The Synthesis of Science and Faith in Western History

S.Augustin, by Louis Comfort Tiffany
Lightner Museum

By studying the history of science, one fact becomes evident: while other civilizations reached remarkable technical, mathematical, or astronomical heights, within European Christendom germinated a systematic, accelerated, and extraordinary scientific development, incomparable to that of any other civilization, past or present. Why this spectacular difference? The answer is not a matter of chance, but of worldview. Science and faith are not adversaries, but pieces of a puzzle designed with astonishing precision.

The supposed war between science and faith is a false diatribe fueled by nineteenth-century prejudices. While science deals with the material and experimental world, philosophy and faith deal with being and purpose. The error of scientists like Stephen Hawking was to declare that philosophy is dead and then, immediately afterward, propose theories (such as model realism or the multiverse) that are philosophical speculations.

Cyclic Time and Linear Time

Stephen Hawking

In an article published in 1999, in volume 879 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Pier Luigi Luisi speaks about the two traditional models of time that have been considered by traditional philosophy and the mythologies of various historical civilizations. They must not be confused with the two philosophical models originated in the twentieth century, the time A and time B of which I spoke in another post of this blog.

• Cyclical time, predominant in Asian civilizations and the Greco-Roman world until the Christian world view took root there. The origin of this model is evident, for many natural phenomena are cyclical: sunrise and sunset; the phases of the moon; the annual movements of the stars, synchronized with the seasons and with many biological phenomena...
• Linear time, prevailing in the three religions who consider themselves descendants of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Linear time can be compared with the course of the life of a living being, which begins at birth, goes on with changes during a certain period, and ends with death.