Timestamps:

Part 1 – Order and Openness in the Book of Nature and Book of Scripture 
3:25 – Reconciling Order and Openness/Constancy and Change in Nature
5:30 – ‘Reading the Signs’: Interpreting developments in Science
10:20 – The Sources of Order and Openness from the Scientific perspective
12:26 – Evolution and Salvation History

Part 2 – Interpreting Evolution
17:20 – A Purposeless, Random, Chance-filled Universe?
22:30 – Physical Evil – what is it and how do we account for it?
27:05 – Human nature and our evolutionary history – discerning what’s good in our nature from what holds us back 
31:10 – Purpose, Form, and Structure – how do they fit within a continually changing universe?

Part 3 – Faith and Science in our lives
37:10 – Creation accounts in the Bible – how to read them and what they are tying to say
41:55 – How is Scientific knowledge related to Philosophical and Theological knowledge?
45:30 – Every science has its philosophy. Philosophy as the bridge between Faith & Science
46:30 – The subject matter of Science, Philosophy and Faith
47:40 – Faith & Science in Politics
51:00 – Faith & Science in Education
55:40 – Closing Reflection & Prayer

Many today draw a red line between faith and reason—what we know about the world through faith and revelation and what science tells us are seen as contradictory, and as radically different ways of knowing. The reality is the opposite: faith and reason are complements and companions in seeking and discerning the truth. Professor Christopher Baglow has spent his career demonstrating and exploring the relationship between faith and science. He is a leading expert on how we image God. Through the lens of Scripture and science, he explains how we can understand our evolutionary origins and heavenly destiny.

Our conversation with Professor Baglow focused on the nature of this extraordinary human uniqueness as children of God; demonstrating the deep harmony between the Catholic faith and an evolutionary perspective; the book of Scripture and the book of nature; and what science can tell us about God’s ordered creation, and how we are called to live in and with it.

Geoff Woollard and I sat down with Professor Baglow on Thursday, September 16 at 7:30 PM EDT for a fascinating conversation.

RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE: https://youtu.be/psrfQkiQ6FI

Resource Links:

• Catholic Conscience newsletter: www.catholicconscience.org/newsletter
• Society of Catholic Scientists: www.catholicscientists.org
• John Paul II letter to Scientists: https://inters.org/John-Paul-II-Coyne-Vatican-Observatory
• Forthcoming book (November 5th, 2021) from Professor Baglow: Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe
• Faith & Science textbook: Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, 2^nd ed.(Midwest Theological Forum, 2019)

PROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER BAGLOW

Chris Baglow, P.h.D., is Professor of the Practice in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and the Director of the Science and Religion Initiative of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, where he creates and directs programming that assists Catholic leaders in bringing the Catholic faith and modern science into dialogue for the sake of the New Evangelization.  He has led programs of academic integration at two Catholic high schools, including the STREAM™ Program at St. Mary’s Dominican H.S. in New Orleans, LA. In 2011-2014 Baglow directed the Templeton-funded Steno Learning Program in Faith and Science for Catholic Secondary Educators (SLP), a week-long seminar experience for Catholic science and religion teachers. Baglow is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, 2^nd ed.(Midwest Theological Forum, 2019). Professor Baglow is a member of the executive board of the Society of Catholic Scientists and serves as chair of its Theological Advisory Board.

GEOFFREY WOOLLARD

Geoffrey Woollard is a graduate student at the University of British Columbia where he applies physics and computer science perspectives to questions in structural biology. He is a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists. His interdisciplinary writings on faith-science dialogue have been featured in the Torch, Scientia et Fides, and the online Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science. (inters.org).

Beauty of Creation Series Overview

Contemporary civilization is characterized by a technological paradigm, in which our increasing control over nature challenges our interpretations of the essence of what is natural, what is good, and what is properly human. This has major implications for civic life, in areas such as bioethics, medicine and the dignity of the human person, the state of the environment, and our relationship with the rest of creation. In this speaker series, we engage with leading scientists, philosophers, and theologians whose work is nourished by a Catholic Christian understanding of the world. By listening to and dialoguing with them, and going deeper into the body of work they are engaging, we can wisely engage and critique the technocratic paradigm and the transhumanist attitude. Through their work, as well as an engagement with Catholic Social teaching and the latest work in the Magisterium of the Church, we come to a greater appreciation of the integrity and beauty of creation that is a hallmark of Catholicism.

Watch the Series intro HERE