What appear to be contradictory are in fact, complementary.
For centuries, religion and science have been portrayed as being at odds with each other. The Enlightenment period is viewed as one in which religion was seen as ‘archaic,’ a practice that needed to be set aside in favour of new scientific discoveries. Some may argue that science has no room for religious beliefs, that one must choose between faith and logic. But that is not the case.
As humans, we have an intellect and we are called to use it to understand the world around us and offer explanations for events. When examining reports of miracles, such as healings, the Catholic Church undergoes a series of rigorous investigations, using the scientific method to rule out the possibilities of natural explanations for occurrences.
Pope St. John Paul II once stated that “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” Not only was Pope John Paul II the leader of the Catholic Church for over two decades, he held two doctorates in Philosophy and Sacred Theology and was a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin. Simply put, he was quite an intelligent individual. One has to be, in order to lead a religious community with over one billion members.
Throughout history, there have been many individuals of faith who contributed to scientific discovery. Mendelian inheritance; which explains how biological traits are passed down via genes, are named after Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian friar who discovered them. That’s right. Friar. As in someone who lives in a religious community.
Many Christians have made significant achievements in the fields of math and science. Sister Mary Kenneth Keller was the first American lady to obtain a PhD in Computer Science. André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist who was one of the founders of electromagnetism (the unit ‘ampere’ is named after him).
I am a big science nerd, but, more importantly, I’m a Catholic Christian. So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Big Bang Theory, which explains the origin and nature of our universe, was proposed by a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaître. It’s yet another sign that religion and science can, in fact go together. Our world; our universe, is an amazing place. And God wills that we use our intellect to discover as much about it as we can.
Sources:
The Academic Career of Pope John Paul II https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/religion-spirituality/christianity/catholicism/the-academic-career-of-pope-john-paul-ii-141695
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller(PhD, 1965): The first PhD in Computer Science in the US. https://www.cs.wisc.edu/2019/03/18/2759