Scientist and Christian, An Excellent Combination

 By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

(Homily Delivered on June 30, 2022)

The Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian, whom we celebrate today, came from Rome and lived in the 3rd century. By studying medical science, they cured many people and even animals from their diseases. They did not receive money as a reward. They were unmercenaries. However, they would tell the healed to believe in Christian teaching.

Both were martyrs for Christ. They were even called Wonderworkers because even after their martyrdom they performed many miracles for the sick. In the Protaton of the Holy Mountain there is a wonderful fresco of them, a work of Panselinos of the 15th century.

These Saints also show us the value of the cooperation of religion and science. They were doctors, but that did not prevent them from being faithful Christians. This is a beautiful ideal. A proper scientist and a conscientious Christian. An excellent combination.

Homily Concerning Those Who Consider Science Incompatible With Religion (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily on Science and Religion

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on May 30, 1948)

 

"Considering modern science, as it was developed by Lamarck and Darwin, we find a direct opposite, an absolute inconsistency between the statements of science and the statements of religion in the field of basic questions of being and cognition. Therefore, an enlightened and consistent mind cannot recognize both at the same time. He needs to make a choice."

So wrote 65 years ago the famous German zoologist Haeckel, an ardent admirer of Darwin, in his then sensational book "The Riddle of the Universe", which, as it seemed, completely refuted religion. He says that all enlightened minds must choose between science and religion, reject one or the other. He considers it necessary to reject religion, for the enlightened minds of science will not be rejected.

Greek Politician and Scientist Responds to Criticism After Posting on Social Media About a Miracle He Witnessed

Giannis Kallianos is a 43 year old Greek presenter of meteorological bulletins, mathematician and politician, a member of the New Democracy in the Southern Sector of Athens II. Today, he works at Mega Channel.

On October 16, 2021, the MP became the target of an arson attack on his political office in Argyroupoli. The explosion of the incendiary device caused material damage to the entrance of the apartment building. In a post on Facebook, the MP described the perpetrators as enemies of democracy.

On October 29, 2021, he posted the following on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, responding to comments made from his post on October 26th, the feast of Saint Demetrios, where he mentioned that he attended the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Great Martyr at the Church of Saint Demetrios in Vyrona, where an icon of the Panagia has been weeping for a year:

Science is in the DNA of our Orthodox Faith

 By Archimandrite Iakovos Kanakis

The relationship between Faith, Theology and Science is clarified early on, already from the Biblical texts. From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, it is clear that God created the world. How the world was created, however, is left to the reader to answer over time. It is as if God scattered His "breadcrumbs" throughout creation and called man, the "expert", to discover them. And indeed, man gradually discovered much. With wisdom, from above and beyond, he found cures for diseases, developed technology and thus made human life easier. In fact, his life expectancy increased. Today, there are even remote surgeries and so many other similar things. God has blessed science and scientists and we have so many benefits today. But the "problems" start when the roles get confused. When the scientist does not see God "behind his achievements", when he acts arrogantly like a little god, and when the theologian, on the other hand, tries to place things "narrowly" by entering fields he does not know. The same thing happens when he constantly finds "demons" in front of him, flooded with suspicions.

The Man Who Was A Fool (Martin Luther King Jr.)

 

 

By Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. (Luke 12:20)

 

I would like to share with you a dramatic little story that is significantly relevant in its implications and profoundly meaningful in its conclusions. It is the story of a man who by all modern standards would be considered eminently successful. Yet Jesus called him a fool.  The central character in the drama is a "certain rich man," whose farm yielded such heavy crops that he decided to build new and larger barns, saying, "There will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."  But God said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."  And it was so. At the height of his prosperity, he died.  Think of this man. If he lived in our community today, he would be considered "a big shot." He would abound with social prestige and community respectability. He would be one of the privileged few in the economic power structure.  And yet a Galilean peasant had the audacity to call him a fool.  Jesus did not call this man a fool merely because he possessed wealth. Jesus never made a sweeping indictment against wealth. Rather, he condemned the misuse of wealth. Money, like any other force such as electricity, is amoral and can be used for either good or evil. It is true that Jesus commanded the rich young ruler to “sell all,” but in this instance, as Dr. George A. Buttrick has said, Jesus was prescribing individual surgery, not making a universal diagnosis. Nothing in wealth is inherently vicious, and nothing in poverty is inherently virtuous.  Jesus did not condemn this man because he had made money in a dishonest fashion. Apparently he acquired his wealth by hard work and the practical know-how and far-sighted vision of a good businessman.  Why, then, was he a fool?

