Home About Writers Categories Recent Issues Subscribe Contact File Transfer





Father Cleary
Father Richard James Cleary was born and reared in Wichita. After graduation from Cathedral High School in 1947, he attended the seminary operated by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Northwestern Missouri. There he came to appreciate the life of the monks and, having obtained the permission of Bishop Mark Carroll of Wichita, he became a monk of that monastery. After being ordained a priest in 1955, his superiors sent him to get his master’s degree at the University of Ottawa, Canada, then to study in Athens, Greece, and then in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in Theology. Finally, he spent a year of study at Harvard University. Later, Fr. Cleary was assigned to teach for many years in Rome. In 1998, he returned to Wichita, where he served in parish ministry at St. Mary’s Cathedral and at Blessed Sacrament parishes. In 2001, his abbot (superior) transferred him to Arkansas, where he served as chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, and helped in the parishes of northeast Arkansas. In March 2010, he was re-assigned to his monastery, Conception Abbey, Conception, in Missouri 64433. He can be contacted there at, 660-944-2877, or by email: rjcleary@juno.com.
Religion
2011-11-17 12:07:39
Science vs. religion
A: In view of past and present and future discussions stemming from this question, it seems well to present the facts clearly. God is absolute Truth! By definition, God is true and in Him there is not and cannot be any contradiction. Confusion and contradiction exist only in human minds because we are limited, finite creatures and our understanding of things is only partial. Therefore at times it can seem to us that truths of faith are contradicted by truths of science. Here I would emphasize the words “it can seem” because the whole truth is not immediately apparent to weak humans, and we humans are liable to being deceived. We can be deceived by ignorance of the facts, or by partial knowledge (a little learning is a dangerous thing) or by lies and superstition and illusions and imagination and dreams and even by the devil. The latter is a fallen angel and still possesses an intellect much sharper than any human mind. True science and true religious faith come from God, who cannot deceive or be deceived. In fact, therefore, there is not and cannot be a real conflict between authentic scientific knowledge and authentic religious faith. When a conflict appears between the two, then there is an error either in the science or in the understanding of the faith. Faith and science are friends, handmaids of the Divine Intelligence, freely given by God to his human creatures. But neither faith nor science is given in its fullness. We have to struggle to understand both true faith and true science. In earlier centuries, it was generally-accepted as an evident scientific fact that the world is stationary, around which the sun and other planets revolve. Religious faith, as such, did not dispute or even enter into that matter. Authentic religious faith does not concern geography or the natural sciences. But in the 17th century, when the great astronomer Galileo demonstrated that the earth revolves around the sun, some churchmen viewed his scientific experiments as contradicting a text in the Bible, which would seem to indicate that the sun moves around the earth. The reference is to the joyful song of Joshua, calling up the sun to stand still in order to prolong the victory of that day. “And the sun stood still, and the moon halted, till the people had vengeance on their enemies” (Judges:10:12-13). Actually, Joshua was speaking or singing according to common terminology, in the same way that we refer to sunrise and sunset. Of course, the sun does not rise and does not set. It only appears to rise and to set. But at the time of Galileo, our knowledge of the Holy Scriptures was so limited that it didn’t distinguish between literal fact and literary genre (i.e. various manners of speaking truth). Often truth is expressed in poetry, and this is by metaphors and similar images. But if anyone insists on interpreting a piece of poetry as literal fact, then he or she is liable to get into error and perhaps domestic trouble. For example, read to your wife the lovely poem Ode to a Grecian Urn, and she will be pleased. But, if you compare her size or shape to an urn, you might feel her breaking that urn over your head. The churchmen, involved in the controversy with Galileo were wrong to interpret Joshua’s song, in a fundamentalist way, as if Joshua was expressing literal scientific fact. Galileo was right in pointing out that Joshua’s song had nothing to do with Faith and Religion. The proponent of religious faith has no business becoming involved, and is generally not competent to pronounce, about matters of natural science. Likewise the true scientist, like the great Albert Einstein, will respect the limitations of his fields of competence, and leave to religious persons to pursue the areas of faith. At times, in a rare and delicate situation, both science and religion share a common interest, e.g. in human stem-cell research. Then great respect for each other is required of the part of both the authentic theologian and the genuine scientist. Both are struggling to arrive at truth. When an apparent conflict happens, then either the understanding of the religious faith is defective OR the alleged scientific statement is deficient. The duty remains, for scientists as for theologians, to continue to study, indeed to collaborate and help each other; to advance our human knowledge of both science and faith, which have as a single source... God the Creator.
 
The Q & A Times Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.Materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Thank you.
 
Wildcard SSL Certificates