FRIENDSHIP GAMES: A Reflection on Science and Religion

FRIENDSHIP GAMES: A Reflection on Science and Religion

By Rev. Jeric C. Cortado, SPMCI

The article written by an astronomer Guy Consolmagno, “Science and Religion” describes how science and faith compliments to each others. Very clear to him that science is not about proving anything. It describes but the descriptions are incomplete. Therefore you cannot use science alone to prove completely the existence of God. But science could encourage us to believe in God.

According to Pope John Paul II, “The contribution that science can make, through its dynamism and its constant reaching out towards truth, is to give inspiration and a richer physical context or vision to other human activities. It can share with them the results it has derived from its continuing investigations of the universal laws of nature. Science can finally lead humanity to bow before the Creator of the universe, who, from the Christian viewpoint is revealed as the Redeemer of man.” (Pope John Paul II, Marcel Grossman Meeting on Relativistic Astrophysics, 21 June, 1985).  

Pope John Paul II pointed out Galileo statement that, "Holy Scripture and Nature both proceed from the divine Word: one, as being dictated by the Holy Spirit, and the other, as the very faithful executor of God's orders (Edizione nazionale delle Opere di Galileo, vol. v, p. 282).

Faith does not offer resources to scientific research as such, but it encourages the scientist to pursue his research knowing that he meets, in nature, the presence of the Creator. Some of you are walking along this way. All of you are concentrating your intellectual forces on your specialty, discovering every day, with the joy of knowledge, the indefinite possibilities that fundamental research opens for man, and the formidable questions that it sets him at the same time, sometimes even for his future. (An address by Pope John Paul II to members of the European Physical Society, on March 30, 1979).

I am not a good player of a basketball game, but I love to watch this game. I remember my seminary life (in Union Theological Seminary-Philippine Christian University, Sampaloc 1, Dasmariňas, Cavite) wherein our colleagues have a regular schedule of basketball games with the seminarians of SVD Seminary based at Tagaytay City. We dubbed these games as “Friendship Games”, which aims to develop ecumenical relationships between catholic seminaries and evangelical seminaries, especially SVD Seminary and Union Theological Seminary.

There is always the feeling of excitement every Friendship Games, with curiosity of who is the best between the two teams. But without bias in comparing to both, UTS seminarians has the advantaged on the basis of their age bracket, experience, and height. Since, most of the UTS seminarians are graduate students and former varsity during their high school and college life.

But the Friendship Game is a Friendship Game, and there is no question of who will be the winner or the champion. The purpose of the games is to establish friendship among the group of seminarians by spending time with each other. Bonding with each other and sharing the enjoyment of the game. UTS and SVD seminarians’ Friendship Games is not about proving who holds the best discipline and theological pedagogy but it is about an opportunity for unity.

This is science and religion relationship means. Science gives us one set of facts, and on the other side, religion gives us another set of facts. In the Friendship games, SVD seminarians gave a set of facts and UTS seminarians as well, another set of facts theological formation which compliments to each other.