Did You Know Know These 3 Scientists Were Catholic?

Michie · Nov 16, 2023

As a physician, my faith has been questioned by those who think I adhere too much to science and my science questioned by those who doubt my objectivity by being true to my faith. I have always worked to blend those two things, faith and science, in my life. This effort is also evident in the lives of other scientists.

Blaise Pascal

While Blaise Pascal is known for his mathematical theories creating the foundation of modern theory of probabilities, he was moved to transcribe his thoughts on our relationship with God. Born in 1623 in France, Pascal, at an early age, discovered a fascination with mathematics. His work included development on concepts of equilibrium of liquid solutions, the weight and density of air and on the arithmetic triangle. Despite the worldly acclaim he gained from his work, it did not satisfy his heart. He describes a conversion experience that led him to enter the convent of Port-Royal and there wrote two works he is known for, Les Provinciales (a series of letters) and the Pensées (“thoughts” published after his death) using his scientific rigor to develop his thoughts. In Les Provinciales, he advocated the approach of emphasizing the soul’s union with the Mystical Body of Christthrough the virtue of charity. His devotion to the absolute led him to see no salvation apart from a desire for that truth and the love of God. Those who have studied it trace his deepening spirituality through the progress of these letters. Pensées was written as a work of apologetics (justifications of the faith). In one of his most quoted passages from it, Pascal writes his “wager” to overcome the objections of the skeptic: if God does not exist, there is nothing lost by believing in him; but if he does exist, the skeptic gains eternal life by belief in God. Pascal proposes that men can be brought to God through Jesus Christ alone as the descent of Jesus to earth as man allows man to have the knowledge of the infinite. He died at the age of 39.

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