Catholic churchmen in science : sketches of the lives of Catholic ecclesiastics who were among the great founders in science / by James J. Walsh.

  • Walsh, James J. (James Joseph), 1865-1942.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Catholic churchmen in science : sketches of the lives of Catholic ecclesiastics who were among the great founders in science / by James J. Walsh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/256 (page 3)
    I. THE SUPPOSED OPPOSITION OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION. IT used to be very common to hear it said and to read that there was serious opposition be- tween science and religion. This persuasion has been minimized to a great degree in recent years, and yet sufficient of it remains to make a great many people think that, if there is not entire in- compatibility between science and religion, there is at least such a diversity of purposes and aims in these two great realms of human thought that those who cultivate one field are not able to ap- preciate the labors of those who occupy them- selves in the other. Indeed, it is usually accepted as a truth that to follow science with assiduity is practically sure to lead to unorthodoxy in re- ligion. This is supposed to be especially true if the acquisition of scientific knowledge is pur- sued along lines that involve original research and new investigation. Somehow, it is thought that any one who has a mind free enough from the influence of prejudice and tradition to be- come an original thinker or investigator, is in- evitably prone to abandon the old orthodox lines of thought in respect to religion. Like a good many other convictions and per- suasions that exist more or less as common-