Table of Contents
Preface
Essay 1: The Catholic Church—Midwife and Nursemaid to Science
SECTION 1: Prologue: the Greek World
SECTION 2: St. Augustine, a Theologian for our Times
SECTION 3: The Medieval Church, Midwife and Nursemaid to Science
SECTION 4: Science “versus” the Church?
Essay 2: Ways of Knowing; The Limits of Science
SECTION 1: Faith and Revelation
SECTION 2: Rational Inquiry
SECTION 3: What Science Is All About
SECTION 4: The Limits of Science—What Science Can’t Tell Us
Essay 3: Cosmology and Creatio ex Nihilo
SECTION 1: Creatio ex Nihilo—Theology
SECTION 2: In the Beginning—Cosmology
SECTION 3: Intersections—Theology and Cosmology
Essay 4: The Anthropic Principle—Are We Special?
SECTION 1: The Anthropic Principle—General Considerations
SECTION 2: Evidence from Physics
SECTION 3: Evidence from Chemistry and Planetary Science
SECTION 4: Evidence from Molecular Biology
Essay 5: Evolution; No War between the Church and Science
SECTION 1: What is Catholic Teaching on Evolution?
SECTION 2: Evolution, Theories and facts
SECTION 3: Final Thoughts—A Summary
Essay 6: Can a Computer Have a Soul?
SECTION 1: Catholic Teaching about the Soul
SECTION 2: What Philosophers Say about the Soul
SECTION 3: Science Fiction Stories about Computer Souls
Essay 7: Miracles
SECTION 1: What is a Miracle?
SECTION 2: Examples of Miracles
SECTION 3: How the Church Judges Miracles
SECTION 4: Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?
Essay 8: Does Science Tell Us How to Live?
SECTION 1: A Look back and ahead
SECTION 2: Should the Church Meddle in Science?
SECTION 3: What Biology and Catholic Teaching Us about the Sanctity of Life
SECTION 4: Genetic Modifications of Humans—Designer Babies
SECTION 5: Summing up—the Questions Science Can’t Answer
Science Background
SECTION 1: The Physics of Motion
SECTION 2: Thermodynamics—the Science of Energy
SECTION 3: Astronomy, Special and General Relativity
SECTION 4: Elements of Probability, Chemistry, Molecular Biology
SECTION 5: Geology, Paleontology
SECTION 6: Elements of Neuroscience