Homework answers / question archive / The Mystery of God Unit Four: Proving God Part One: Faith & Reason Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Unit Four: Proving God View this clip from Inherit the Wind, a famous 1960 film dramatization of the 1925 “Scopes Monkey Trial” (State v

The Mystery of God Unit Four: Proving God Part One: Faith & Reason Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Unit Four: Proving God View this clip from Inherit the Wind, a famous 1960 film dramatization of the 1925 “Scopes Monkey Trial” (State v

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The Mystery of God Unit Four: Proving God Part One: Faith & Reason Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Unit Four: Proving God View this clip from Inherit the Wind, a famous 1960 film dramatization of the 1925 “Scopes Monkey Trial” (State v. Scopes, Scopes v. State, 152 Tenn. 424, 278 S.W. 57 [Tenn. 1926]),in which John Scopes, a Tennessee teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution. The actual trial pitted William Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow. In the film version, Spencer Tracey (left)plays the Darrow character, and Frederic March (right) plays the Bryan character. Unit Four: Proving God “Darwin took us to a hilltop from where we could look back and see the way we came. But for this insight and for this knowledge we must abandon our faith.” (Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind). What do you think of this statement? Science and Religion Pope Benedict XVI examines a meteorite during his September 16, 2009 visit to the headquarters of the Vatican Observatory Charles Towns (Nobel Prize Winner in Physics for the invention of the laser): “Science is an attempt to understand how our universe works. Religion is an attempt to understand the purpose and the meaning of the universe, including human life. Well, now if there’s a purpose and a meaning, it must have something to do with how it works, and vice-versa.” Science and Religion The First Home of the Vatican Observatory (1774), at the Jesuit Collegio Romano in Central Rome Faith and Reason Dumbell Nebula M27 Taken with the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, Mount Graham, Arizona “Faith and Reason” (Latin title Fides et Ratio) is the title of an important document written in 1998 by the late Pope John Paul II (now a canonized saint). In this important document, the pope outlined the Catholic Church’s teaching that faith and reason do not contradict each other. Faith and Reason According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church(# 159): “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God…” Faith and Reason “…The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.” The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City Science and Religion • View this video of a lecture at Villanova University by noted astronomer and Jesuit priest George Coyne, an astronomer who was also the director of the Vatican Observatory. • Remember to take notes as you view the video! The Vatican Observatory in Castelgandolfo, Italy. The marble plaque reads, “Come let us adore God the Creator.”