Many Catholic students are unable to attend a Catholic university for one reason or another. Quite a few of them end up attending a public university, which can offer a good education but also can present difficulties for their Faith. I would like to offer advice and encouragement to those students who may wonder how to answer the objections to Catholicism that they encounter in their classes or assignments.
I graduated from high school in 2002 and started college that fall. I attended a state university that was quite liberal, secular, and fairly anti-Christian. Before I finished my degree, I had the opportunity to start in my career field and took it, always planning to finish the degree at some later point. Fifteen years later, I finally did.
The last class I took was the single science class required for a bachelor of arts degree that I had put off until the end. The class was an introduction to archeology, which, since my major was in history, was much more interesting than a biology or chemistry course. I knew about the militantly secular nature of public universities (and had experienced a little of it in the class I had taken the prior term), but the goals of the university system were immediately made clear: to subvert belief in God and specifically Christianity.
Our term in archeology began with a study of the age of the Earth. This was certainly of interest to me since it pertains to the history of our world and how humans came to be. The professor and the textbook, however, made sure to declare many times that a six-day creation story and the age of the Earth as described in Genesis had been “disproven.”
The class explored the beliefs of Christians through the Middle Ages and then compared them to scientific facts now known to be true. For any impressionable student hearing this from a highly educated Ph.D., particularly for a Christian already wavering as so many are, this can prove a fatal blow to their faith.
How can the Christian student respond to these claims in a way that still meets the requirements of their class assignments and does not cause them to fail? This, I know, is a concern of many Christian and conservative students: how do we voice our beliefs or disagreements, how do we proclaim the truth, without being unjustly punished for it in a way that affects our academic standing and future?
We must remember, however, “Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15). Give an answer to defend the Faith, but do it, as our first pope says, in a courteous way. Let me provide an example of how this can be accomplished.
Science versus ‘archaic’ concepts
For the first assignment in the archeology class, we were to write an essay first describing the difference between history and archeology and, second, explain how “archaic” concepts prior to the Renaissance were “overcome” by scientific evidence. I suspect the professor may not have received an essay before such as the one I submitted. I know if I had taken this class while younger and still in college full-time, I may not have had quite as good of a reply to this question.
Fortunately, although I had not been attending school, my study had not stopped over the preceding fifteen years, particularly in regard to the Faith. I had assisted with teaching RCIA classes, given talks on theology at our parish, and my wife and I had been teaching marriage preparation with our deacon and his wife. We have also been teaching our children the faith at home. What I share is not a reprint of the essay I submitted but a summary of the way I answered that second question “with gentleness and reverence.”
I began by listing the main sources of thought on human origin prior to the Renaissance: the Greeks, the Romans, and Judeo-Christianity. I explained the Greeks and Romans believed in a multitude of gods, though some, such as Aristotle, thought that concept absurd and instead believed in a single “unmoved mover.” I compared this as similar to the Judeo-Christian understanding of God that would later be expanded upon by those such as St. Thomas Aquinas.
I did this for two reasons. One, to show that belief in God can be arrived at through human reason alone, which the Council of Trent dogmatically teaches (Aristotle had no divine revelation); and, two, to establish for the professor a basis of knowledge in classical philosophy, providing as a citation Aristotle’s Metaphysics.
I then explained Christianity’s belief, that God was the “unmoved mover” articulated by Aristotle: “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). I made it a point to agree with much of the scientific evidence laid out by the professor and the text: the world is older than previously believed, skeletal remains of Neanderthals and other humanoids have been found, Europeans “discovered” a New World that contained previously unknown species of plants and animals as well as tribes of humans.
I wanted to show that, as a Christian, I accept scientific discoveries and find them helpful in understanding our world. I was not afraid, nor was I a denier, of science.
Genesis isn’t a scientific treatise
After establishing this, I stated that I rejected the notion that Christianity is archaic or has been disproven by these discoveries and advancements in scientific knowledge. So, rather than answer the second part of the essay as to how archaic concepts have been overcome, I said I would instead answer how Christian understanding has developed in light of scientific discovery.
I made it clear I knew the topic of the essay was not Christian theology but that some explanation was required, since it had been called into question by the discoveries the professor outlined. This wording was intentional as well: I made the scientific discoveries the subject of my arguments, not the professor. Remember, St. Peter tells us to be courteous and have due reverence.
I began by explaining that as our scientific knowledge has increased, so has the Christian’s understanding of how truth is conveyed through Scripture. While most Christians during the Middle Ages believed in a six-day creation, the Church has never taught that or required that one must definitively hold that view.
Bishop Robert Barron explains that if we are looking at Genesis as a science book, we are looking at it wrong. As he states, “It is a theological reflection on the origin of all things.” Genesis falls into the literary genre of epic poetry, not science, and this is better understood now than it was during the Middle Ages. That science tells us the Earth is a certain number of years old or that a certain type of evolution occurred does not ipso facto disprove the creation account of Genesis; the book is not attempting to give a scientific explanation and is instead conveying a theological truth.
Next, I provided Aquinas’s explanation, found in his Summa Theologica, of St. Augustine’s view of the creation account in Genesis: “So the distinction of days denotes the natural order of the things known [by the angels], and not a succession in the knowledge acquired, or in the things produced.” I did this to show there has always been some difference in interpretation of the days of Genesis, even during the Middle Ages. The assumption in the textbook had been that all Christians believed in a literal six-day creation.
Science hasn’t disproven Christianity
Finally, I quoted William Carrol from his essay “Creation, Evolution, and St. Thomas Aquinas” to summarize the view of most Christians: “Aquinas, however, did not think that the book of Genesis presented any difficulties for the natural sciences, for the Bible is not a textbook in the sciences. What is essential to the Christian faith, according to Aquinas, is the ‘fact of creation,’ not the manner or mode of the formation of the world.”
I ended by noting that while scientific discovery has proven the age of the Earth to be much older than previously believed, it has not disproven Christianity. Rather, it has encouraged Christians to explore the sciences more fully and to deepen their understanding of the truths Scripture conveys.
This manner of defending the Faith in a truthful but charitable way was effective; the paper received an “A” with feedback from the professor on the good scholarship and citations it contained.
I hope this is helpful to you if you are a Catholic student at a public university, or even if you are challenged on or questioned about your faith elsewhere in life. Do not hide the truth nor be ashamed to proclaim it, but again as St. Peter tells us, “do it with gentleness and reverence.” It is much more effective that way.