Science: Get to the Bottom of the Glass

"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you." Werner Heisenberg, quantum physicist and Nobel Laureate. 

I was watching an interesting interview recently with a famous astrophysicist by an equally, maybe even more famous, comedian.  As the best comedians do, the interviewer asked the humorously simple, yet deeply profound question to the scientist: "Is it better to know or not to know?"

If you think about it, is really a question that all Christians must grapple with. God's great universe stands out there, greater than we ever really imagined, but all of the stuff we find out there or even right under our feet can have a very unfortunate and unnecessary response from Christians: fear, or worse, crippling doubt.

But why is this so? Science is merely a tool and a method to discover the great mysteries that God has prepared for us. Granted: we can discuss the wisdom that humans use when they make these discoveries (i.e. the atomic bomb), but must we worry about faith/reason really contradicting each other? 

It is a logical fallacy to say that Science has led one away from God.  If anything, the discoveries of elegant, beautiful, and simply amazing realities such as pi and the theory of relativity should lead us to deeper reflection on the majesty and order of the universe God created. There are many who would argue that Science and Faith need not talk to one another; that Reason and Faith need not, and indeed cannot, agree.  But as Catholics, we have a long and beautiful tradition of both/and.  You can be assured that you will not be obliged as a Catholic to believe anything that is contrary to reason. But you also must be prepared to seek the knowledge and ask the question, "why"? As that famous astrophysicist stated, "To dismiss scientific discovery out of hand is the same as accepting it blindly."  Our faith is the same way-we cannot simply accept it blindly OR dismiss it out of hand.  Simply put, we can't give up the pursuit of Faith OR Reason.  We need both to get to the bottom of the glass, where God is waiting.