True science is open to God, says bishop

Science and religion are allies and partners, not competitors, and true science opens out an exciting path to God, an Indian archbishop says. "Science that studies the universe is an exciting path to God," Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati told a national seminar on "Christian Faith in a World of Science and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities."

The Salesian prelate is also chairman of the Commission for Education and Culture under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).

The CBCI Committee for Science, Religion and Society, which operates under the commission, organized the Aug. 18-20 seminar in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science and Religion. It was held in Pune, western India.

Two Vatican delegates were among 60 bishops, Religious superiors and scientists who addressed issues related to the religious, moral and social challenges science poses.

Archbishop Menamparampil described the universe as a book of theology, a spiritual treatise.

"Today, not just theologians and mystics but also scientists speak of mysteries," he said in his presidential address. Mystery has been the underlying principal of religion, art and science as they look into deeper realities, he said.

While scientists in the past have insisted on experience and observation as the criteria of knowledge, "modern scientists are not embarrassed to say that they were guided by their intuition whenever their performance peaked," the prelate noted.

Archbishop Menamparampil also described scientists' version of the universe's origin as no less mysterious then the biblical account in the Book of Genesis.

"We get into the mystery of mysteries when we begin to study subatomic particles, supernovas and distant galaxies, speculate about the possibilities of multiple big bangs, of parallel universes and undreamt of dimensions of space-time, until we are lost in the majestic beauty of God's creation," he said.

The archbishop later told UCA News that science and religion need each other to appreciate the complexities of the world and the cosmos.

"Science and technology can make us only ardent consumers but religion gives meaningful direction to purposeful life," he explained.

A scientist cannot pretend to know all the answers to questions such as what preceded the big bang, what is the ultimate source of energy that holds sub-atomic particles together and what is human consciousness, he pointed out. Science needs religion and vice versa, which is why Albert Einstein exclaimed that science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind, he continued.

The prelate said scientists and religious thinkers should avoid unilateral reductionism and self-imposed isolation, and each should continue to enrich, nourish and challenge the other to find the ultimate meaning in life.

Archbishop Menamparampil recalled that at one point religion seemed to be on the way out and Nietzsche declared God as dead.

"But we have seen God is neither dead nor dying. Instead, God is back in a big way."

He cited the many Catholic ecclesial movements that thrive in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Religion, he said, is making "rapid headway" and using modern tools to propagate itself.

Even communists seem to concede that religion and modernization could co-exist, the prelate noted. He urged religious leaders and scientists to assume responsibility to realize the ultimate destiny of humanity and of all creation.