivide gli archetipi matematici con i quali l'universo è stato creato, rendendosi così partecipe, seppur in modo parziale, della conoscenza universale divina. In alcuni di questi autori emergono con forza i temi della bellezza del creato, e della preci-sione e del rigore logico della matematica come chiavi interpretative di quella stessa bellezza.