From the integration of reason and faith to obscurantism – Jornal da USP

a A church that ignores science practices terrible theology, which is far from the most authentic Christian tradition and directly insults the Creator.

With regard to theology, the earliest manifestations of Christian theological thought are indeed in favor of the integration of faith and reason. In the second century, Justin Martyr (100-165), for example, stated that “everything that has been said actually concerns us Christians” (Second apology, thirteenth). By this he meant that the results of rational thinking – regardless of their source – contribute to bringing Christians closer to the long-awaited goal of knowing the mysteries of divine creation.

Augustine (354-430) – the greatest theologian of antiquity – on the cooperation between faith and reason is summed up in the famous phrase: 43- SermonUnderstand until you believe, believe until you understand.

True, Christianity also produced a thinker such as Tertullian (160-220), who saw reason as an enemy, fought Greek philosophy and condemned the arts and spectacles. But this concept was always in the minority throughout the course of the Church – except for a few moments in history – and Tertullian came to be called heretic by the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), precisely because he attributed to demons and paganism what, essentially, is a divine origin.

Aquinas was the theologian who took the utmost thought in reconciling reason and faith, which, for him, can never be in conflict, since both are gifts of God’s grace. He claims that faith is a form of knowledge, but it is inferior to the kind of knowledge found in Knowledge, because this “leads the mind to the mind through the vision and thought of first principles” (total theology, part one, question 12, article 13, paragraph 3, translated by Jonathas Ramos de Castro). Surprisingly for us today, when science and theology deviate from one another, scientific knowledge leads to God, according to Aquinas.

Faced with the two opposing radical tendencies he faced in his time—the scriptural movement of mendicant orders and a purely rational investigation of the natural world, spurred on by then-rediscovered Aristotelianism—Aquinas did not choose one of these two. extreme possibilities, but it “chooses” both, because it “understands and makes clear the union, or even the need to relate what seems to have excluded one from the other”, as the German philosopher Joseph Piper (1904-1997), one of the greatest specialists in Thomas Aquinas of the century, put it Twenty, in chapter 3 of Thomas Aquinas. life and work.

This open-minded theology and culture guided the formation of a tradition that made significant contributions to Western civilization. Christian monasticism, which was born in the third century in the deserts of Egypt, initially as a protest movement against the “worldliness” that crept into Christian circles, changed in a relatively short time and became the main cultural factor of the West, responsible for the emergence of some of the greatest scholars in history, such as theologian and historian and writer and translator Jerome (347-420).

In the sixth century, Cassiodorus (496-575) founded the monastery of Vivarium, in the present-day region of Calabria, Italy, which introduced a novelty among monks – the study and copying of classic works by Christian and non-Christian authors. The novelty was adopted by the Benedictine monasteries, which spread throughout Europe and strengthened the work of preserving ancient texts. Thanks to this movement, the works of Greek and Latin antiquity are available today as one of the main legacies of copyist monks. These were so open intellectually that they placed no restrictions on their activity: they copied everything from the sacred texts of the Gospels and the pre-Christian thinking of the Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 B.C.) to the obscenities of the Roman playwright Plutus (230-180 B.C.) Christ) .

Although the origin of Christian monasticism in Ireland is not clearly known, it is certain that that island in the North Sea – known as Island of Saints and Doctors (“Island of Saints and Doctors”) – it became a powerful center of culture, which through itinerant monks spread knowledge in large areas of Europe. Among the long-term results of the activities of this center is the work of the theologian and historian Bede (673-735), who became famous for his work on the evangelization of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, which he obtained due to his vast wisdom and erudition. The nickname “Venerable”.

The monk and teacher Alquino (735-804) was also from Northern Europe, who was admired as the wisest man of his time. Adviser to Charlemagne (742-814), he led the establishment of schools throughout the Frankish kingdom and thus became one of the master craftsmen of the so-called “Carolingian Renaissance”.

