Theology by the Slice: "Faith and Science"

Wednesday night, we heard an absolutely astounding talk by Prof. Suzanne Kulevich of the Chemistry Department. Prof. Kulevich is an alumna of Holy Cross (2006) and earned her doctorate in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prof. Kulevich's talk was called "Faith and Science" and explored both her personal experience as a Catholic chemist and the broader relations between Christianity and the work of scientists.

Rather than treating the question of whether science and religion can coexist, Prof. Kulevich began with the perspective that they do coexist. As a Catholic, she sees science as another way to know, to love, and to serve God (cf. CCC 1). Science is, essentially, the pursuit of truth, and any pursuit of truth is a pursuit of God.

This was evident to St. Ignatius. Once, when praying in nature, he came to realize that God was present not just in his prayer but also in all his surroundings - hence, the Jesuit ideal of finding God in all things. When one explores nature in depth, as a scientist does, the complexity one finds reveals the profundity of God's grace. This is why the Jesuits have always been such strong proponents of the arts and sciences. The Doctrine of the Incarnation speaks to this sentiment. Because God became a human being, whenever we pursue something which makes us more human (human as God intended us to be), we pursue God.

The natural world is an avenue for the experience of wonder and awe. The desire to know more, discovering the complexity of biological structures and the order they exist in, produces in the scientist a sense of awe at God's creation. As a teacher, Prof. Kulevich finds it particularly fulfilling to see students filled with that sense of awe, which in turn leads them to an appreciation for and love of God.

Science also enables the person of faith to serve God with devotion, by making use of their knowledge. A scientist can look to the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy to find a way to apply his or her knowledge. For example, he can feed the hungry by cultivating new and better crops, or give drink to the thirsty by finding ways to provide clean water, or using forensics to find and properly bury the dead. Jesuits today are active in scientific research, devoted to revealing the wonders of the natural world, being men for God and for others, and overcoming the misuse of science in the world. Prof. Kulevich takes much inspiration from this mission.

Despite these opportunities to do good, Catholic scientists are faced with challenges. It is a common belief that faith and science do not coexist. Although this is a misconception, the Catholic scientist can still feel like he's in the minority. 

Publication can also raise ethical issues. Publishing scientific papers can be a good thing, for it allows the scientist share his work for the betterment of others. Nevertheless, academics faced with a "Publish or Perish" culture can have their better judgment clouded. The desire for fame and status infringes on paper quality and conscience. Prof. Kulevich knew of a scientist who put the words "Human Embryonic Stem Cells" in the title of the paper even though the paper's main focus was something else. This scientist used the destruction of human life simply to splash up a paper.

Further, a scientist of faith may not share the same ethics as other scientists, especially concerning issues like abortion and stem cell research. This can be overcome, however, with courage. If a Catholic scientist insists that he cannot do any work dealing with contraception, stem cells, or abortion, and if he works hard to compensate, he can preserve his ethics and still carry out his work. 

Finally, when a scientist encounters something new in research, he may not know exactly how the church views the unprecedented situation. In these cases, he needs to seek out someone who has a sufficient background in both science and theology/ethics to help make a judgment. Prof. Kulevich also highly recommended the Catholic Bioethics Research Center, a group which compiles article on ethics and research and provides consultation for Catholic scientists and doctors.

There are those who place science on a pedestal, thinking it able to cure all humanity's ails, and essentially make it a religion. These people will eventually run into problems. They may choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle on the presumption that science will eventually develop a cure. However, there are questions that science simply cannot answer, and those who adhere to "scientism" will eventually be disappointed.

There is also need for theologians to have a presence in the scientific community, and for scientists in the faith community. We are in need of science that honestly pursues knowledge, and protects the sanctity of human life. The presence of faith in the scientific community can accomplish this. Christians who reject science, however, can serve to limit other Christians who would otherwise enter the sciences. 

Further, scientists need a place in the faith community. On occasion, one sees priests and bishops, when defending life issues, whose ethics are spot-on but whose science isn't quite right. If the science isn't sound, the accompanying ethics will easily be dismissed. We need scientists to work with the Church to provide sound science to accompany her sound ethics.

Prof. Kulevich closed her talk with this quote, from Pope Bl. John Paul II to George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory:

[S]cience develops best when its concepts and conclusions are integrated into the broader human culture and its concerns for ultimate meaning and value. Scientists cannot, therefore, hold themselves entirely aloof from the sorts of issues dealt with by philosophers and theologians. By devoting to these issues something of the energy and care they give to their research in science, they can help others realize more fully the human potentialities of their discoveries. They can also come to appreciate for themselves that these discoveries cannot be a genuine substitute for knowledge of the truly ultimate. Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.

   

In response to a question afterward, Prof. Kulevich said that science can be particularly effective in proving the Church's teaching on abortion correct, for it can demonstrate how the unborn child develops and shares human characteristics with the born.

We sincerely thank Prof. Kulevich for all the hard work she put in to this presentation. It was a fascinating and inspiring talk about a topic of great relevance in today's culture.