Blending science with religion

As unacceptable as it is to Traditional Catholics, the following guide from Vatican Two (The Church In The Modern World) may be the only way to save the Church in the modern world.

“Let them (the faithful) blend modern science and its theories and the understanding of most recent discoveries with Christian morality and doctrine.”

For example, we would say, to deny the theory of evolution is absurd and to continue to do so will mean the virtual end of religion, which would then end the spiritual truths that religion can teach science.

However, to quote Vatican One... “let there be growth...and all possible progress in understanding...but only within proper limits, that is, in the same doctrine, in the same meaning, and in the same purport.”

From a talk on evolution and religion by Father Coyne

Here is an excellent look at evolution and religion, which begins: “The following is the text of the talk to be delivered by Vatican Observatory Director Jesuit Father George V. Coyne, “Science Does Not Need God, or Does It? A Catholic Scientist Looks at Evolution,” at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 31:

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=18504

And here is an interview with Father Coyne from the Counterbalance Foundation:

A href="http://www.meta-library.net/transcript/coyne-frame.html

The Holy Office On the Writings of Father Teilhard de Chardin

“On June 30, 1962, the Holy Office issued a monitum (warning) regarding the writings of Father Teilhard de Chardin. In 1981 the Holy See reiterated this warning against rumors that it no longer applied. Following is the text of both the monitum and the 1981 statement:”

http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3160

Ramakrishna on truth

"It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes
the spiritual discipline of the Kaliyuga.
If a man clings tenaciously to truth
he ultimately realizes God."

Ramakrishna

Conservatism and Change

I see Conservatism as the middle way between the reactionary and the progressive. Conservatism is not against change, including changes that can help us better understand supernatural knowledge. But Conservatism does insist on taking its slow time in deciding on changes, always keeping in mind practical and even sometimes illogical human life and living.

Beyondism

“Beyondism” is an interesting attempt to create religion from science. I have few problems with Beyondism until it denies the spiritual realm and the cultural developments that come from revealed religion. Religious thinkers have studied the spiritual realm longer than Western science has studied the material realm. I think it may be possible to apply evolutionary thinking to the spiritual realm, even when one affirms Traditional Roman Catholicism. In any case, Raymond Cattell's “A Concise Beyondist Catechism:” is very far sighted and much of it will be applied to the Evolutionary Christian Church. http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/beyond01.html

On questioning

Some men who question doctrine may be heretical, others may not be. "Material" heresy--a matter about which religion has been mistaken--is not the same as "formal" heresy. And men have been lost to the church in this creative mix. It is not heretical to attempt to explain and define doctrine by bringing in other truths. This is not merely innovation. Aquinas applied Aristotle and other nonchurchmen to deepen the understanding of doctrine.

I agree that Tradition does not change, it is either accepted or rejected, but it is not rejecting Tradition to creatively question it. In any case, the Magisterium will always correct us. Perhaps one should not question with the world watching; then again, why not? Many people today are simply bored with religion.

Can There Be Truth Outside of Catholicism?

Here is part of a letter Dr. Rama Coomaraswamy wrote to the Le Floch Report regarding the presence of Truth outside of Catholicism.

There have always been Catholics who can recognize the presence of Truth outside of Catholicism.

...“Consider the words of St. Iranaeus: “There is only one unique and the same God the Father, and his Word has been present to humanity from all time, although by diverse dispositions and manifold operations he has from the beginning been saving those who are saved, that is, those who love God and follow his word, each in his own age.” (Against Heresies, IV, 28, 2) And again: “Christ did not only come for those who, since the time of the Emperor Tiberius have believed in him, nor has the Father exercised his providence only in favor of people now living, but in favor of all without exception, from the beginning, who have feared God and loved him and practiced justice and kindness towards their neighbors and desired to see Christ and hear his voice, in accordance with their abilities and the age in which they were living.” [ibid, IV, 22,2 (SC bis, p. 688.,)

“Christ is the first-born of God, his Logos, in whom all people share. That is what we have learned and what we bear witness to. All who have lived in accordance with the logos are Christians, even if they have been reckoned atheists, as among the Greeks, Socrates, Heraclitus and the like. ” Justin Martyr, Apology I, 46 (PG 6, 397)

St Allbert the Great; “Examining the teachings of pagan philosophers in the light of sound reason, he demonstrated clearly that they were in fundamental accord with the tenets of the faith.” From the second Nocturn of St. Albert the Great, Nov. 15. )(Breviary Pius X). One could provide many similar quotations from the saints.

