Faith and science

THESE two should go together. They are not meant to go

separate ways and, worse, to go against each other. A faith without

science is prone to fall into superstitions, and a science without

faith can only go nowhere.

  

            Yes, a faith without science can only provoke suspicion,

disbelief and criticism. And a science without faith might give an

appearance of sophisticated achievement but it will certainly lead to

getting confused and lost in itself, and can pose as a grave danger to

us.

  

            All of this because faith and science in the end come from

the same source—God the Creator. This is what the Catechism says about

faith and science:

  

            “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real

discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals

mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the

human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict

itself.

  

            “Consequently, methodical research in all branches of

knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and

does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith,

because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from

the same God.

  

            “The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of

nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of

himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them

what they are.” (159)

  

            Faith actually needs science to be able to demonstrate its

truths, though faith transcends the powers of science and its scope

goes far beyond what science can reach and cover.

   

            Thus, being a sharing of what God the Creator knows about

us and the world, faith is meant to give light and direction to

science. We need to acknowledge this principle and allow our

scientific work to be guided by faith.

  

            A faith that is not aided by science is a faith that is

out on a limb. It tends to fall into the anomaly of fideism. And a

science that is not guided by faith is blind, or is blinded by its own

light. It cannot cope with all the issues and questions in life and

the realities of the spiritual and supernatural world. It tends to

fall into the anomaly of scientism and technologism.

  

            A faith without science tends to build an ivory tower,

unable to have any impact on the things of the world. Its relevance

and practicability in the world tends to fade away. Its spread and

transmission, its viability in the world would be greatly hampered.

Faith does not undermine the objectivity and realism of science.

  

            A science without faith can become a loose cannon. It is

vulnerable to be exploited by ideologues, to get entangled in partisan

politics, and to come out with biased data, etc. It would not know how

to play along the providence of God, since it would be oblivious of

God.

  

            Faith and science should go together. Scientific studies,

for example, about the origin of the world and of life in general

reinforce the truths of faith about these questions. Of course, there

are differences in the language used by faith and science, but they

somehow are in agreement about the core of these questions.

  

            It is important that we always maintain the strong and

intimate relation between faith and science. We have to avoid the

extremes of “too much faith” with hardly any reference and support

from science, and of “too much science” that practically ignores the

light of faith.

   

            Sad to say, these two extremes can be found in many places

today. We need to correct the situation by undertaking an abiding

catechesis, adapted to the different mentalities of the people, about

the mutual relation between faith and science.