On October 16th, three OLSWA professors were among the speakers at a conference held by the Canadian Fellowship of Catholic Scholars at Loreto College in Toronto. Doctors Colin Kerr and David Beresford and Prof. John Paul Meenan all delivered presentations on the sciences considered from a Roman Catholic viewpoint. All of the talks were well-received by the audience.

In his speech, Dr. Kerr discussed the view of ‘science’ of one of the greatest of the Church Fathers, St. Augustine of Hippo. He argued that while scientific theory may not be one of the subjects we readily associate with St. Augustine, the times in which he touches upon it are worth examining. Dr. Kerr indicated how St. Augustine’s view of science was coloured by his Christian and philosophic horizons, as well as by his personal experiences with Manichaeism and Astrology. These factors contributed to giving him a powerfully theo-centric and moral view of nature. Reading Augustine on science means reversing some of our perspectives: for him a moral argument for the truth might be stronger than a material one. Hence, Dr. Kerr said, “[h]e discovered that astrology was a false science. The proof for this lay, on the one hand, in its failure to explain the actual behaviour of natural things. On the other hand, it was false because it was immoral. In The Confessions it is actually this second proof that is considered the stronger argument.” Dr. Kerr especially went into depth regarding St. Augustine’s consideration of the ‘scientific dimension’ of Genesis.

Mr. Meenan tackled a controversial topic in the world of Catholic science - that of the “Galileo affair,” interpreting it as a test case for what science can tell us about reality. He argued that Galileo created a confusion between what Plato called the method of the astronomer (building models) and the method of the physicist (getting to the actual reality) which has plagued science ever since. Mr. Meenan declared that the two methods should remain distinct, but complementary, with one reinforcing the other. Like Dr. Kerr, he also considered the place experimentation and scientific paradigms should have for a Catholic scientist: “Building models and theories is good, so long as they help us advance in our knowledge of the physical truth of the universe as created by God, and not stray therefrom.”

Dr. Beresford addressed the question of teaching science from a Catholic perspective. He affirmed the study of the physical world as valuable, because Christ uses it to manifest His truth to us. Hence to pass it on to others is to pass on truth, a vital part of the Christian walk. His talk covered a wide variety of topics, from the false opposition between faith in Divine Creation and belief in natural selection, to the differences in how science ought to be taught to believers and non-believers, to the evils of political correctness that inhibit proper instruction in the sciences. Dr. Beresford concluded by pointing out that at the very least, teaching science instills in students a respect for nature whence greater things may emerge: “From this respect grows reverence, and from reverence gratitude. From gratitude it is a small step to faith.”

The full texts of the presentations may be found by clicking the links below:

 Dr. Beresford's Presentation - Dr. Kerr's Presentation - Mr. Meenan's Presentation