An Orthodox Christian View of the Theory of Evolution

In a discussion after a lecture on Orthodox Psychotherapy on 14 July 2009 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos answered the following question from an attendee:

Question: What is your view of Darwin's theory of evolution? How did the world evolve?

Answer: This is a scientific theory that scientists study and on which they repeatedly express their views.

Scientific Progress as Related to Frankish Civilization and Romanity

By Fr. John Romanides

There are clear and distinct boundaries between Theology and Science. Theology, as the Greek origin of the word suggests, is concerned with God - what God is and how one can attain communion with Him - whereas Science is concerned with the created world and is interested mainly in the use of the world.

Medieval Frankish civilization* was destroyed by Europe's scientific, economic, social, political and philosophical awakening. Romanity however, was not only unharmed, but was actually reinforced by this awakening of Europe, and later of America and Russia.

Neo-Greeklings not only cannot perceive the above; rather, they are angered when they hear such a comment, because their basic dogma is that light can be found only in Europe or America or Russia. In fact, they believe that only the Greeks who accept this idea can become enlightened.

Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prizewinning Physicist Says

In a conversation with Scientific American, theoretical physicist Marcelo Gleiserthe, who is the 2019 Templeton Prize winner, does not pull punches on the limits of science, the value of humility in science, and the irrationality of atheism. Concerning the latter, the agnostic physicist says:

Science vs. Scientism: A Necessary Distinction

When engaging the culture: the distinction between science and scientism is something Christians ought to consider. Science as a field of study is something that the Christian can (and should) get behind. In fact, Christians throughout history have made some of the most significant scientific discoveries. Science has led to fascinating discoveries and remarkable advances in technology that has increased life-expectancy, improved healthcare, streamlined communication, and enhanced predictions on weather phenomena (among many other benefits). Christians, in particular, and all of humanity in general have much to be thankful for because of advances made possible by the discipline of science.

The Transplantation of the Western Conflict with Science in the Orthodox East

By Fr. George Metallinos

The European Enlightenment consists of a struggle between natural empiricism and the metaphysics of Aristotle. The Enlighteners are philosophers and rationalists as well. The Greek Enlighteners, with Adamantios Korais as their patriarch, were metaphysical in their theology, and it was they who transported the conflict between the empiricists and the metaphysicists to Greece. However, the Orthodox monks of Mount Athos, the Kollyvades hesychast Fathers, remained empirical in their theological method. The introduction of metaphysics in popular and academic theology is owed principally to Korais. For that reason, Korais became the authenticator of academic theologians as well as of popular moral movements. This means that the cleansing of the heart has ceased to be considered a presupposition of theology, and its place has been taken by scholastic education. The same problem appeared in Russia at the time of Peter the Great (seventeenth to eighteenth century). Thus the Fathers are considered to be philosophers (principally Neo-Platonists like Saint Augustine) and social workers. This has become the prototype of the pietists in Greece. Furthermore, hesychasm is rejected as being obscurantism. The so-called “progressive” ideas of Korais are inclusive of the fact that he was a supporter of Calvinistic and not Roman Catholic use of metaphysics and that his theological works are intense in Calvinistic pietism (moralism).

