“Science at the Doorstep to God:” Fr. Spitzer’s Masterpiece on Contemporary Apologetics*

[Michie]

INTRODUCTION​

In olden times, apologetics (reasoned arguments in defense of religious doctrine) relied on philosophy and theology. Nowadays, one has to defend the Church against scientism, the proposition that science explains everything. Thus, according to evangelists for scientism, God is an unnecessary (and for some, undesirable) figment of human imagination. Fr. Spitzer’s new work, as with others he has written, shows that evidence from science does not disprove the presence of God; rather everything that science truly says about the world argues for His presence, and does so as forcefully as do philosophical and theological considerations.

In this review I will summarize Fr. Spitzer’s arguments in “Science at the Doorstep to God” and also suggest some topics that might be suitable for further exploration.¹

A SUMMARY OF FR. SPITZER’S ARGUMENTS​

Fr. Spitzer presents six general arguments for the existence of God:

1. Science shows the universe had a beginning, created from nothing.
2. The physical laws and constants of the universe are constrained to support life. This “fine-tuning” occurs because of design by a transcendent intelligence.
3. Near-death experiences, terminal lucidity, and presence of intelligence in hydrocephalic brains give evidence for a non-material soul, consciousness and rationality. Materialistic arguments cannot account for these.
4. Human intelligence, self-consciousness, and capacity for language are unique amongst animals. Only homo sapiens, not other hominid species, have these capacities.
5. A religious experience is common to humankind, including the experience of conscience, and the search for universals, such as the good, the beautiful, the true.
6. Philosophy gives logical proofs for the existence of a first cause, a perfect, totally understanding intelligence, which is God. In addition to arguments from St. Thomas Aquinas and Bernard Lonergan, Fr. Spitzer sets forth his own rationale.

I’ll not discuss these arguments in detail, only suggest that they are forceful and convincing. The arguments involving scientific evidence (1-4 above) rely on abductive reasoning: listing possible explanations and selecting the one which best explains the observations. The philosophical and theological propositions in 5 and 6 use deductive reasoning.

Additional material is introduced in the Introduction and Appendix. In these Fr. Spitzer discusses the limits of science, whether hominid species other than homo sapiens were endowed with a soul, and the possibility of ensoulment in extra-terrestial species (should they exist).

I’ll lay out below Fr. Spitzer’s conclusions from these arguments. Some material has been published previously in posts on Fr. Spitzer’s Magis Faith and Reason website.

PRAISE AND QUESTIONS​

Continued below.

“Science at the Doorstep to God:”Fr. Spitzer’s Masterpiece on Contemporary Apologetics*

INTRODUCTION In olden times, apologetics (reasoned arguments in defense of religious doctrine) relied on philosophy and theology. Nowadays, one has to defend the Church against scientism, the prop…

the-american-catholic.com

 

[Laodicean60]

As a Christian quantum science has solidified my belief in God. Quantum Scientists have come to the conclusion that we live in a simulated reality and naturalists are having a hard time refuting it. I just learned recently how science has finally caught up with God as all the ancient texts including the bible stories proclaim. Our cells have an electrical potential of .07 volts and we have trillions of cells, do the math. Our brains and the heart emit frequencies depending on our state of mind which gives me a better understanding of prayer or how God knows our thoughts. The law of attraction has taught me why my youngest son attracts successful people in his life and I used to call him blessed. Peace

 

[TrinitarianScience]

As a Christian quantum science has solidified my belief in God. Quantum Scientists have come to the conclusion that we live in a simulated reality and naturalists are having a hard time refuting it. I just learned recently how science has finally caught up with God as all the ancient texts including the bible stories proclaim. Our cells have an electrical potential of .07 volts and we have trillions of cells, do the math. Our brains and the heart emit frequencies depending on our state of mind which gives me a better understanding of prayer or how God knows our thoughts. The law of attraction has taught me why my youngest son attracts successful people in his life and I used to call him blessed. Peace

I appreciate the efforts of our Christian brethren in spreading the Word of Truth using Science. The beauty of it is that God the Holy Trinity has intervened in our age through Trinitarian Science. We are now armed with awesome and massive scientific facts and huge banks of evidence about God the Holy Trinity in the building blocks of nature like the Atom, DNA, Solar System, Family Unit, and the Human Spirit in ten subjects including Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Information Technology, Psychology, Sociology, Art, History and Scientific Christology, to proclaim the Word of God.