In the Protestant branch of Christianity that emerged with the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the attitude towards science was no different. In an article published in 2018, Professor José Antonio Lucas Guimarães explained that the French theologian João Calvino (1509-1564), one of the great leaders of that movement, stimulated an intellectual trend that is the basis of modern science—different from thinkers such as Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) and Thomas Kohn (1922-1996), for whom the reformer would be an uncompromising opponent of scientific thought. Researcher Vitor Albiero, in a doctoral dissertation in the field of History of Science defended at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of São Paulo in 2016, revealed that the famous Royal Society – one of the first and most influential scientific societies in history, founded in London in the seventh century Ten – formerly his was the Address Office of Communications, an institution established by Protestant Christians, among whom was the educator Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670).

It is possible to cite many other figures in the history of Christianity who linked theology with science and culture, such as the German nuns Rosveta of Gandersheim, who lived in the 10th century and was responsible for reintroducing theater in the West, and Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179), poet, composer and author Theses in theology, medicine and botany. It is easy to prove that Christians offend the Creator when they reject science, at odds with their ancestors. The famous introduction to Gospel of JohnReferring to Christ, he says (the translation is mine): All things were raised through Him, and without Him no one was raised.

In other words, according to the Evangelist John, everything that exists has a divine origin. This includes sea, sky, earth, people, animals, plants, love, hope, joy, humour, arts and sciences. Thus, the ability of scientists to explore the natural world—and, as a consequence, to devise medicines and products for the use of society—can be seen as an act of divine benevolence, aimed at the benefit of humanity.

It is clear that science has a temporary character, and is subject to “falsification” by new data arising from the deepening of research, as explained by the Austrian philosopher Karl Popper (1902-1994). But some discoveries are definitive, such as the age of the universe, calculated to be at least 13.7 billion years – not 6000 years – the circumference of the Earth, the effectiveness of vaccines and the fact that drugs produced to fight protozoa are harmless against viruses.

Currently, in Brazil, the churches – with the usual exceptions – seem to have forgotten the highest Christian theology that has been practiced through the centuries and despised the long tradition of studies and appreciation of science, in the same way as at certain periods of history, in which religious leaders deviated from this path and encouraged deviations such as The conviction of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), the performance of the “Grand Inquisitor” Thomas de Torquemada (1420-1498) and the judgment of the Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642).

This happens, in large part, because the Brazilian churches have shamefully succumbed to an obscurantist, a liar, a humble politician, and an advocate of anti-Biblical values, such as discrimination against minorities, militancy, indifference to poverty and the pain of others and petty status with the environment.

Not only did they acquiesce in this unjust politician, but they also put themselves at the service of this unjust politician, contributing directly to the attack and devaluation of the public university – one of the most useful institutions of the country, as demonstrated during the Covid-19 epidemic -, to the persecution of professors and journalists, and to the demonization of art culture, restricting access to higher education and imposing military education, a contradiction in terms, is equivalent to the expression “square circle”. Rather, it is appalling: the heirs of the institution that created Geronimo, Beda, and Alquino now persecute the university, impose restrictions on the expansion of knowledge and mischaracterize education.

One of the sad consequences of this situation is the loss of importance of churches. They have been weakened, who have preserved or preserved the most revolutionary, profound and wonderful message that exists, capable of transforming individuals and entire societies – the message of God’s love for humans and the message of human love for humans. mediate. Those, who have or have a prophetic function to denounce the evils and injustices of the powerful, have been reduced to insignificance. And these churches in themselves fulfill the word of the Lord: “You are the salt of the earth. If the salt spoils, where can it be hunted? It has power for nothing but being driven out and trampled upon by people”(Gospel of Matthew 5:13).

It is urgent the emergence of a movement that denounces obscurantism in today’s churches and restores legitimate Christian thought – which aims to develop and promote science, art and culture – and appreciates the great achievements of the authentic Christian tradition.