St Thomas Aquinas held with St Ambrose that all Truth, no matter where it was found had the Holy Spirit for its author, and further that extrinsic proofs could be used in support of the Catholic Faith. Indeed his Summa is full of quotes from extrinsic sources.”...

For the complete letter see:
http://leflochreport.com/site/index.php?Dr.-Rama-Coomaraswamy

The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta

Here is a section of a book review by Paul Rooke on "The Sermon on the Mount according to Vedanta" by Swami Prabhavananda, Vedanta Press, Hollywood, CA, 1992; 110 pages, ISBN 08874810507

Swami Prabhavananda lived in the United States from 1923 until his death in 1976, and acquired a deep understanding of both the Bible and the western approach to religion. He had the highest respect for Jesus as a spiritual teacher and often used his words to elaborate and exemplify the themes he was explaining. This short book, originally published in 1964, is a thorough analysis of several chapters from Matthew from a principally Hindu viewpoint, with frequent references to Buddhism. Lucid and inspiring, it provides many valuable insights for daily living and the spiritual quest, as well as understanding of key issues in comparative religious studies.

..."The central theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that the whole purpose of one's life is to seek perfection and realize God. But what is perfection? Christ taught that it is union with the Father and must be sought within. It can never be found in the external world of things, for as Jesus proclaimed, "The Kingdom of God is within you." The author compares this idea with that of sat-chit-ananda (immortal life-infinite knowledge-eternal love and bliss) as expressed in the Vedas. Developing the theme of sin and maya (illusion) in Christianity and the Vedas, Prabhavananda advises that an obsession with worldly things masks the perception of our fundamental element, the unifying essence within us all. All religions have as their ultimate objective a union with the Absolute, however this may be described. This goal has been called samadhi (Hinduism), nirvana (Buddhism), and mystical union (Christianity), and all faiths emphasize the need to be purposive about realizing it. The four main paths in the Vedanta are karma yoga (selfless work); jnana yoga (discrimination between the ephemeral and the eternal); bhakti yoga (devotion to God, the path followed by the majority of religious believers); and raja yoga (meditation on the supreme reality). This last path may be said to include the other three, and ``a balanced spiritual life demands a harmonious combination of all four yogas, [although] one or another usually predominates, depending on the temperament of the aspirant.'' Christ's teachings can easily be assimilated into these four paths, with devotion emphasized most strongly."

Here is the URL. http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/christ/xt-prook.htm

Comment on the above statement: Swami Prabhavananda is speaking of what is defined as the Involutionary Inward Path in the Evolutionary Christian Church, which is shared by all the revealed religions. Our mission is to include the other half of religion, the Evolutionary Outward Path, which is the path of material-spiritual evolution to the God first seen in the Inward Path.

Politics in its place

Claes G. Ryn said it well, (August 28, 2006,The American Conservative) Conservatism has been too enthralled by politics..."To recover, American conservatism would have to reorder its priorities and most especially put politics in its place. America’s crisis is at bottom moral-spiritual and cultural. Though a new alliance of homeless political groups is desirable, a realignment would be unavailing in the long run unless the old obsession with politics were also broken. The issues most needing attention will make the eyes of political junkies glaze over."

Read the full articule: http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_08_28/article19.html

Slow Ways

Why do men remain radical for so long?
The mystic songs of religion and
intuition seem to drive them
away. Science, which is here to stay,
has often been a school for
radicals--think of Bentham and
Marx--with Sabbaticals of PhD’s
replacing convocations of
bishops. The slow ways of tradition
are as hard to precisely define
as the Gothic line. Have our
universities created a better
world than our churches? Slowness
is key. Bend the twig of tradition
and you avoid decay and rot. Cut
the tree down and even the benefits
of science fall to the ground.

Rumi poem

Evolution is the prime process visible in the universe, says Raymond Cattell, and other scientists. But according to Jelauddin Rumi, and other mystics, “everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.” Here is the poem:

“Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.
Every wonderful sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The source they come from is eternal, growing,
Branching out, giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?
The source is within you
And this whole world is springing up from it.”

Jelauddin Rumi

Guenon quote

The following quote is from the English translation of René Guénon's most important book "La Crise du Monde Moderne,"(1927) although he may have lost faith in this position in his later life.

