As declared by Pope Leo XIII in Providentissimus Deus, science cannot contradict the Faith:Catholics are free to hold geocentrism if they wish, and they are also free to deny evolution; but neither position is essential to the Catholic faith and it is a serious concern if either is seen to be necessary for the true traditionalist.
There can never… be any real discrepancy between the theologian and the physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own lines, and both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, "not to make rash assertions, or to assert what is not known as known.”Even today, many commonly-held tenets of natural science are merely theories, not certainties. This is not the case with the Catholic Faith, which is a certainty.
The Church’s magisterium authoritatively teaches on the correct interpretation of Sacred Scripture. As Pope Pius XII taught in Divino Afflatu Spiritu:
"The Holy Ghost, Who spoke by them [the sacred writers], did not intend to teach men these things—that is the essential nature of the things of the universe..."; which principle "will apply to cognate sciences…”Providentissimus Deus also states that Scripture does not give scientific explanations and many of its texts use “figurative language” or expressions “commonly used at the time”, still used today “even by the most eminent men of science” (like the word “sunrise”). Such expressions are not scientific teachings about the cosmic world.
So Catholics should not use the Bible to assert explanations about natural science, but may in good conscience hold to any particular cosmic theory. Being faithful to the Church’s magisterium, the Society of St. Pius X holds fast to these principles: no more and no less.
In the case of evolution, we may not hold that the soul "evolves" from matter - which would in any case be nonsense philosophically. The soul is spirit, not matter and therefore cannot evolve with or from matter but is directly created by God at the first moment of conception. However we are free (but not obliged) to accept an evolutionary view of the development of the material universe.
The SSPX does not enter this discussion but their statement sets out some important fundamental principles for those who do. If you are interested in using science as a part of apologetics, you may be interested in some of the Faith Movement's pamphlets in the Reasons for Believing series.
7 comments:
Thank you for the useful quotations and references.
As a science teacher, I periodically get questions and comments assuming that I must be an atheist, or that science is at odds with religion - always useful to have some backup with authority.
'...If you are interested in using science as a part of apologetics...'
The point you are defending seems clear to me, but surely we go further: we claim that science does provide certainties that we should accept as modern Catholics? i.e. not just as a personal interest for certain Catholics.
Surely any Catholic who seriously held to geocentrism today might well be seen to be rejecting the good of reason?
The Six Days of Creation clearly indicate the Earth as the center of everything.
Light was created on the First Day, the Sun and Moon and Stars on the Fourth.
We therefore do not need the Sun for light.
Understanding the Six Days of Creation will give rise to a clear vision of the heretical thinking of the Modernists that claim God is only a Secondary Cause, Science is first.
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We do need the sun for the natural (physical) light that we have on the earth.
I'm not sure whether you have confused something in the matter of secondary causes. The key difference philosophically between Christians and Muslims is that Christians believe that God works through secondary causes. This is the basis of scientific study and it is why science flourished in a Christian culture (and why its foundations are threatened by relativism.)
Dear Padre,
For your consideration:
There was no morning on the First Day, nor any Night on the Seventh Day.
God is the Alpha and Omega, therefore the Primary Cause of all Secondary Motions.
Where Christ was crucified is the center of all creation.
To say the Earth rotates around the Sun is to deny God put all in motion and allowed secondary causes such as births; creations of new beings.
Heliocentrism attributes all to accidents, and dependent upon the Law of Science rather than God's will.
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When the Angel says "Time is no more" the Sun and the Moon and stars will fall away.
The celestial presence of God will be the light in which we will stand.
Do not confuse Science with heresy.
Darwin, Copernicus, Galileo, and other modern day soothsayers are as much Scientists as Martin Luther was a Theologian.
We can live without the Sun; we will parish without Priests.
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"dependent upon the Law of Science rather than God's will" - That is the heart of the problem. If you ask a Muslim whether a rock dropped from a room will fall to the ground, he might well answer "Insha'Allah": if it is God's will.
The Christian is free to accept a scientific understanding of the universe and say that the rock will fall.
Pope Benedict presented a challenge to Muslims on precisely this question in his Regensburg address.
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