throw that all of various topics for our
entire life with
it said Nadia program that I believe
that each speaker should give a five an
intro on their religious background and
designs i'm only looking to include that
within responses first question my own
background i was born in with typical
american jewish family typical in the
sense that it was not all religious and
became religious about each dog ages 20
approximately i myself had driven strong
scientific fashion event in the hard
sciences math and physics to be specific
so when i first got involved in fourth
of X Judaism one of the main points of
contention that has yielded was the
integration of science with traditional
Judaism which at first glance does
indeed have an enormous amount of
Congress it's the first obvious case of
conflict in this situation is that in
the holy book of the Jews which is known
as the Torah or the Bible which is
essentially zbook that the Jewish
people call it with boxes given to the
Jewish people as they were cameras
around Mount Sinai approximately 3,300
years ago the Jewish Jewish inhabitant
was given to the Jewish people by God by
the creator of the universe and then
every where all of you arms and all des
multi-level of meetings that are
contained within there are God's message
to the Jewish people so the problems of
that presents with the message that God
gave through people who win in light of
modern science if there are conflicts
what are you supposed to do about them
so a particularly strong example of what
Michael here's the conflict is in the
opening lines of the Torah is described
how the world people universe was
created in six days and of course on the
seventh day God met and according to
Jewish tradition is the man simply
release the culmination of this event
took place approximately fifty seven
hundred and fifty-four thousand years
ago so this is event an obvious problem
to anybody close the least amount of New
Year in this modern science that in that
look they're saying the world is fifteen
billion years older or whatever the
numbers are means a pendulum fifty blame
something like that so there's an
obvious problem right off the back which
was a properly I was extremely aware on
the other hand some people see this as
an example of compatibility between
science and Judaism in the sense that
the way that many Jews interpret some of
these lines in the Torah is that they're
not meant to be interpreted in their
strict literal sense creditors
interprets as containing some sort of
our lines of what the idea is but then
the deeper message hidden within it and
so this particular case recipe
the six days of creation as it's known
in the Torah framework what I was to do
about that so in general the way people
were depicted some sort of problem
compatibility in science of judges and
what they could say is the world radiant
of either is simply in six states and
he's excited that represented by from
six days of creation the culmination of
these mixed ages was the whole month of
creation maybe the creation of human
beings and the first human being was
created for what the system edition of
having a human soul which city which
that will human being could interact
with God that immense a place 5757 here
today so input in line that regard it's
not all that far off way mark I'm like
looking namely the human beings as as as
the civilized woman to know them to be
took place approximately 6,000 years ago
and the reason the universe took place
in the period of six stages though and
in time series 46 pages are they wasn't
billions of years our businesses
whatever it might have been does anybody
have the Torah vine large is not used as
a cycle it's not going to be a textbook
that will teach a person kind of new
biology or hazard physics or mathematics
or whatever whether or not someone to
leave anything of designers from the
charge of another ball but it's not many
defense and therefore when it comes to
baby questions such as the age of the
universe and having it from about basic
scientific questions the tour is not
going to place where one we looked at it
since determined focused on a completely
different idea focusing on what is the
purpose of our radius was the purpose
are sincere how are you
learn to relate to God how client might
disappear society is also a means of
what God interacted with the earth God
runs in the world through science
through nature and that is another way
that God please do the Torah is
essentially telling them that the waves
God has given them instructions in terms
of our strategies with our fellow human
beings our interactions of the world our
interactions God in some way or another
these interactions also have to comply
with the rules of science and that in
some wherever they don't fit in real
life well then something has to give
something just won't work so as far as
the general question of compatibility
most people do not have probable
compatibility of de toros with science
because the two are looked at it as
almost like two things that are sort of
found each other by and not necessarily
each other head on so so the conflicts
that might appear to be there can always
be sort of worked out as far as science
mentioned in the Torah itself by and
large there is no position to the Torah
other than the description of creation
as derivatives that are described the
only thing that would remotely remember
local temple science is in certain
disease that laser somewhat significant
role in tourism a disease which appears
to example through the visa tony has
leprosy and the only difference is
whether it is a biological release due
to I even know what I'm do some sort of
affection boxes everywhere since loved
easily do too but the disease mentioned
in the Torah which starred questions in
view not as a biological disease
references
the experience mainly due to experience
defects of character the disease will
affect them physically in general
distance away that Torah Torah Judaism
meets science where science and
describing the physical universe that's
where tourists start describing the
spiritual universe and the jeweler met
complement each other okay but my name
is father Jim Reese I am a Jesuit priest
a professor here at Santa Clara
University i've been here since 1975 and
i teach courses generally around the
area of the christian origin and the
history of christian spirituality um so
I'm a bit different than my colleagues
here today and that I don't have a a
church where I am served as pastor
associate I'm all right I do go out
regularly to churches and a fifth in the
local community particularly the parish
of the Queen of Angels in cupertino and
then also I have the privilege of
presiding at liturgy pier at Santa Clara
University in the mission church but my
primary work is study and teaching
before I begin and address the questions
I'd like to really thank the Muslim
Students Association for organizing
arranging these opportunities for us to
get together I think that it is a
wonderful thing that they do and it
allows us as well to come to a better
understanding of each other and to share
that with all of me tiesto great
gratitude to the Muslim students here at
Santa Clara I would agree with many
things that what I might have said when
I look particularly at the second
question is any science mentioned in
your holy book or tradition well it all
depends with
what we mean by science there was a time
in Christianity of course when we would
say yes there is science fairs champion
in the Roman tradition the Latin
tradition which simply means knowledge
what kind of knowledge is there is there
understanding but that term science has
really come to be understood in a very
particular way today and in the agreeing
with Rabbi Meir in a way that is
understood today there is nothing about