"...We think that if a Western tradition could be rebuilt it would be bound to take on a religious form in the strictest sense of this word, and that this form could only be Christian; for on the one hand the other possible forms have been too long foreign to the Western mentality, and on the other it is only in Christianity - and we can say still more definitely in Catholicism - that such remnants of a traditional spirit as still exist in the West are to be found. Every 'traditionalist' venture that ignores this fact is without foundation and therefore inevitably doomed to failure; it is self-evident that one can build only upon something that has a real existence, and that where there is lack of continuity, any reconstruction must be artificial and cannot endure."

Religion and Science...Science Is Great But...

If “truth” remains a central goal, could we see the tracks of science and religion converge? Would this hybrid contain more of religion, and less of science, or the other way around?

Perhaps the real model is this: science following religion in all its forms and gradually "proving" the ethical truths of religion using scientific methods, e.g. traditional conservative values affirmed by sociobiology. And this would continue as science “proves” many more of the truths of religion.

If this is the case, then scientists, and others, who claim that religion is backward may see that religion has been far ahead of science, and this would define religion as superior to science in knowing the truth. But perhaps “superior-inferior” is a less accurate description than, say, the analogy of object and mechanic: religion is the model, which science attempts to examine in detail.

Science Is Great But...

Science Is Great But we
has been late to use it as a tool,
yet we would be fools to make
our rules conform to stillborn
equations from a germ free lab,
Sad and violent history attests
to the best plans of man overrun
by nonmathematical forces.

Traditional Flow

Youth attends the rose, age the soil,
and in this roiling strain the world
goes on. Are new songs truer
than the old? Is boldness
more valuable than golden age?
Even the sages disagree,
and we are often left between
the cleft of rock and sea. Ideas
weave their way into the mix
and try to fix everything
with tidy simplification,
while the ones who know go
with the traditional flow.

Only A Dawning

Not finished running through
the material world, just a hint,
a strobe of light, not a new
love, no new technical
jewel, only a renewal of
very ancient Tradition, yet
only a dawning, the great
yawning gap of hell remains.

The Problem With "Progress"

The problem I have with “progress” and “evolution” is not with science, which can be sound. The problem comes when material theories allow for nothing else, when they emphatically deny anything in the realm of immutable and eternal principles. The developments and inventions of science and technology are its main superiority, but when it is claimed that these things are all there is, it can lead to decline, unhappiness and chaos.

On the blog: Family, God, Nation

An interesting blog called Family, God, Nation . This site shows, indirectly, how the findings of sociobiology regarding human nature can work harmoniously with traditional conservatism. It’s all here: rejection of narrow left and right political labels, defense of Christendom against all its ideological enemies, the validity of ethnic and national identities, along with supporting patriotic/nationalist aspirations of Christian peoples, defending the heritage of Europe, decentralization of government control, in accordance with the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, “Small is Beautiful,” defending the family, a just economic system based on wide ownership of property, small business, including the agrarian way of life, society built on communitarian values and a foreign policy of armed neutrality. There are links to many other traditional sites. This blog was linked through Jim Kalb's excellent site Turnabout.

Permanent Things

Lawrence the sensualist won,
and Eliot the puritan lost,
the cost we paid was to lay
Western Civilization in
the grave; is this how it ends,
with the well-known whimper and
not a bang? Who reads Eliot
anymore? Who believes in
the core values of the gentleman?
Who thinks about sin and redemption?
We will come back to permanent
things because we must, human
nature and survival will
select the virtuous.

Inconvenient Truth Indeed

Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth) and other big-government pols should not own as they do the environmentalist movement since it is a natural for paleo-conservatives. Paleos rejected many of the assumptions of modernity long before the ecologists did. Deep ecology prefers the “vernacular,” even tribal societies, which were Conservative themes long before the left discovered them.

Conservatives do not promote big government as the way to solve our problems, and this is the big difference between the paleo, the left and the neoconservative solutions to problems. Regionalism, small is beautiful, is the best way to counter environmental damage, and the destruction of our manufacturing base, which has been caused mainly by globalist big business and their friend, big government. And the paleo-conservatives own this subject. Why aren’t paleos taking this issue away from the left? There are hints of interest, e.g. crunchy bohemian conservatives, but paleo leaders mainly ignore ecology; it is not smart.