Theory and Theology The Overdue Collaboration

[Music]

when faced with two choices

how do you come to a decision what

factors you consider important

maybe you get a gut feeling or make a

pro con list

or maybe you use logic or listen to your

emotions

my first significant decision dates back

to 2005

when i was a year old in traditional

korean culture

a baby’s first birthday is celebrated

with a big party

the main event is when the baby picks an

item from a selection

that represents different

characteristics or achievements for the

future

so there might be a ball for athleticism

a long string for a long life

or even a pencil for intellect so you

can imagine the commotion as people

tried to get me to pick a certain item

they favored

every time i would reach out to grab

something there’d be an uproar

and i’d get scared and pull back

eventually i did end up choosing the

stack of cash so i’m waiting a couple

years for that wealth to kick in

but even as a baby i struggled to make a

choice

every time i would make up my mind

something would disrupt that thought and

turn me another direction

this is precisely how i felt approaching

science as a catholic

about three years ago i heard a sermon

on the holiness of the human person

i found this really compelling the bible

teaches that all human beings are made

in the image of god

this makes us perfect and holy and

different from the rest of god’s

creation

a couple months later my biology teacher

introduced me to the concept of genetic

engineering

this is the practice of altering an

organism’s genetic makeup

this technology can make humans

healthier and even more

stronger faster and fitter i thought

that’s really cool and then i paused

hold on if we’re so perfect and so holy

made in the image of god what’s holding

us

back from making changes why are we at

liberty to create these changes

but at the same time if we have the

means to make humans lives

healthier or easier what’s holding us

back from doing so

growing up catholic i learned about many

principles that would guide me in

everyday life

when i say catholic i mean that pretty

seriously baptism at four

first commune at seven confirmation at

14 which is

by far the worst age to have any extra

oil on your forehead

but that’s an issue for another time

so i began my faith journey very early

on one of the first things i remember

learning about

is the book of genesis this book teaches

that

god created the entire universe in six

days i didn’t question this

at all i took it as fact but can you

expect otherwise from

an eight-year-old however as a kid i was

also a big reader

i read a lot all the time and wherever i

could

and eventually i came across this

concept known as the big bang theory

this theory states that the universe

began as a single point that expanded

with immense force

again i was puzzled how could there be

two explanations for one event

was the big bang a work of god maybe

if so why wasn’t it in the bible story

since then i’ve had many science versus

religion moments

i thought i’d have to choose or

prioritize one worldview over the other

however i came to a realization when i

had this epiphany

science deals with the natural world the

physical and religion deals with the

supernatural

and the spiritual now neither fit

perfectly into these boxes

but recognizing that they play different

roles is a good starting point

there are issues that arise when one

discipline makes claims over events

outside of its usual sphere for example

that genesis story about the creation of

the universe

when taken literally as it’s often

taught this

bible passage goes against many proven

theories in

astronomy or ecology but now we’re

talking about more than light

or water or plants things only become

more complicated when human beings get

involved the bible teaches that the

first humans adam and eve

were present at the beginning of the

earth but darwin’s theory of evolution

teaches that all living things

including humans undergo changes through

natural selection

in fourth grade i got hooked in this

documentary tv series called walking

with dinosaurs

there are a lot of weird-looking

creatures in this show and i enjoyed

watching them

until i realized that the narrator kept

referring to them as our ancestors

our ancestors what did he mean our

the creatures in the screen looked

nothing like me or adam or eve

so i came up with some wild berries

was the biblical adam a carbon atom

maybe

or was eve bacteria thankfully i’ve

learned a couple things since

fourth grade in my sophomore year here

at saint francis i learned that the old

testament often uses metaphors

to convey a message or a theme we cannot

take

everything literally so maybe the

prophet jonah did spend

three days and three nights inside of a

whale but the major takeaway of that

story

is not lung capacity but unconditional

faith

we must learn to interpret what we read

the bible does not always seek to inform

us about the workings of the universe

it is also meant to guide your

spirituality

so we know that science and religion are

not at odds they play different roles

dictating different areas of our world

but i’m going to go further and say that

there is potential for collaboration

here

at a basic level there’s a great deal of

common ground both seek to provide a

better understanding of our world and

how it came to be

moving forward they both want to improve

humanity and its impact

so why is it so hard to create this

partnership

the crucial difference between science

and religion lie in their

modes of thinking this is where my

lifelong internal conflict began

with the fundamental differences between

the ways that science and religion

taught me how to think

the scientific method teaches us to test

ideas over and over again

and collect hard data the thought of

believing something without direct

of evidence is a sin in the scientific

world

but as a catholic that’s precisely what

i do

i put my trust in a higher power and i

take faith in miracles that i’ve never

actually witnessed another important

difference between science and religion

are the timelines that they occur on

while religion has remained consistent

for thousands and thousands of years

centuries ago scientific ideas were

explained very differently

for example the earth was the center of

the universe

if there was a storm it meant the gods

were angry

so while science has progressed

exponentially since then

religion has persisted and while we’ve

come

a long way since sundials i do have to

give ancient civilizations some kudos

they placed science and religion in the

same context for them there was no

divide

and here at saint francis this catholic

school our religion and scientific

education come hand in hand

maybe you begin biology class with

intentions

or walk from physics to moral issues or

maybe you find these prayer hands coming

out before a chem test

i find the duality really enriching and

evidently thought provoking

so partnering science and religion in

the real world could very well be

worthwhile

and effective because in truth neither

holds all the answers science can give

us the what

and the how but it can’t give us the why

and that why is crucial while knowledge

certainly is

power by itself it’s not quite enough we

need meaning and we need purpose for the

things that we put our energy into

and religion can give us that as can

philosophy or ethics

my point is science and religion alone

cannot stand as strong as they could

together

i don’t deny that this partnership will

be difficult religious views

and scientific advances are becoming

increasingly politicized

in the current cobit 19 pandemic

protocols such as wearing a mask

or getting the vaccine are polarizing

people

often the reasoning against

science-backed safety measures is

religious

whether it’s about complete dependence

in a higher power or

questioning of the vaccine is ethical

these views take religion to an extreme

without considering the overarching

principles of empathy or safety

science offers things that religion

cannot the facts the figures

and the constant revision and vice versa

religion can offer us deeper meaning why

are we putting our time and our energy

into these endeavors

and should we be

using both principles of science and

religion lets us have a greater impact

on our constantly changing worlds

if we recognize truth in both we can

finally create

this long overdue collaboration thank

you

you