From the Friars: The Limits of Science
Jesus asks in the gospel today, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” In our time we see large numbers of people turning away from religion, especially youth and young adults. Often they claim a belief in science, as if science has somehow proven that religion is nothing more than superstition. This is impossible because by definition science is limited to knowledge that comes from material things that are able to be observed and measured with our bodily senses.
Dr. Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, by Albert Edelfelt. Photographed by Ondra Havala. Public Domain, Link
Faith is a different type of knowing. It is first a gift of God, but is also fostered by logical reflection on the whole of human experience. It is not limited to physical reality only. And it is very un-scientific to claim that science can prove something that is outside of its rather narrow limits.
There is an often-repeated story of an atheist sitting with an elderly man on a train in France in the 19th century. The latter is quietly praying the rosary which prompts the non-believer to mock him for his superstition, claiming that only science has the answers to life’s problems and mysteries. At their parting the older man hands his companion his card which states: Dr. Louis Pasteur, Academy of Science, Paris. I have no scientific proof for this story but the following is a quote from a biography of Pasteur by his son-in-law: “Absolute faith in God and eternity, … were feelings which pervaded his whole life. Full of respect for the form of religion [Catholicism] which had been that of his forefathers, he came simply to it and naturally for spiritual help in these last weeks of his life.” It is reported that he died holding his rosary.
One of Pasteur’s great accomplishments was to disprove the theory of spontaneous generation, which claims that living organisms can somehow come from non-living matter. Ironically, Charles Darwin had used this false theory to explain the origin of the first life forms.
Science cannot explain where life comes from, nor existence itself. And you cannot give what you do not have. Only the great I Am (Ex 3:14), the necessary Being, can call other beings into existence out of nothing. And only the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:16) has life in Himself and can share it with His creatures.
When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?
God bless you.
–Fr. Peter