“At the beginning of time, God spoke to us through Creation, says the Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. Therefore, to study the universe with science, is an act of prayer, a way of encountering God.”
However, to do so, “it is necessary to encounter God first as Father, as Abba, otherwise God cannot be encountered with science.”
In other words, “faith must be there first, if one wishes to see God in Creation.”
Talking with ZENIT, astronomer Guy Consolmagno explained this on the sidelines of the meeting held yesterday, May 8, 2017, in the Holy See Press Office, where the Scientific Workshop on black holes, gravitational waves and the peculiarity of space-time, which will be held in the Vatican Astronomical Observatory in Castel Gandolfo from May 9-12, was presented.
American astronomer Guy Consolmagno, who already had a brilliant scientific curriculum, entered the Society of Jesus in 1989 and took his vows in 1991.
In 2015, he was appointed Director of the Specola Vaticana— the Astronomical Observatory of the Vatican.
In 2000, the International Astronomic Union named an asteroid of the principal belt after him – 4597 Consolmagno, known also as “Little Guy.”
Questioned about God and referring to how Saint Thomas had said that the universe is not a reflection of God, the scientist pointed out: “God is the evidence of the existence of the universe. Because if one doesn’t believe in a God, one could think that the universe doesn’t exist, that it is altogether an imagination.”
“If one doesn’t believe in a God as in the God of Christianity, one cannot believe in the universe, which works with laws and with a system,” otherwise “it would be a universe of chaos, of the nature gods, like Jove or Jupiter,” he added, explaining that “this isn’t our idea of God. The idea is of a supernatural God who gives space for the laws of science.”
“We also believe in a good God who created the universe by His Will and not by an accident or by chance” – in a God “who said that the universe is good, and who said ‘This is good,’” he continued. Continue reading
Sources
- Zenit interview by Sergio Mora
- Image: Vatican Observatory
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