Many people falsely believe there is some sort of inevitable conflict between their Catholic faith and science. They also buy into a common myth that the Catholic Church has been continually hostile to science throughout history. But any fair assessment will find this to not only be false, but that the Catholic Church has actually contributed to science in endless ways - some of them hugely significant.
In fact, from the very get-go, Christianity was a major force in promoting the idea that the world is intelligible. That it had meaning and made sense. And there was a desire to intimately comprehend creation in a way that brought us into closer communion with the Creator. This was in stark contrast to the pagan world-view at the time.
Anyway, since I’m an engineer and science-loving fella, I’ve always been a big fan of reminding people that true science is a friend to true faith. And that’s why I’m a big fan of the website and podcast - The Catholic Laboratory (i.e. CatholicLab.net).
The Catholic Laboratory website and podcast is dedicated to the numerous Catholic scientists who have opened our minds to new scientific discoveries revealing the beauty and power of God in His creation, and to today’s scientists who continue to put their Catholic faith into practice sometimes at great cost to their careers.
It is our aim to help the world rediscover the rich scientific heritage of the Catholic Church, to understand the Church’s stance towards modern science, and to inspire and give comfort to today’s Catholic scientists who may be struggling to practice their faith whilst pursuing their God-given talent for science.
It’s a very well done podcast. Ian Maxfield is a great host. And I’m always amazed at the excellent information contained in each episode. You even get some jokes mixed in there as well.
Did you know that there are 35 craters on the moon named after Catholic priests? Did you know that the Fathers of Modern Chemistry, Modern Atomic Theory and Mineralogy are all Catholics?
Go have a listen and learn how beautiful the relationship is between science and our Catholic faith.
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God Bless you Matt, thank you for your kind words and encouragement. Hey folks, don’t forget we’re on iTunes and Facebook too - details from the web site (www.catholiclab.net).
This is a fantastic resource! Great job! A book called “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” by Thomas Woods really complements this information.
Hi Jim, Thank you - I hope you enjoy listening to it. ‘How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization’ features amongst the reading list on the Resources page of the web site, and I often quote it - it’s a great book.
Interesting site. There is obviously something seriously wrong with today’s education. I attended a Catholic School from grades 1-12 (actually college also) and was taught that true science and true religion go hand in hand. If there is a conflict between the two, then one or both are wrong. God gives us the ability, through science, to better understand the world and to use that knowledge to make the world a better place. Those that seek to impress upon us that science and religion are in conflict or at odds with each other are wrong and/or disengenuous. The usual ideologue.
Something to think about…“If God created the universe, all science is reading God’s art.” (Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind the Lord of the Rings, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2005, pg. 43.) More context from this quote—“Art is very different from science in that is creates worlds; it creates meaning and beauty and forms and structures and natures, while science discovers them. In science, the world is the standard for our ideas about it….the artist’s ideas are the standard for the world he creates….In art, the world conforms to the creative idea; in science, the idea conforms to the world. Truth in science is the reverse of truth in art.”
I look forward to checking out CatholicLab.net. As a Catholic liberal arts educator teaching courses in the Western cultural tradition (although unemployed at the moment), I regularly strive to overcome the myth that the Catholic Church is dead set on suppressing or denying the findings of science. One book I can recommend, which other comments have not yet mentioned, is Fr. Stanley Jaki’s _The Savior of Science_, which argues that the Catholic faith is what made the development of the modern scientific method possible, while other religious and philosophical views actually discouraged the idea that we can or should understand the workings of nature. Readers can learn more about Fr. Jaki here (http://www.sljaki.com/). The Intercollegiate Studies Institute also keeps an archive of his articles on their website (shortened URL: http://bit.ly/deAMcZ).
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