Faith and Reason

This weekend I finished reading a great book by Dava Sobel - 'Galileo's Daughter'. It combines two of my interests -- theology and astronomy. I was not familiar with Galileo's life prior to reading the book so it was all new to me. The book is very well written and is a real page-turner. It is primarily oriented around Galileo's life during the time of his astronomical discoveries. It references numerous letters from his daughter to provide greater insights into Galileo's character and his struggle to reconcile his discoveries with his Christian faith.

Unfortunately it is a rather tragic tale that set the groundwork for the belief that faith and reason should have an antagonistic relationship. Upon reading the book you realize that Galileo never subscribed to that point of view and felt that faith and reason are meant to be complementary. History has of course vindicated Galileo, but it is worth remembering the lessons of his life.

This story is often used now as an example of what happens when people of faith 'meddle' in science. This is particularly relevant today in the area of bioethics. To give you a particular example, I am very much opposed to embryonic stem cell research for moral reasons, but others in favor of the technology would argue that I am letting my faith transform me into a progress-denying Luddite. I would respond that my reason is properly ordered by my faith.

My reason tells me that there is no way to objectively determine through scientific means when 'personhood' is bestowed upon a baby still in the womb. As a result of this my reason leads me to conclude that the ethically safe course of action is to assume that personhood is conveyed upon a person at the moment of their conception. Proponents of this new technology cannot logically answer the question of what makes an embryo 'less human' than a grown adult. One could argue that an embryo is the epitome of what it means to be human as it contains the full potency of a human being in just a few cells whereas a grown adult has less potency and more act.

Reason devoid of faith is just as dangerous as blind faith. We as human beings have a moral responsibility to use the reason bestowed on us by the Creator in a manner that improves life but always respects it.