The Pope on Science and Religion

Today, Pope Benedict warned that the "seductive" powers of science are once again denigrating humanity's spiritual nature, reigniting the old science vs religion debate. Calling for a more interdisciplinary approach, he said that,

the exact sciences, both natural and human, have made prodigious advances in their understanding of man and his universe. [But] there is a strong temptation to circumscribe human identity and enclose it with the limits of what is known. . . .

In order to avoid going down this path, it is important not to ignore anthropological, philosophical and theological research, which highlight and maintain the mystery of human beings, because no science can say who they are, where they come from and where they go. The knowledge of human beings is then, the most important of all forms of knowledge.

Human beings always stand beyond what can be scientifically seen or perceived. To overlook the question of man's 'being' inevitably leads to refusing the possibility of research into the objective truth of being [. . .] and, effectively, to an incapacity to recognize the foundation upon which human dignity rests, from the embryo until natural death.

Science cannot rest on its own, and, despite what "science" would have you believe, it is not value-free, nor should it be. All science (all knowledge itself, perhaps) is value-laden. Science for the sake of science, and progress for the sake of progress should be questioned, examined and harnessed, both in its limits and its potential.

"Man," says the Pope, "is not the fruit of chance or a bundle of convergences, determinisms or physical and chemical reactions." And I have to agree. There is more to a human being than nucleotides, neural transmitters or brain stem functions. In fact, we are much more than the sum total of our entire body and all of its magnificent functionality, including our ability to objectively reason.

Indeed, as the Pope alluded to, our humanity emerges from our biology, our reason and our ability to intuit the world of the spirit. In fact, I might say that our humanity rests of science AND faith. While science cannot even ask spiritual questions, it can foster or destroy human dignity.