17. Human science = the knowledge of God’s art
17. HUMAN SCIENCE = THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S ART
Is science an honorable and holy occupation, or is it only a means for satisfying human curiosity and for the creature comforts and conveniences of technology? Is our serious study of creatures a kind of idolatry or infidelity, or is it pleasing to the Creator? Is it somehow ultimately about Him?
Natural things are midway between the knowledge of God and our knowledge; for we receive knowledge from natural things, of which God is the cause by His knowledge. Hence, as the natural objects of knowledge are prior to our knowledge, and are its measure, so the knowledge of God (the knowledge God has of things) is prior to natural things and is the measure of them; as, for instance, a house is midway between the knowledge of the builder who made it and the knowledge of the one who gathers his knowledge of the house from the house already built (I,14,8).
Truth in science is discovered; truth in art is created. God is an artist, not a scientist; He designed and created the world, which is first of all the product of His art and then becomes the object of our science. Therefore all human science—in all senses of “science”, ancient (broad) and modern (narrow)—is really an appreciation of the divine art. And since all art reveals something about its artist, the knowledge of creatures, by its very nature, leads us in the direction of the knowledge of the Creator, if we are only fair and honest and open-minded toward it.
This is why many great scientists have in fact been led closer to God by the discoveries of their science. There is no such thing as “the conflict between science and religion”. It is as mythical as a zombie. Insofar as it does exist, that conflict is as unnatural as “the war between the sexes”: an unnatural, fallen, abnormal situation that is mistakenly taken as the norm. Or it is like the Marxists’ “class conflict”, the supposedly necessary power struggle between the haves and the have-nots: it is an ideological contrivance, a piece of propaganda. It is either unnatural or unreal. The very idea of it comes into history not from a good mind but from a bad will. The ultimate origin or first cause of this lie is envy or pride or greed or arrogance, not honest love and truth-seeking. (That does not mean, of course, that individuals cannot be honestly conned and confused by its propaganda.)
Science is an honorable and even a holy occupation. It is a kind of remote and indirect mental telepathy with God, the reading of some of God’s thoughts after Him, however dimly. The greatest of scientists (e.g., Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Einstein) were all quite clear about that.
But you don’t have to be a professional scientist to appreciate science. Science is for everyone. Science is not elitist. Science is only methodologically refined common sense. Take science courses. Read science books. (Just be aware of the difference between science and ideology.) Learn more about the divine creativity. Everything you learn about Him is a new reason to adore and love Him. He is amazing and wonderful, and therefore so is His creation.