Stanley Jaki, Priest & Scientist, R.I.P.

This article from the NYT gives the basic information about historian, philosopher of science, physicist, and Catholic priest, Sanley Jaki. He was a professor of physics at Seton Hall University. Among his many (at least 40) books is The Savior of Science (2000), the one book of his that I have read. The Savior, of course, is Christ. The NYT obit notes:,

He is probably best known, however, for works like “The Relevance of Physics” (1966) and “Science and Creation” (1974), in which he argued that the scientific enterprise did not become viable and self-sustaining until its incarnation in Christian medieval Europe, and that the advancement of science was indebted to the Christian understanding of creation.

Indeed, may we not say that ultimately Christ is the Savior of all things truly human, including science? We were made to discover and create and "do science," and the physical universe has an intelligibility that matches our intelligent faculties.

That Jaki was a priest and physicist is not surprising to me at all. Atheists who insist science disproves the existence of God should spend more time with such men. They see a deep intelligibility that exists within and without the human mind: Man is a bridge between matter and the intellect, the mind, the "spiritual," the metaphysical. What are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in terms of matter and energy and how in the world did they arise from the Big Bang?

Rev. John Polkinghorne is another priest-scientist--a particle physicist who took orders in the Church of England. He notes the commonplace perception that faith and science can't possibly go together without some level of retardation on either side. When he meets someone and tells them he is a physicist and a clergyman, they usually look at him, he say, as if he had just announced that he was a "vegetarian butcher." There are many, many believers in Christ among scientists, and Father Jaki was preeminent among them.

Stanley Jaki, rest in the peace of the Lord.

Comments

[Bill R]

Amen. Fr./Dr. Jaki's works will be read profitably for many generations to come. "The Savior of Science" sits on the shelf above me, along with "The Brain, Mind and Computers," and "The Purpose of It All." Truly a great among the greats!

[John Farrell]

Another couple of his gems, Catholic Essays, and Science and Creation (his Gifford Lectures).