What Does "Creation" Really Mean? w/ Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. & Dr. William Carroll
Dec 5, 2024
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Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. hosts Dr. William Carroll, an expert in intellectual history and the history of science. They unpack St. Thomas Aquinas’s profound insights on creation, discussing how it intertwines with time and cosmology. The conversation reveals the historical tensions between faith and science, particularly through the Galileo-Inquisition episode. They also explore the concept of 'conceptual therapy' to tackle misconceptions in cosmology and clarify the nature of creation ex nihilo, enhancing our understanding of the relationship between existence and creation.
The podcast emphasizes that St. Thomas Aquinas views creation as a fundamental dependency of existence, not merely a temporal event.
The discussion encourages bridging the gap between faith and science by fostering dialogue that respects both theological and scientific insights.
Deep dives
The Relationship Between Science and Faith
The podcast discusses the perceived conflict between faith, particularly the doctrine of creation, and modern science, specifically evolutionary biology and cosmology. Historical narratives often depict the modern scientific revolution as a rejection of ancient philosophies, particularly those of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, leading to the belief that religion holds no significant place in understanding the natural world. Key figures like Galileo are highlighted as pivotal in this narrative, where modernity emphasizes a binary opposition between scientific inquiry and religious belief, suggesting that science can explain everything without the need for a creator. This perception has perpetuated the idea that the existence of God is unnecessary for understanding the origins of the universe and life itself, framing religion as irrelevant in contemporary scientific discourse.
Understanding Creation According to Aquinas
The conversation delves into Thomas Aquinas' interpretation of creation, emphasizing that it fundamentally concerns the dependency of existence rather than a specific temporal event. Aquinas posits that creation is not a change but an ongoing reality that underpins all existence, challenging contemporary interpretations that link creation strictly to the universe's beginning in time. This distinction is crucial in ongoing debates about creation and cosmology, as both affirmations and denials of creation often misinterpret it as merely a transitional change from nothing to something. By understanding creation as a relationship of dependence on existence, one acknowledges that philosophical discourse aligns with rather than contradicts scientific inquiries regarding the cosmos.
Navigating the Discourse on Faith and Science
The podcast emphasizes the importance of developing a nuanced understanding when engaging with the interplay of faith, philosophy, and science, especially for those lacking extensive academic backgrounds. This involves recognizing that academic expertise in one area does not necessitate exclusion from meaningful participation in discussions across disciplines, urging individuals to familiarize themselves with the claims and distinctions made by specialists. Practical resources, including essays, books, and popular literature on Aquinas and the nature of creation, can help bridge knowledge gaps and enable informed participation in conversations about faith and scientific inquiry. Ultimately, fostering a dialogue that respects both scientific and theological insights can enrich one's understanding of existence and the universe.
What does it really mean to say the world is "created," according to St. Thomas Aquinas? Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. William Carroll about what "creation" really means, St. Thomas Aquinas on creation and time, cosmology, understanding science and creation, the harmony of science and faith, and more!
About the speaker: Professor William E. Carroll has recently retired from research and teaching at the Aquinas Institute of Blackfriars in the University of Oxford. For the past two years he has been a Visiting Professor at the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Wuhan, China), and at the Hongyi Honor College of Wuhan University. He is a European intellectual historian and historian of science whose research and teaching concern: 1) the reception of Aristotelian science in mediaeval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and the development of the doctrine of creation, and 2) the encounter between Galileo and the Inquisition. He has also written extensively on the ways in which mediaeval discussions of the relationship among the natural sciences, philosophy, and theology can be useful in contemporary questions arising from developments in biology and cosmology.
He is the author of four books: Aquinas on Creation; La Creación y las Ciencias Naturales: Actualidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino; Galileo: Science and Faith; and Creation and Science (with translations in Slovak, Spanish, and Chinese). His published work has appeared in 12 languages.
Over many years he has written more than 25 op-ed pieces for Public Discourse, the web site of the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton.
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