Lesson 4 –
The Scientific Method: Common Objections to Faith

If God is the source of all that exists in the material world — which science investigates through the scientific method — and if He is also the source of what Christians believe by faith, then there cannot be any intrinsic conflict between understanding gained through science and understanding gained through faith or theological speculation.

Course Reading

The Savior of Science, 1-2 | Stanley Jaki

Optional: The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts | Edward Grant

Excerpt from The Savior of Science by Stanley Jaki:

“Insofar as science is not a mere tool but intellectual creativity it is intertwined with presuppositions that have distinctly ideological character. Here too more is conceded nowadays than a generation or two ago when science and positivism (be it in the guise of pragmatism, empiricism, or operationism) were fairly synonymous. That science is not irreconcilable with the ideology par excellence, or Christianity, can be heard in circles where not too long ago a perennial warfare between the two was the standard perspective.”

Course Listening

Are Science and Religion Compatible? | Fr. Michael Dodds, OP

Supplemental Aquinas 101 videos from Season 1

This episode was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this project are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.