Fr. Robert Barron's Word On Fire - Fr. Barron comments on Stephen Hawking & more tired atheism

michael jaffray king

Super Father!!!!!
Of course science cannot and should not even try to prove or disprove the existence of God...Why?
Because God is not a Scientific phenomena.
Uri Gagarin... Christopher Hitchens and NOW RICHARD DAWKINS...SORRY MATE BUT U R ALL ON THE WRONG TRACK!!!

9/12/2010 1:53:52 AM

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michael jaffray king

That was so clear and a great argument to use when talking to scientific atheists. Of course Science cannot discover God as God is not a Scientific being.
Uri Gagarin, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchins... You are on the wrong track for discovering God through Science.

9/12/2010 8:55:32 AM

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Aaron

Love it! I just put a link on my FB page. Can't wait to see the response.

9/22/2010 2:48:05 PM

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Fred G

Excellent. I am getting very tired of scientifically literate people stepping outside the bounds of science at their convenience. Perhaps they must do this in order to defend what they otherwise cannot explain within those bounds.

9/23/2010 7:32:01 AM

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Kala

Fr. Barron, Excellent reflection! However, in that I AM G-d and am most certainly everywhere, as well as nowhere, one can indeed find the Ineffable in the everywhere...particularly if one tries to find "it" and of course only finds "evidence"; ie: things like, as you mentioned, no one actually winds their heart up in the morning to make sure it goes long enough for whatever they need to do, etc. But then Hawkings is graduating from a "daddy god" to a truly cosmological, omni-suffusive one, and calling it "the universe". Gravity happens when "whatever" bends. The real cause is when the causeless cause giggles and the void bubbles from symmetry breaking (+, -) into barons, because of the postulation of duality and the beginning of the Dance :)

9/23/2010 5:19:15 PM

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Vigilance

As both a scientist by profession and a faithful, the issue of religion vs. science has always been a critical matter of interest to me. After hearing the arguments made on both sides of the fence, I think the true issue boils down to the misunderstanding of the "type" of questions that religion and science each answer. Science seeks to understand the "how" while religion seeks the "why." Problems arise when we use religion as a scientific method (i.e. fundamentalism; Christian science), and science as a religious discipline (i.e. scientism; Scientology).

Science is not a field of knowledge, rather it is a system of inquiry. It does not assume to prove anything, in fact in science there is no such thing as "proof." There is only evidence of re-occurring patterns which give us some insight into the "mechanisms" of natural phenomena. At the end of the day, science is only as good as its questions and its instruments. There is no hubris in this discipline. The fault of hubris is in some of the scientists. To have insight into something does not give us dominance over it. For instance, let us look at disease. Just because we understand the mechanism behind it does not necessitate a dominance over it. Through time I do believe that we can develop methods to appreciate the works of God and even signs of His presence through science. The belief that God exists outside of nature is a strictly dualistic view. After all, if God is omnipresent then He must exist in BOTH the natural and supernatural realm.

We must remember that scientists are only contemporary agents of science, and likewise with clergy in regards to religion. Scientists who criticize religion do not fully understand what religion's objective, just as most who criticize science do not truly understand the scientific method. Not all scientists agree with each other just as not all clergy agree with each other. To postulate that all scientists agree on all aspects of evolution is just as inaccurate as stating that all clergy have the exact same view on Creationism.

At the end of the day, all epistemological inconsistencies aside, science and religion will always butt heads. Not necessarily because they have different views on the truth of the cosmos, but because of its inherent modality. Historically, science is a field that will naturally lend itself to disproving the majority of the theories designed by scientists. As a discipline science is impartial, it will always eventually progress without concern of violating the understanding of its elders. Only in this pattern can science maintain its integrity as being unbiased. Scientists do not like to admit this incontinence. Religion, on the other hand, is a discipline mainly grounded in tradition. By nature it is conservative, and will tend to lose integrity when it admits fault in its once held doctrines. One method to preserve its integrity in the face of change, both science and religion tends to branch into different schools, sects, or denominations. The tension between science and religion is a medieval feud and needs to be laid to rest. Both disciplines have progressed into impressive grounds whereby there is no reason why they can not cooperate in the pursuit of bettering our understanding of our place in the universe.

9/25/2010 5:15:10 AM

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thom

If you'll note ... in a recent CNN appearance on Larry King Hawking's co-author on The Grand Design, Leonard Mlondinow only says that they have removed themselves from the discussion of God in this book as to purposely NOT mix theology with the nature of what they're trying to scientifically postulate. He specifically says, they are withdrawing their personal views about God the Creator for the writing of this book. Of course there is always a much greater leap of faith to say "from nothing came something" ... and then to describe in detail billions of years of perfect something and attempt to convince us that it all came from nothing instead of God the creator. Please. In the billions of solar systems in our universe what possible conclusion could be drawn from a single thinking being that gravity's mathematical equation (or any equation) could be the answer to all things seen and unseen? Fact is, science and theology have done well by each other: everytime a question is answered scientifically it opens the door for a thousand new questions, a new lifetime of discovery ... and the realization of how small minded we really are and just how spectacular and infinitely great is God's power and universe.

10/10/2010 9:41:16 PM

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thom

If you'll note ... in a recent CNN appearance on Larry King Hawking's co-author on The Grand Design, Leonard Mlondinow only says that they have removed themselves from the discussion of God in this book as to purposely NOT mix theology with the nature of what they're trying to scientifically postulate. He specifically says, they are withdrawing their personal views about God the Creator for the writing of this book. Of course there is always a much greater leap of faith to say "from nothing came something" ... and then to describe in detail billions of years of perfect something and attempt to convince us that it all came from nothing instead of God the creator. Please. In the billions of solar systems in our universe what possible conclusion could be drawn from a single thinking being that gravity's mathematical equation (or any equation) could be the answer to all things seen and unseen? Fact is, science and theology have done well by each other: everytime a question is answered scientifically it opens the door for a thousand new questions, a new lifetime of discovery ... and the realization of how small minded we really are and just how spectacular and infinitely great is God's power and universe.

10/10/2010 9:43:08 PM

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Teresa

When poll most people said that if life was truly discovered on other planets it would only confirm their belief in God.

10/24/2010 2:54:53 AM

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Peter

The Truth that God is everything is the koan, so to speak. The gift from God to us is life and the ability to always have Him and His creation to delve into...on myriad planes...and to follow His Son Jesus Christ. Again, think about the phrase God is everything...now, think harder...and more...and forever and always. God loves All His children and, perhaps has sent them all down here for us to learn from.

Vigilance, your post is superb and, for me, right on. Thx.

And thank you Father for bringing a healthy dose of benign intellectualism to this starving Catholic!

11/28/2010 3:42:23 PM

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