he's obsessed with biblical literalism
so you believe there was a talking snake
you believe that Jonah really spent
three days in the belly of the fish you
believe the universe is 5,000 years old
and a point I like to make over and over
again about this is the Bible is not a
book the Bible is a library so the
question do you take the library
literally well it depends on which
section you're in if you go into
journalism section or you go into the
strict history section yeah you take
that pretty straightforwardly but you
wander into the poetry section you
wander into a section about mythology
you wander into a section about
political opinion it depends on what
genre you're dealing with the Bible is
not a book it's a collection of books
from a wide variety of literary genres
therefore you have to know which lenses
to wear so some books the Bible are more
straightforward they are more historical
think of the books dealing with David
and Solomon and so on you have the
Gospels that do a purport to be
historical of reportage then you have
books like the beginning of the book of
Genesis where you have the story of
Jonah which aren't straightforward
journalistic accounts of things that
happen
they are theologically rich narratives
and poems therefore I don't approach
those with the same clunky lenses on
that I use to read more historical texts
so it's a basic principle of biblical
interpretation that you have to look at
the genre you're dealing with so bill
maher has these poor people on who are
trying to explain how Jonah lived in the
fish for three days and I'm thinking
I'll come on I mean it's completely
beside the point
if it was a serious engagement if he
really posed these serious questions to
serious people who know how to respond
to him but he just he just knocked down
straw man all he did was line up stupid
people and take their faith apart so I
don't think it's really very effective
anyone that has a little background in
biblical interpretation or theology or
religion would say well we're not even
engaging the questions here we're just
knocking down Strama
Bill Maher one of his major points is
religion and science are just two
separate things science is sophisticated
interesting testable legitimate
knowledge religion is just old-fashioned
superstition pre-scientific nonsense
there's the sharp divide and that's the
problem because there are people on the
religious side that fall into that trap
too and they'll say well here's religion
as its own thing and then science is
sort of this fallen problematic form of
knowing but the Catholic response has
been both an not either/or the Catherine
spawn says go back to time as Aquinas do
you find this God is the source of all
truth therefore when a scientist using
scientific method uncovers certain truth
he's following the promptings of God
he's discovering something that God has
placed in reality and when the religious
person comes to spiritual truth that too
is coming from God therefore religion
and science following their own proper
methods don't conflict there they come
from the same source also one of the
only intelligent people that Bill Maher
had on was his father George Coyne who
was the former director of the Vatican
Observatory so he was a scientist is a
scientist of astronomer working for the
Vatican Bill Maher's comment was well
that's an oxymoron how could you
possibly be Vatican scientist I thought
that's the whole point that's what you
can't get is it of course he's both
religious and scientific what he pointed
out was look modern science commences
around 1600 you know with Galileo and
Descartes and company and it moves down
to the present day following certain
methods and structures the biblical
books are written between let's say you
know 2,000 BC to 200 AD so long before
the rise of the modern Sciences
therefore when the book of Genesis for
example is giving us a cosmology as it
does it's not a scientific cosmology it
just isn't it's not following that
method that mean it's false no it's a
theological account of the origins of
things it's making a theological point
that God creates all things all things
in here and God all things are connected
to each other etc how's that happen I'm
not going to ask the Bible how it
happened Oh as scientists how that
happened but the theological point
remains valid
so coin made a very helpful distinction
between religion and science that showed
how they can be very compatible with
each other
bill maher was having none of that
though he just sees them as good bad
sophisticated knowing and superstition
the ground of all science whether it's
physics or chemistry or astronomy
biology is the mystical intuition that
being is intelligible it's fancy way of
saying that you can know the world the
world is knowable you can go out to meet
it confidently that your mind will
understand it well see what's the ground
of it the ground of that is the belief
in creation that God who is intelligent
has made the world through his logos his
word and therefore is implanted in the
world intelligibility intelligible
structure that's why I would argue
science and religion aren't opposed at
their deepest ground they come together
because you have to have that mystical
intuition even to be a scientist so it
bugs me that they've been they've been
putting these sort of opposite corners
as as pugilistic adversaries when in
fact they should come together we don't
think my belief belief is not irrational
or sub rational it's super irrational
I'll give you a very ordinary example
when you fall in love with somebody
I mean reasons involved you know you you
would meet somebody you'd size her up
you'd seek to understand her you talk to
her you'd look at her reason plays a
role but anyone who's ever fallen in
love as the word itself indicates you
fall that there's a kind of surrender
there's a surrender to something that
goes beyond what you can know and
control to now go right back to Genesis
that's what that story's about is they
cease at the knowledge of good and evil
they want to know God and so you would
only get God through this surrender
that's not irrational and that's sub
rational that's credulity or that's
superstition faith is this surrender
that lies beyond reason that you see
what you can you've understood what you
can but now you surrender to something
that is beyond your control and the most
delicious moments in life are like that
aren't they I mean when you fall in love
when you you love a piece of art when
you listen to a piece of music that
moves you very deeply you're not
analytically controlling every aspect of
it you're allowing that piece of music
to
move you it's moving it's affecting me
that means I've surrendered to its power
doesn't make me stupid or superstitious
or irrational
it means I'm able to surrender something
I can't control so with religion other
ways of talking about God rationally
sure you know God's a first cause
unmoved mover the ground of
intelligibility the source of
contingency I could talk about it
philosophically but then finally there's
this great mystery that undergirds all
things that transcends all things and
invites me into friendship and to
falling in love faith is coordinated
with love that way it's a type of
falling in love with God who's inviting
me beyond myself hey can I can
understand God completely it's not much
of a God I can barely understand this
table completely you know if I could
understand God utterly well then who
cares
but God whom I can glimpse with my mind
and that's Catholic Church is as great
man go all the way with that go all the
way with your mental powers in regard to
God but then at the end of the day fall
in love that's what faith is it's so
that to lampoon is irrational is is
missing the point it's super rational