When most people think about Catholicism and science, they will automatically think of one of the famous events in the history of science - the condemnation of Galileo by the Roman Catholic Church. But the interaction of Catholics with science has been - and is - far more complex and positive than that depicted in the legend of the Galileo affair. Understanding the natural world has always been a strength of Catholic thought and research - from the great theologians of the Middle Ages to the present day - and science has been a hallmark of Catholic education for centuries. Catholicism and Science, a volume in the Greenwood Guides to Science and Religion series, covers all aspects of the relationship of science and the Church: How Catholics interacted with the profound changes in the physical sciences (natural philosophy) and biological sciences (natural history) during the Scientific Revolution; how Catholic scientists reacted to the theory of evolution and their attempts to make evolution compatible with Catholic theology; and the implications of Roman Catholic doctrinal and moral teachings for neuroscientific research, and for investigation into genetics and cloning. The volume includes primary source documents, a glossary and timeline of important events, and an annotated bibliography of the most useful works for further research

Written to highlight the Catholic Church's central role in shaping Western Civilization, this book shows how the Church gave birth to modern science, international law, the free market economy, and much, much more.

Were the Middle Ages dark for science? Did the pope say Darwin was right? From the Big Bang to Galileo, from the origins of life on Earth to the existence of life on other planets, The Catholic Church and Science clears away the fog of falsehood and misunderstanding to reveal a faith whose doctrines do not contradict the facts of science, but harmonize with them and a universe whose uncanny order and precision point not to chance assemblage by random forces, but to the purpose-built design of an intelligent creator. Author Ben Wiker (The Darwin Myth, A Meaningful World) takes on the most common errors that modern materialistic thinkers, convinced that faith and science must be mortal enemies, have foisted into popular culture. With great learning, clarity, and wit he tackles stubborn confusions many people have about the relationship between Christianity especially Catholicism and the empirical sciences, and separates truth from lies, the factual from the fanciful.

Witty and thought provoking, two Vatican astronomers shed provocative light on some of the strange places where religion and science meet. “Imagine if a Martian showed up, all big ears and big nose like a child’s drawing, and he asked to be baptized. How would you react?” —Pope Francis, May, 2014 Pope Francis posed that question—without insisting on an answer!—to provoke deeper reflection about inclusiveness and diversity in the Church. But it's not the first time that question has been asked. Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father Paul Mueller hear questions like that all the time. They’re scientists at the Vatican Observatory, the official astronomical research institute of the Catholic Church. In Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? they explore a variety of questions at the crossroads of faith and reason: How do you reconcile the The Big Bang with Genesis? Was the Star of Bethlehem just a pious religious story or an actual description of astronomical events? What really went down between Galileo and the Catholic Church—and why do the effects of that confrontation still reverberate to this day? Will the Universe come to an end? And… could you really baptize an extraterrestrial? With disarming humor, Brother Guy and Father Paul explore these questions and more over the course of six days of dialogue. Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial will make you laugh, make you think, and make you reflect more deeply on science, faith, and the nature of the universe.

Examines the changing character of natural philosophy in Jesuit colleges and universities in German lands.