science in survival either in the Hebrew
Scriptures which of course are a part of
our holy book as well as the Christian
scriptures science I think as we see it
is really a defined set of methods and
these methods are either hypothetically
deductive meaning that they attempt to
understand the natural processes of
physical the biological the chemical and
cosmological universe or the science can
also use historical methods and near the
attempt to understand biological
chemical geological and cosmological
history of the earth and ultimately of
the universe so in this sense the Bible
doesn't try to use these kinds of
hypothetical or strictly scientific
historical method the science of the
Bible as our tradition as rabbi said
really tells us about God and God's
relationship to the world and the
universe it answers in a way a much more
important question to us ultimately
about our life who are we how are we
with God who are we with each other in
life of our relationship to God and God
is our Creator God creates the world as
good
we can then find God in this good world
by paying attention to it taking it
seriously studying it and and by doing
so we will come to understand the
goodness of this world created by God
and that will point us towards goodness
Excel since we've got in the Catholic
tradition of the time apart we speak of
this as the principle of sacrament
allergy that means that everything that
is is in some way a visible sign and
also a bearer of God's presence and
action in the world and so paying
attention to that studying that can
bring us closer to the god with presence
and to the God who is active in a sense
then there's no strictly secular science
science itself can be a means of
understanding who got it and how God
acts with regard to the interpretation
of the scripture it has been you know
Christians have found themselves all
over the place in that throughout the
centuries at time there was a conflict
between science and religion and for
some denominations of Christianity today
there continues to be a sort of conflict
between the two but in the the Catholic
tradition certainly we do not be a
conflict between the two because one
tells us about the much more important
ultimate questions of our relationship
of God and the other helps us understand
the physical universe the cultivation
not on working in the name of God the
merciful the compassionate their
witnesses there's no god but allah and
muhammad sallallahu Senator's office and
I I think it's very tempting being the
3rd after 2 to kind of look at some of
the things that were said before me but
I'm going to attempt to resist that
temptation just part of religion right
resisting temptation i think i would say
initially what otherwise said about the
idea of defining science modern science
as it's being practiced in the west and
really now all over the world I think
it's deep being compatible with the
Islamic teaching and i would say that
because of the results that it produces
in other words from a muslim perspective
there are certain limits and boundaries
which are very clearly defined in the
pond about human behavior and the idea
of transgressing those boundaries is
considered a transgression against God
and against God's order in terms of is
is long and compatible with science if
we define science as truth then
absolutely not it would have to be in
harmony the science because the Muslim
beliefs is that it's almost from the
truth in fact one of the names of God is
on how which means the truth and
therefore what comes from God must be
true and also given that God has made a
rational creatures and creatures that
use the intellect what God has told us
about God and about God's creation must
be understood through the intellect if
the intellect cannot understand it then
this would be unfair on God's part to
give us an intellect and then to give us
things deeply in congruence with the
intellect
standing and force us to believe those
things going against what our own
intellect tell us is true now here you
move into another problem which is what
if the intellect is not capable of
discerning the truth because we are
deeply self delusional creatures human
beings can delude themselves to believe
the most incredible thing to give an
example somebody once took a after log
astrological chart of a murder a
murderer in in France and it was saying
what a wonderful person you're
intelligent you're clever you're witty
you're deeply compassionate towards
other human beings and this man had
killed like about 50 people and he sent
it to several different people put an ad
in the newspaper and said free horoscope
sent to this address and he got letters
back telling people that they had to
believe in astronomy astrology before
that but when they got this thing they
said it's so fitted their personality
that that it must be true so the point
being is that we can do it ourselves
into believing many many things so then
what then is the criterion for belief
now from the Muslim perspective I think
we need to divide science into two basic
areas and one would be what would be a
formal system and a formal system of
science deals with proofs and it deals
with axioms and proof so you have an
acronym and then you prove something
based on your AG names like geometry
would be a good example of a formal
system now the nature of formal
scientific systems is they don't deal
with content in other words geometry
will never tell you why something why a
point is that which has no depth or
breasts or why a circle is equidistant
and whatever the scientific definition
that geometry gives us it will not tell
us why so it does not go into what what
would return the structural system which
begins to look at content and to explain
content from a Muslim perspective
Muslims are notorious historically for
accepting formal system geometry
astronomy our panel systems that measure
things many of the Muslims were great
great astronomers and how r is me one of
the greatest mathematicians that ever
lived develop the logarithm which is
actually local rhythm is from his name
at holidays me which in Latin was and
logarithms that's how it was interested
we know almost I am the famous who's
known in the West verse poetry he's not
known in east for his poetry known in
the east for his mathematical
computation he developed a very precise
and exact calendar so the point is is
that within formal systems the Muslims
have never had a problem whether where
they have a problem is when you move
into structural system which is
explaining content and no longer
describing form because science can
either describe something it can prove
something or it can explain something
when it describes something it's simply
descriptive science anatomy physiology
you can just describe the anatomy of a
liver when you move into a system which
then begins to explain the function of a
liberal of the purpose of a liver you
can have a hypotheses and the hypothesis
might be valour it might be invalid
depending on the data that's collected
in all of these things so from the
Muslim perspective when you begin to
explain things in which you have really
no arena or no no really grounding in
that explanation then the Muslims would
say no you have transgressed your
boundaries you are not allowed to
venture into this area and certainly for
instance in the in the modern world
what's happening now with genetic
altering that's going on we've just if
if the report is true and we always have
to wait and see you exactly what's
happened but if the report is true that
in Scotland they have cloned a sheep
well from the Muslim point of view this
is the transgression it's a gross
transgression from the Western
scientific point of view it is not it is
as
another step in the progress of mankind
that we have moved another step closer