While lecturing on the eschatology of creation in the seminary, he became interested in the relationship between science and religion. He read the books of scholars who insist on the dialogue and resonance between science and theology, and try to introduce scientific descriptions and explanations into theological issues. We commend their efforts to reconcile theology and science. But for the columnist, a typical liberal arts student, their theological narratives were difficult to understand and were not presented convincingly.
The narrative method of natural science, which is based on theories and experiments about nature, and the humanistic description based on theories and experiences about humans and life are different in color. Although humans today tend to be seen as part of nature, there is a difference between exploring and explaining natural phenomena and understanding and interpreting human patterns. He sympathizes more with scholars who advocate two language theories than those who advocate fusion and consilience. Although science and theology can and should communicate with each other, In his opinion the language of science and the language of theology (humanities) have different goals and directions.
From a theological point of view, the positions and views of natural scientists are sometimes difficult to accept, but their honest statements are quite attractive. The books of social biologist Edward Wilson were more philosophical than many books in the humanities. The books of psychologist and neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, computer engineer and neuroscientist Jeff Hawkins, physicist Brian Green, and neuroscientist Anil Seth have more interesting storytelling than any literary book, and more honest and profound thought than any philosophical book. It contains the ultimate question about humanity and life more than any theological book. The irony that natural scientists' explanations contain more literary sentiment, philosophical reflections, and theological questions, and are more persuasive, is often experienced these days.
Life on Earth is estimated to have started 4 billion years ago. Homo sapiens started about 300,000 years ago. It is said that the history of life consists of successive stages of being, feeling, and knowing. They change from living beings to beings that feel and sense, learn and know. Roughly speaking, it seems to have evolved from simple life into feelings and emotions, mind and spirit and consciousness, intelligence and knowledge, and culture and history.
Where do feelings come from? What is consciousness? what is the mind, the feeling, the conscious mind? Scientists in the position of physicalism (materialism) find the origin and composition of feelings and consciousness in the body. We are trying to find the answer through research on the brain and nervous system in the body. Brain science and neuroscience are at the forefront of human understanding today.
Humans are also living beings in nature. Are humans exceptional in nature? While there is no need to exaggerate the differences between humans and non-humans, scientists acknowledge that there is a clear gap. Antonio Damasio argues that feeling, consciousness, and the cultural mind place man in the most unique position among all living beings. The human conscious mind, the cultural mind, through memory, language, imagination, reasoning, etc., made humans more creative than other living beings. Humans are clearly different from animals that are honest only with feelings and emotions, and artificial machines (intelligence) that specialize only in the realms of intelligence and knowledge.
Animals also have consciousness, but only humans are said to be self-conscious. I live as 'me'. I am neither 'you' nor 'he'. Anil Seth says that ‘being who I am’ is ultimately about the body. "The totality of perception and cognition, the overall panorama of human experience and mental life, consists of a deeply embedded biological power of survival. We perceive the world around us and ourselves in it as a living body, through and because of it." Then, when the life of the body ends, does consciousness disappear and I also disappear? Because our inner universe of mind and consciousness is also a part of nature, physicalists think that with the disappearance of the body, consciousness of self and 'I' also disappear. Am I only 'me' while I'm alive?
If human feelings, consciousness, and knowledge are based on the body (body, matter), does the feeling, consciousness and knowledge of ‘I’ disappear after death? Feeling, consciousness, and knowledge disappear, but does the individual ‘I’ exist after death? The Church attempts to explain this dilemma through the concept of the soul. The soul is the principle and foundation of human existence. "The Church teaches that the soul of each person – not 'made' by his parents – is created by God himself and is immortal. Even if separated from the body by death, the soul does not disappear and will be reunited with the body at the resurrection" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 366). The earthly body and the resurrected body are different.
In fact, doctrinal propositions are often declarative rather than explanatory. Sometimes there is a gap between professing and accepting doctrine and understanding and explaining it. The existence of this immaterial soul is not the realm of scientific proof, but the realm of faith. But really, like the theologians who insist on the resonance between science and theology, does the development of science today make the content of faith more clearly visible than in the past rather than a challenge to faith?
The time engraved on the earthly body is always toward extinction. Human time, Earth time, cosmic time will last longer, but the feeling that one day my time of existence will end often saddens me. "My soul is old" but I believe and hope that my soul will be with the Lord forever.
"From a historical and evolutionary point of view, consciousness can be thought of as a kind of forbidden fruit. Because once you eat its fruit, you know pain and suffering, and eventually face death tragically" (Antonio Damasio). Despite the tragic nature of consciousness, isn't it grace and
dazzling beauty to live as something you can feel and think about?
