Science and Christianity as Universals of Culture

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORs: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS oF THE PROVINCE OF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VoL. XXXI APRIL, 1967 No.2 SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY AS UNIVERSALS OF CULTURE 1. Introduction T HE PROBLEM of the relationship between science and faith is an old one. St. Augustine was confronted with . it when he tried to evaluate the Platonic philosophy, which he had studied, in the light of Christian faith to which he was converted in later years. To Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas the problem presented itself as the necessity of finding room within Christian thought for the-at least for the Middle Ages-overwhelming riches of Greek-Arabian philosophy , science and technology. With the rise of modern science since the seventeenth century the relationship of faith and science reached a critical phase. The new science contradicted many points which were believed to be essentials of Christian faith. Many scientists were confronted with the serious choice of which to adhere to: their scientific conviction or their faith. Later on it became clear that the contradictions were less real 137 188 ANDREW G. VAN MELSEN than they seemed to be at first sight. The friction between science and faith diminished to such a point that it looked as if science and faith had nothing in common. As a result the Christian scientist had a feeling of living two different lives, one as a scientist and one as a Christian. Dissatisfied with this situation Christian scientists longed for a kind of synthesis of faith and science, such as the Middle Ages had known. This modem synthesis would, of course, differ from that of the Middle Ages; its content should be adapted to modem scientific insights, but its spirit could be the same. In this paper we will try to show why such a modem synthesis of faith and reason cannot be possible. This does not mean, however, that science and Christianity have nothing in common and that a Christian scientist is of necessity a split personality. It would be wrong, however, to approach the problem of the relationship between science and Christian faith only from the view-point of the desire of the Christian scientist to integrate his personal life as a Christian and as a scientist . The problem has wider dimensions. We are living in a time in which Western science is rapidly spreading out over the whole world. Western science is demonstrating that it is a universal of culture and not just a specific Western cultural product. Can the same be said of Christianity? Thus the twofold subject-ma:tter of this paper is given. First we will examine in what way science can be considered a universal of culture and in what way Christianity can be considered a universal of culture. The result of this examination will then enable us to draw some important conclusions about the relationship of both universals. 2. The Tensions in the Western Culture The respective ways in which science and in which Christianity can be considered as universals of culture differ. This may be gathered from the respective attitudes which non-Western cultures take with respect to both universals. Roughly stated, it may be said that confronted with Western culture, in which science and Christianity form the basic ingredients, SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY AS UNIVERSALS OF CULTURE 139 non-Western cultures do not hesitate to recognize science as a universal of culture, whereas in their eyes Christianity seems to be a typical Western brand of religion, not suited to their needs. What is the reason for this different attitude? Does it mean that Christianity and science do not belong together and that their combination in Western culture is merely accidental ? The question is not so easy to answer. On the one hand, it may be argued that the friction between Christian faith and modern science, which since the rise of modern science characterizes the history of Western civilization, proves that Christianity and science in its modern form cannot be ingredients of the same culture, at least not in a harmonizing way. On the other hand, there is also historical evidence that this very...