Particles of Faith

Particles of Faith
Author: Stacy A. Trasancos
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2016-10-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1594716587

What is the origin of life? Hasn't the Catholic Church always been hostile to science? Can a Christian accept the scientific theory of evolution? How can you, as a Catholic, explain what the Church teaches about the relationship between science and faith? Scientist, writer, and scholar Stacy Trasancos gives us ways we can talk about how science and our Catholic faith work together to reveal the truth of Christ through the beauty of his creation. As a scientist who was led to Catholicism through her work, Stacy Trasancos has confronted some of the basic questions we all face. In Particles of Faith, she teaches us how to explain the symbiotic beauty between our curiosity expressed through science and our love of Christ and his Church. Trasancos uses her own story, as well as encyclicals such as Pope Francis's Lumen Fidei, the deep reflections of theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas, and the exacting work of Catholic scientists like Rev. Georges Lemaître (who proposed the game-changing Big Bang theory), to show how science and faith are interwoven and meant to guide us on the path to truth. By the time you finish reading Particles of Faith, you'll be able to answer questions about, generate discussion on, and explain why science helps deepen your faith.

Particles of Faith

Particles of Faith
Author: Stacy A. Trasancos
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2019-09-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1594719055

Ask a young Catholic why they are walking away from the Church and one of the main reasons is usually a perceived conflict between science and Christianity. The student edition of Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science aims to help Catholic high school students find real answers to real questions about the interaction of science and faith. What is the origin of life? Does the Big Bang prove God? Can a Christian accept the theory of evolution? Teacher and scientist Dr. Stacy A. Trasancos—who converted to Catholicism while confronting similar concerns about science and faith—addresses these and many other probing questions in the student edition of Particles of Faith, a book designed for use in a high school theology or science course. At the end of the book, students will be able to not only answer key questions about the faith but also to explain those answers to others. The Particles of Faith Teacher Resource Guide can be found online in the Classroom Resource section of the Ave Maria Press website and helps teachers adapt the book’s material as a separate unit in regularly-scheduled courses such as morality, social justice, life science, or in in chemistry and physics courses. Lesson plans in the Particles of Faith Teacher Resource Guide include quizzes and tests. Trasancos also has produced videos with related content in conjunction with Bishop Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. She employs encyclicals such as Pope Francis’s Laudato Sí, the deep reflections of theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas, and the exacting work of Catholic scientists such as Fr. Georges Lemaître—who proposed the game-changing Big Bang theory—to show how science and faith are interwoven lights meant to guide students on the path to truth. Trasancos also explains how the Catholic faith and science work together to reveal the truth of Christ through the beauty of his creation. She leads with the understanding that science awakens the wonders of the foundational statement of the faith: that God is Creator of all, seen and unseen.

Modern Physics and Ancient Faith

Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
Author: Stephen M. Barr
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2003-02-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0268158053

A considerable amount of public debate and media print has been devoted to the “war between science and religion.” In his accessible and eminently readable new book, Stephen M. Barr demonstrates that what is really at war with religion is not science itself, but a philosophy called scientific materialism. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos, and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism. Scientific materialism grew out of scientific discoveries made from the time of Copernicus up to the beginning of the twentieth century. These discoveries led many thoughtful people to the conclusion that the universe has no cause or purpose, that the human race is an accidental by-product of blind material forces, and that the ultimate reality is matter itself. Barr contends that the revolutionary discoveries of the twentieth century run counter to this line of thought. He uses five of these discoveries—the Big Bang theory, unified field theories, anthropic coincidences, Gödel’s Theorem in mathematics, and quantum theory—to cast serious doubt on the materialist’s view of the world and to give greater credence to Judeo-Christian claims about God and the universe. Written in clear language, Barr’s rigorous and fair text explains modern physics to general readers without oversimplification. Using the insights of modern physics, he reveals that modern scientific discoveries and religious faith are deeply consonant. Anyone with an interest in science and religion will find Modern Physics and Ancient Faith invaluable.

