Greetings,
At Timothy’s second birthday party today (when you only get a birthday every four years, you have to make the most of it), we were talking about the true basics of the Christian faith – Scripture and the Tradition of the Church – as opposed to the “fundamentalism” which many people espouse as Christianity, but which is really a political viewpoint which finds scripture to support its position. In genuine faith there is no problem between our faith and science – both are seeking to know, understand and apply to life the Essential, only Truth – the Truth which is God’s Eternal Christ.
Mathematics has not a foot to stand upon which is not purely metaphysical. It begins in metaphysics; and their several orbits are continually intersecting. (Thomas de Quincey: Kant in His Miscellaneous Essays, c. 1830)
Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture. (Bertrand Russell: Philosophical Essays (1910) no. 4)
We sometimes forget that all things are related and that God created everything as a whole, in perfect order, and that what we call mathematics is the basic framework of God’s creation. We have come to understand that the creative arts, music, painting, sculpture, etc., are all grounded in mathematics. We have come to understand that the basis of all scientific knowledge, and advancement is mathematics. We have even come to understand that there is beauty and even mystery in the seemingly cold, precise numerics of mathematics.
There are some who insist that science and faith are at cross purposes. Just the opposite is true. Until the last three hundred years it was understood that the search for knowledge, “scientific” or otherwise, was part of the function of faith. Up until then, and even in large part since then, Christian institutions were the major force in education and scientific study. To the extent that scientific study is a search for and the revelation of the truth, it and Christianity share the same purpose. As Christians we know that Jesus Christ is the Truth, and our purpose is to know more about him and to reveal his Truth to all people.
We understand that there are many people of different faiths and even no expressed faith who are searching for the Truth. To the extent that they find some portion of the Truth, they are finding a portion of the reality of Christ, whether they know his name or not, and whether they acknowledge him or not. Truth is Truth is Christ. Ultimately, all searches for Truth will lead to Christ. Therefore, we rejoice in all those who seek the Truth and encourage them to share what they have found with us, as we offer to share what we know of the Truth with them. This was the underlying principle used by E. Stanley Jones as he related to the people of various faiths in India.
Yours & His,
DED
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