T.F. Torrance on Science and Theology

‘When the scientist inquires into the nature of the world, he does that not by looking at God but by looking away from him at the world, but when the theologian inquires into the nature of God as he has revealed himself he does that not by looking at the nature of the world, which God has created out of nothing, but by looking away from the world to its Creator. The scientist and the theologian thus move in opposite directions. The scientist is concerned with the created or contingent universe, so that he does not reckon God among the data with which natural science is concerned. And that is of course consonant with a proper theological understanding of the nature of the universe which God has created as a reality utterly different from himself but which he has endowed with a created rational order reflecting his own transcendent rationality.’ (T.F. Torrance, Preaching Christ Today: The Gospel and Scientific Thinking, 48-49)

Faith and Science According to the First American Female Astronomer, Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818-June 28, 1889), the first American woman astronomer, was the first professor of Astronomy at Vassar College and the first director of Vassar's observatory. Honored internationally, she was one of the most celebrated American scientists of the 19th century.

Maria was the third of ten children born to Quakers Lydia Coleman and William Mitchell on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. William Mitchell, an amateur astronomer, shared with his children what he considered to be the evidence of God in the natural world. Only Maria was interested enough to learn the mathematics of astronomy. At age 12 Maria counted the seconds for her father while they observed a lunar eclipse. At 14 she could adjust a ship's chronometer, a valuable skill in a whaling port. She preferred to stand on the roof searching the skies to gathering with the family or friends in the parlor.

Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection? Three Hypotheses.

By Ian Hutchinson

MIT Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering

I’m a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, and this weekend, I’m celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. So are dozens of my colleagues. How can this be?

Hypothesis one: We’re not talking about a literal resurrection. Perhaps it is just an inspiring myth that served to justify the propagation of Jesus’ exalted ethical teachings. A literal resurrection contradicts the known laws of nature. Maybe scientists can celebrate the idea of Jesus’s spirit living on, while his body remained in the grave.

But the first disciples attested to a physical resurrection. How could an untruth logically support high moral character? How could it have sustained the apostles through the extremes of persecution they experienced founding Christianity? And is celebrating a myth consistent with scientific integrity?

Why Science Does Not Disprove God

Amir D. Aczel
Apr 27, 2014
TIME Magazine

A number of recent books and articles would have you believe that—somehow—science has now disproved the existence of God. We know so much about how the universe works, their authors claim, that God is simply unnecessary: we can explain all the workings of the universe without the need for a Creator.

And indeed, science has brought us an immense amount of understanding. The sum total of human knowledge doubles roughly every couple of years or less. In physics and cosmology, we can now claim to know what happened to our universe as early as a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang, something that may seem astounding. In chemistry, we understand the most complicated reactions among atoms and molecules, and in biology we know how the living cell works and have mapped out our entire genome. But does this vast knowledge base disprove the existence of some kind of pre-existent outside force that may have launched our universe on its way?

Orthodox Faith and the Natural Sciences

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos

1. In Orthodoxy, the antithesis – and the conflict – between faith (or theology) and science is not something self-evident. It is only a pseudo-problem, because Orthodoxy in its authentic expression and realization is likewise a science, however with a different cognitive subject.

Orthodox Theology is a science and in fact a positive science, because it has a cognitive subject and it also implements a scientific method. In Orthodox tradition, two kinds of cognition or wisdom are discernible (from the Apostle Paul, James the brother to Christ, through to Gregory Palamas and Eugenios Voulgaris etc.). There is the cognition of the Uncreated (God) and the cognition of the created (the world, as something fashioned or created). The cognition of God (“theognosy”) is supernatural and is attained through the synergy of man with God. The cognition of the world is natural and is acquired through scientific research. The method for attaining the cognition of the Divine is the “nepsis” (soberness) and “catharsis” (cleansing) of the heart (Psalm 50:12 and Matthew 5:8). Theology, therefore, is the gnosiology and the cognition of the Uncreated. Science is the gnosiology and the cognition of the created. In the science of faith, cognizance is called “theosis” (deification) and is the sole objective of Orthodoxy. All else is only the means to that end.