Science and Faith

Science and Faith
Author: Hannah Eagleson
Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2021-10-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1683072928

How does science enhance faith? Is God relevant in an age of science? Science and Faith: Student Questions Explored investigates the relationship between science and Christianity in a series of thoughtful and accessible articles written by experts. Chosen from InterVarsitys Emerging Scholars Network blog, each chapter addresses common faith- and science-related questions. In part one, Science and Faith delves into why Christians should pursue scientific discovery, as well as the Bibles viewpoint on scientific method and inquiry. Part two begins the conversation on the direct relevance of science to faith and how Christian scientists can talk to their colleagues about their faith, while part three discusses how conversations about science can take place between Christians. Finally, part four explores the history of science and the church and the question How can the history of science encourage the church? While ideal for graduate students who are exploring their faith and their chosen scientific fields, this book can also be used in church settings or as a personal resource. The book provides questions to launch small group conversation about faith/science, whether youre a science PhD, a ministry leader, or an interested layperson. Since each reading is based on questions from real students, it may also be a resource for Christian faculty teaching the sciences. Contributors include Ruth Bancewicz, Gerald Rau, Greg Cootsona, Andy Walsh, and more.

God and the Folly of Faith

God and the Folly of Faith
Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2012
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1616145994

Looking at both historical and contemporary contexts, the author argues that religion has played a major role in suppressing scientific pursuit.

Faith and Wisdom in Science

Faith and Wisdom in Science
Author: Tom McLeish
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2014-05-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191007110

"Can you Count the Clouds?" asks the voice of God from the whirlwind in the stunningly beautiful catalogue of nature-questions from the Old Testament Book of Job. Tom McLeish takes a scientist's reading of this ancient text as a centrepiece to make the case for science as a deeply human and ancient activity, embedded in some of the oldest stories told about human desire to understand the natural world. Drawing on stories from the modern science of chaos and uncertainty alongside medieval, patristic, classical and Biblical sources, Faith and Wisdom in Science challenges much of the current 'science and religion' debate as operating with the wrong assumptions and in the wrong space. Its narrative approach develops a natural critique of the cultural separation of sciences and humanities, suggesting an approach to science, or in its more ancient form natural philosophy - the 'love of wisdom of natural things' - that can draw on theological and cultural roots. Following the theme of pain in human confrontation with nature, it develops a 'Theology of Science', recognising that both scientific and theological worldviews must be 'of' each other, not holding separate domains. Science finds its place within an old story of participative reconciliation with a nature, of which we start ignorant and fearful, but learn to perceive and work with in wisdom. Surprisingly, science becomes a deeply religious activity. There are urgent lessons for education, the political process of decision-making on science and technology, our relationship with the global environment, and the way that both religious and secular communities alike celebrate and govern science.

Raw Faith

Raw Faith
Author: Kasey Van Norman
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2014-03-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 141439053X

As a respected Bible teacher, Kasey Van Norman had dedicated her life to sharing God’s Word and encouraging women to trust in God during times of crisis. Then, just as her ministry was poised to explode, Kasey was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that shattered her spirit and rocked her faith to its core. Sick, frightened, and in pain, Kasey suddenly found herself facing the greatest challenge of her life—believing her own message. In Raw Faith, Kasey chronicles her courageous battle with cancer, taking readers on a candid and poignant journey of faith and discovery, from the depths of despair through triumphant victory. Drawing on a variety of Bible stories and characters, Kasey discovers and distills the singular truth that has existed since time began: while change and uncertainty are inevitable, God is always unchanging, and He is always faithful—even when our circumstances might tempt us to think otherwise.

Science Was Born of Christianity

Science Was Born of Christianity
Author: Stacy Trasancos
Publisher:
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2014-06-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780989969611

This book is a science history and philosophy book about the conditions necessary in order for science to flourish. The book argues that only in Christian nations were the circumstances right for science to progress to the point it has today. The book is based on the work of Stanley Jaki and Pierre Duhem.

Why We Believe in God(s)

Why We Believe in God(s)
Author: J. Anderson Thomson
Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0984493239

In this groundbreaking volume, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, with Clare Aukofer, offers a succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief. Dr. Thomson, a highly respected practicing psychiatrist with credentials in forensic psychiatry and evolutionary psychology, methodically investigates the components and causes of religious belief in the same way any scientist would investigate the movement of astronomical bodies or the evolution of life over time—that is, as a purely natural phenomenon. Providing compelling evidence from psychology, the cognitive neurosciences, and related fields, he, with Ms. Aukofer, presents an easily accessible and exceptionally convincing case that god(s) were created by man—not vice versa. With this slim volume, Dr. Thomson establishes himself as a must-read thinker and leading voice on the primacy of reason and science over superstition and religion.