Science and the Church
During last week’s Confirmation kickoff class, I made the statement that the church has historically been a supporter of the arts and sciences (in discussing creation). Someone took exception to the science support portion of that statement and asked me to show evidence of my statement. They also cited Galileo as an example of the church being at odds with science.
No doubt, the record of the church is not perfect in any area, including the support of science. The Galileo example is often cited as an example of the church persecuting scientist in such discussions. We now know that Galileo was scientifically correct, but the history of what actually occurred has been grossly misconstrued. Yes, the church disagreed with Galileo’s discovery, but what led to his persecution was his attempt to twist scripture to back his findings. Even then, there is much controversy over the degree to which Galileo was mistreated. My suggestion to all is to look deeper into the story than just a Dan Brown novel or pop history myths.
To the greater question of the church supporting science, the weight of history favors my original statement. I don’t have time to cite ever example, but let’s begin by simply looking at the number of church-established universities and hospitals. While certainly not all university work is scientific in nature, these institutions are still the foremost basis for scientific exploration. Hospitals continue this exploration with both research and application of science in a myriad of ways.
Another often overlooked and somewhat obscure example of the church supporting science flows out of an understanding of governments worldwide for centuries. Britain, Spain, and France (just to name a few) existed as church states for great periods of time. As such, the state support of science and exploration during those times is in reality directly linked to the church.
Finally, let me just list a few significant cases of the church-science relationship, followed by a couple of web articles you can access for further reading.
- The study of seismology was started by and so greatly influenced by the Jesuits that it is often referred to as “The Jesuit Science”.
- Belgian priest Georges Lemaitre was the first scientist to introduce the phrase and concept of “The Big Bang Theory”.
- Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel is credited with beginning the study of genetics.
- Capernicus was a Catholic priest. Other notable priests that were also scientists include Roger Bacon, Roger Boscovich, Robert Grosstete, Nicholas Steno, Athanasius Kircher, Albertus Magnus, Fransesco Grimaldi, and Giambattista Riccioli.
http://www.faith.org.uk/publications/Magazines/Jul08/Jul08TheChurchsSupportOfScience.html
