Two Ways to Truth

One of the great blessings of our own time is that Christians of different religious denominations are more and more clearly seeing the connections, the similarities between one another. Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and Baptists are recognizing that from 85% to 90% of what be believe, we believe in common, and that we are all centered on faith in Jesus Christ. This is a great blessing, but it does not erase the fact that there still are differences between us. Each tradition has its own unique properties which must not be underestimated. And so I think it is valuable for us, every once in a while, to look at the characteristics of our Catholic tradition which set us apart from other Christian denominations. This morning I would like to highlight one of those differences that makes the Catholic tradition special.

My thoughts are stimulated by an article that appeared in the Plain Dealer last Sunday and also by today's Gospel. In the Gospel today, it is clear to us that we, like the original disciples, have been sent out on a mission -- to cure the sick, to oppose evil, to proclaim the "good news". We accept that mission, but at the same time realize that decisions need to be made as to which issues we are to take up, and what causes we are to espouse in order to proclaim God's reign. This leads me to the article in the Plain Dealer.

Last Sunday there was a rather lengthy article on the front page talking about a group of lobbyists that are proposing to the Ohio State Board of Education that a theory called "intelligent design" should be taught in science classrooms throughout Ohio, together with the theory of evolution. Now, I think most of you know that the theory of evolution is a scientific theory that explains the development of life through a process of adaptation called "natural selection". Evolution is one of the cornerstones of modern science. The proponents of "intelligent design", are lobbying so that along with the theory of evolution, science teachers, if they wish, may teach that life evolved through a design of an intelligent being that you and I would call God. In a poll taken by the Plain Dealer, the majority of Ohioans, some 59%, believe that this is a good idea. Now, part of what I want to share with you this morning is that if you and I are in touch with the best part of our Catholic tradition, we would not include ourselves in that 59%. The best of the Catholic tradition would say that the teaching of religious values in science class is not only unnecessary, but in ways detrimental.

Let's be clear: I believe and the Church teaches that the world as we know it is the result of an "intelligent design" by a loving creator who we do call "God". We believe that God created us and created us out of love. This is a belief of faith that is shared by Catholics and all other Christians. So, clearly the Catholic tradition would not disagree with the proponents of "intelligent design" about what we believe about God as creator. Where we differ is over the issue of teaching this belief as science in a science classroom. Why is this the case?

One of the advantages of being a Catholic is that we have a 2000 year-old tradition in which we can recognize that some of the issues that we face today have been debated and resolved earlier in our history. The relationship between faith and science, in the Catholic tradition, has been authoritatively addressed and resolved in the Middle Ages by a group of saints and scholars called the Scholastics. The highest expression of this school is found in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas.

This is what St. Thomas Aquinas would say about the relationship between faith and science. Thomas would say there are two ways that any human being can come to truth. One is by faith, by accepting what God has told us. This is what God has revealed to us through the scriptures and through our own faith community. If by faith we accept the truth that God presents us, we will attain knowledge of the truth. That is the first way.

He says the second way that human beings come to truth is by reason. By our own intelligence. By thinking and exploring the world around it, by discovering laws and its principles and by developing systems of thought that explain them.

Two ways to truth -- faith and reason -- revelation and science. And what Thomas says is that both of these ways of truth are valid and both of them work on their own principles. Faith works through trust, because we believe what God has said and we accept it. Science works through intelligent hard work, by examining the world around us and using our insight to discover its secrets.

What Thomas says -- and this is most important -- is that true faith and true science cannot contradict one another, because both of them come from God. One comes through the gift of revelation. The other through the gift of our intellect. Therefore, if on any given topic, faith and science seem to contradict, we are either misunderstanding our faith, or we are misunderstanding science. Both are ways to the truth, and both are gifts from God, which need to be respected.

Now, when we accept this part of our Catholic tradition, it is clear where we differ from the proponents of "intelligent design". We do not see the idea of God being creator and the theory of evolution as being in competition with one another. They are not conflicting theories. They are two distinct ways to the truth. One,
by means of faith. The other, by means of science. Therefore, both of these ways need to be respected in their own arena.

If we were to say to ourselves the only way to truth is through science, there would be a great part of truth that we could never know. We could never realize that God loves us and has created us for eternal life. Science cannot prove the existence of God, or that God loves us or wants to share God's life with us. On the other hand if we were to say that the only way to truth is through faith, we would undercut a great deal of what we could learn about the universe, because our faith tells us nothing about astronomy or biology or genetics or medicine. All of these disciplines are the results of the hard work of men and women who have used their intelligence to discover the paths towards truth. Therefore, faith and reason, revelation and science must work together. Science telling us how things came into existence, how they relate to one another, how they interact with one another. Faith telling us why things exist and who is the one who has given us life and a future.

If faith and reason, revelation and science, are not kept in balance, we lose. There are strong examples of the church itself, not following its own best insights. The classic example is Galileo. Church officials both persecuted and imprisoned Galileo because they were afraid that his teaching that the earth revolves around the Sun, would in some way undercut faith. They mixed up faith and science. They saw them in competition and we were all less as a result.

We are at our best when we give proper and separate respect to both faith and science. Let me give you a very practical example. You and I as people of faith believe that God is a healer and, therefore, when a member of our community is sick, we have no reservations about praying for that person. If someone were to come to me with a sickness and ask for the Anointing of the Sick, I would pray with them and celebrate that Sacrament, believing that God's presence is a real healing in that persons' life. But if you need a brain operation and you want to live, don't come to me! I'm not the person to do that. What you need then is someone schooled in medicine and surgery. And whether that person is a believer or not, is not as important as having the skills that will bring about the proper medical treatment.

Both medicine and faith aim at healing the individual, but they aim at doing that from different perspectives and both of those perspectives need to be respected. In the same way, I do not think it is an advantage to have some science teacher teaching our children about God or the Bible, They know no more about that than I know about brain surgery. There is a way that we both win if we respect the particular discipline that reveals the truth to us. Let people of faith and
theologians instruct us about God. Let scientists and people of medicine instruct us about science.

What is the Good News that comes to us from this particular insight of our Catholic tradition?

It is the Good News that we are called both to be people of faith and people of science. We are called to be people of faith by deeply accepting what God has told us about God's self and about God's plan of salvation. We open our hearts to what we read in the Bible and accept the message of who created the universe and why it was created. At the same time, we are called to be people of reason, people who are unafraid to think, to follow our own intelligence and where it leads us, to explore the world around us. We should be unafraid to follow the findings of science as it leads us to newer theories about how the world works and how we, as a civilization can more forward scientifically.

As Catholic Christian people we should not see faith and reason in conflict with one another, but as complimentary ways to the truth. We should both believe deeply, and think deeply and encourage our children to do the same. We should both honor the scriptures and what they tell us, and at the same time, honor the principles of science. Both lead to the truth. Both are gifts to us from God.