All That a Christian Should at Least Know About Creation

By St. Augustine of Hippo

When, then, the question is asked what we are to believe in regard to religion, it is not necessary to probe into the nature of things, as was done by those whom the Greeks call physici;* nor need we be in alarm lest the Christian should be ignorant of the force and number of the elements — the motion, and order, and eclipses of the heavenly bodies; the form of the heavens; the species and the natures of animals, plants, stones, fountains, rivers, mountains; about chronology and distances; the signs of coming storms; and a thousand other things which those philosophers either have found out, or think they have found out. For even these men themselves, endowed though they are with so much genius, burning with zeal, abounding in leisure, tracking some things by the aid of human conjecture, searching into others with the aids of history and experience, have not found out all things; and even their boasted discoveries are oftener mere guesses than certain knowledge.

Do the Saints Have Unerring Knowledge of Scientific Matters?

"The non-Christological interpretation of the Old Testament is not only deception, but also heresy."
 - Fr. John Romanides (1927-2001), Priest and Teacher of Theology

By Prof. Fr. John Romanides

When activated by the Holy Spirit the noetic faculty has unceasing memory of God in the Lord of Glory Who is Christ Incarnate. This is a state of liberation from demonic influences and unity in Christ in which the whole person, body and soul, is kept from error and gifted with inspiration in such wise that he does not confuse the energies of God with the energies of creatures and especially of the devil.

Metr. Kallistos of Diokleia on Science and the Theory of Evolution

By Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia

Religion and science are working on different levels and are following different methods, and using different kinds of evidence. And, indeed, what each is saying is relevant for the other, but we mustn’t confuse these two levels of discourse. The scientist is working from the evidence of our senses, the theologian, the religious thinker, is using the data of revelation, scripture. So here are two different forms of evidence, and two different ways of arguing. As I see it, there need not be any conflict between religion and science, if each is properly understood, because they are answering different kinds of questions. The scientist is telling us what there is in the universe, and he is also saying, as far as we can discover, how the universe came to exist in the form which it now has, by what stages it developed. In the religious sphere, we are asking why was the world created, and what is the purpose of our life on earth. Now, in my view, those are not strictly scientific questions, and the scientist does not claim to answer them, though what he tells us about how the world is and how it came to be the way it is may help us to answer these religious questions. Some scientists would say that the question: Why is there a universe? Where did it come from? What existed before the Big Bang? some scientists would say that these are simply non-questions, which shouldn’t be asked. But in fact these are questions which as human beings we want to ask and need to ask. But I don’t think the scientist, simply on the basis of his scientific discipline, can answer them.

Patriarch Kirill of Russia: "It is naive to read Genesis as the textbook on anthropogenesis"

August 2, 2016

Interfax

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes science and religion do not contradict each other, as they respond to different questions, and there is no sense in searching an answer to spiritual questions in works on Physics or Biology.

“We can say that science, religion and art are different ways of examining the world and man, of examining the world by man. Each of them has its own instruments, its own methods of learning. They respond to their own questions,” the primate said at his meeting with scientists in Sarov.

Can We Know God Through Mathematics?

The esteemed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, one of the creators and developers of the revolutionary String Theory which is highly respected throughout the world, claims to have developed a theory that might point to the existence of God. Through this theory he claims that it is through mathematics we can know the mind of God, who he says is a mathematician. He says: "The mind of God we believe is cosmic music, the music of strings resonating through 11 dimensional hyperspace. That is the mind of God." You can hear him explain more here. The Orthodox perspective is quite different, however, coming down to how both Science and Theology should be viewed and used. Below Fr. John Romanides and Fr. George Metallinos explain, together with a wonderful quote by Albert Einstein that can be integrated into the Orthodox perspective.

By Protopresbyter Fr. John Romanides

At this point, we come to a crucial difference between the apophatic theology of the Church Fathers and that of the Western Scholastic theologians of the Middle Ages. Even today if we open up a dogmatic textbook written by Roman Catholic theologians, we will come across their claim that there are two ways to theologize – one way involves attributing names to God and the other negative way involves removing these names from God. But what is absurd is that for them these names are not taken away from God in order to avoid attributing them to Him, but in order to purify the names of their imperfections.