ITEST Webinar "Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible" with Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, SJ, and Dr. Tom Sheahen (December 2, 2023)

ITEST Webinar entitled "Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible" with Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, SJ, and Dr. Tom Sheahen (December 2, 2023)

Built into our very nature is a desire to know about the world around us. The big questions of human existence are inescapable: Who am I? Why am I here, and where am I going? Why is there evil in the world? What is the meaning of life?This yearning for truth ultimately leads us to our Creator. God knows the longings of the human heart, and he reveals himself to us through creation, through Scripture, and ultimately through the Incarnation. Because God the Son became man, we have a person to look to in our pursuit of truth: Jesus Christ himself, who is Truth. Christ helps us see that truth is not just the object of science and reason, but what animates the mysterious and loving power of faith.In Science, Reason, and Faith, Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, explores in depth the Bible and the intersection of three realms that the secular world tells us are separate and incompatible. Fr. Spitzer draws the modern reader’s attention to the many seeming conflicts between science, reason, and Catholic teaching. By tackling these difficult questions, he shows that it is precisely through the integration of science, reason, and faith that we can truly discover ourselves, our world, and our God.

Fr. Spitzer’s new book Science, Reason and Faith is subtitled Discovering the Bible because it displays the unity between science, the Biblical texts, and the presentation of the Christian faith contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For the scientific reader, it is a reassuring surprise to discover how the elements of faith and science fit together so well.Matters such as finding compatibility between modern physics and cosmology and the text of Genesis 1, or the significance of Old Testament miracles, are explained carefully in a way that a reader without expertise in Biblical scholarship or science can understand. New Testament questions range from the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ miracles, through the full understanding of the real presence of the Eucharist, to the need for there to be an organized religion.Structured in question-and-answer form, multiple topics containing a scientific component are explored across both Old and New Testament. This format enables the reader to quickly locate a particular topic of interest; and thus, the book serves as a handbook or reference guidebook. Several hundred citations guide the reader pursuing greater depth.In my supplement to Fr. Spitzer’s presentation at this Webinar, I will develop some of these topics further, relating them to the principle of God’s omnipresence, which includes God’s supremacy over time, enunciated in my own book Everywhen: God, Symmetry and Time. Our independent approaches converge, which further shows the compatibility of faith and science.

Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible - Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology (faithscience.org)